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A review by maxsebastian
The Veiled Throne by Ken Liu
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
While missing the stakes and some of the characters that had previously made the series, The Veiled Throne is an interesting new step in The Dandelion Dynasty. While this book does feel like its lacking the powerful conclusions previous books in the series had, it also includes some new favorite characters and themes.
If Liu likes one thing, it's setup. This book begins with a short section in flashback, a choice that works but I found frustrating. Giving the climactic events of the previous book, I just wanted to know what would happen next. The second and third sections of the book are in completely different locations and times than the first. While the potential opening of the Wall of Storms and the end to the treaty with the Lyucu in sight, I assumed we'd get more answers to the questions about the world after The Wall of Storms,. Instead, I found this book to instead be in a bit of a holding pattern. This book as a result took me a long time to read because it felt ponderous and uneventful for a significant chunk of its runtime. Perhaps because it and Speaking Bones were split, I'm left feeling like The Veiled Throne is really the beginning of a second duology, not the third book in a quadrilogy.
Ironically, the last third of this book was by far and away my favorite part. While I've heard people complain about Liu taking a break from the main plot to focus on a competition between two restaurants, who doesn't love a good cooking show? In addition to beautiful descriptions of food, this section includes some exciting engineering, thrilling intrigue, and perhaps Liu's best character work to date. The idea of Savo/Kinri, a character completely divided between these two sides of the conflict, is fascinating. Savo's life leads to questions about the nature of war, assimilation, and love that I found to be very worthwhile.
While perhaps less exciting than previous books in The Dandelion Dynasty, parts of The Veiled Throne show Liu's true skill at crafting character and world. I'm excited to see how Speaking Bones fills in the gaps that this book left open.
If Liu likes one thing, it's setup. This book begins with a short section in flashback, a choice that works but I found frustrating. Giving the climactic events of the previous book, I just wanted to know what would happen next. The second and third sections of the book are in completely different locations and times than the first.
Ironically, the last third of this book was by far and away my favorite part. While I've heard people complain about Liu taking a break from the main plot to focus on a competition between two restaurants, who doesn't love a good cooking show? In addition to beautiful descriptions of food, this section includes some exciting engineering, thrilling intrigue, and perhaps Liu's best character work to date.
While perhaps less exciting than previous books in The Dandelion Dynasty, parts of The Veiled Throne show Liu's true skill at crafting character and world. I'm excited to see how Speaking Bones fills in the gaps that this book left open.