Reviews

"Some of the most important decisions we make in life are not derived from reason, from weighing the fish, from an evaluation of the pros and cons—but from a simple leap of faith, of love that needs no evidence, apology, or argument."

Unfortunately The Veiled Throne is by far my least favorite entry in the series so far, largely due to the fact many of my favorite characters are no longer present after the events of the previous book. And between Théra and Zomi, two of my favorites remaining, one of them is sidelined which was quite frustrating.

However, two new characters stepped into the spotlight for me by the end of the book, those being Princess Fara and Kinri. I really enjoyed their dynamic and especially the study of inner turmoil and yearning of understanding within Kinri.

There's also a tremendous amount of worldbuilding for a penultimate book in a series which I found a little tiring, but Ken Liu still excels in this department. Although the last third of the book was a restaurant competition which I found completely monotonous and ridiculous.

The book does end very well thematically though, but I certainly feel it could've punctuated that note with far fewer pages, which I'm not one to usually claim a book could've been x amount of pages shorter. But I really felt it with this one. And admittedly there were probably some external factors that affected my overall enjoyment as well.

A decent but disappointing read, nonetheless I remain excited for Speaking Bones and the conclusion of this epic series. I know this book and Speaking Bones was intended to be one book but was split apart, so I am curious how that'll turn out.

Content Warnings

ary1954058's review

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3.0

340K Words

apresse2's review

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3.0

Ken Liu is an amazing storyteller and I loved the theme of invention and innovation

That being said replacing the war and politics with a restaurant competition ended up being a drag

I did provide good character development so I’m still excited for the final book.

thermite's review against another edition

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4.0

Epic story in a complex world full of intriguing plots and politics. I started in the middle of this series but had no trouble picking up the threads of the many interwoven plot lines and character arcs. I'm excited to go back and see how it started, and hopefully, to find out what comes next.

graphael's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

9.25/10

jvvillela's review

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

jaylong's review

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5.0

it's beautiful and demanding, requires your full attention and rewards it, it's a story you can't wait to finish, but a world you just don't want to leave.

whatever time it takes for the next (and, sadly, final) book, it's going to be worth it.

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