I'm of two minds about Speaking Bones. On the one hand, this story is a worthy conclusion to Ken Liu's ambitious vision of The Dandelion Dynasty. On the other, the book is ponderous and perhaps over-long. 

While The Veiled Throne does act like a part one to this book, Speaking Bones still begins with a significant amount of setup. While conclusions to long running plot elements do come in this novel, it takes a long time to get there. This is in large part due to the book's complex structure. Whenever he writes a battle or other major conflict, Liu likes to unveil a new development, then write a whole chapter explaining how the development came to be, then flip back to the battle, stilting what is otherwise well written action scenes. Liu's choice to structure numerous plot beats this way and desire to make multiple revelations known in each makes what would otherwise be exciting sections of the book drag on.

Although the conclusions take a while to get to, they are still worth it, at least thematically. This book completes an intense arc on the complexities of assimilation, colonialism, and conflict between different groups. While Liu provides some answers, he also leaves the end result somewhat up to interpretation. The issues he presents are challenging and worthy of further thought, complimenting his choice to leave lingering questions about the stability of the society remaining in Dara.

The ending of Speaking Bones begs the question, is the end of the dynasty of Kuni Garu upon us or will it continue?

This book wraps up the character and plot arcs as well

particularly in the case of Jia Matiza, who is one of the most fascinating antigonists(?) that I've ever read

 but I felt that more time could have been spent with some of the most likeable protagonists in this series

, Thera and Zomi

. 

I've heard people online say that The Dandelion Dynasty is not for everyone, but if it is for you, you'll absolutely love it. In this series, Liu crafts one of the most special fantasy worlds I've read by drawing on the real history and fanciful "silkpunk" engineering. From smokecrafting to the crubens and Wall of Storms, Dara has plenty of real magic too. While incredibly written, the topics Liu chose to focus his page time on were not always my favorite. While this series is not a new top 5 for me, it's worth checking out because of its unique perspective and focus. It seems to me that a read through of the modern fantasy staples would not be complete without Liu's seminal work, and who knows, perhaps this will become your new favorite series.