The Grace of Kings: Saga, April 2015, 618 pages, cover art by Sam Weber. The Grace of Kings is Book One of the Dandelion Dynasty series. Ken Liu is a two-time Hugo Award winner for his short fiction, as well as accounting for a third Hugo by translating last year's Best Novel winner The Three-Body Problem. The Grace of Kings is his first novel.
The Grace of Kings is set on an archipelago, the Islands of Dara, reminiscent of our ancient world. The largest island consists of six different kingdoms, all of which have been conquered by Xana, located on one of the smaller isles. The opening 25 pages introduce us to two students, Rin and Kuni, who cut class to see the emperor pass through on a grand tour of the empire. They witness an unsuccessful attempt on the emperor's life, and Kuni is delighted to realize that the emperor was afraid, that he is just a man. Next we meet Mata Zyndu, a giant of a man, most of whose noble family was wiped out by the emperor's forces. He and his Uncle Phin, who has trained Mata from infancy, also watch the emperor's procession, planning their revenge.
Infinity Lost: Skyscape, November 2015, 250 pages, cover design by M.S. Corley. Infinity Lost is Book One of the Infinity Trilogy, the debut work by New Zealander S. Harrison.
The main character of Infinity Lost is Infinity "Finn" Blackstone, 17-year-old daughter of the richest man in the world, whom she has somehow never met. Finn's mother apparently died in childbirth. In our world's near future, her father's company, Blackstone Technologies, is Microsoft on steroids, dominating the world economy. Blackstone produces super-duper artificial hearts everyone uses; Blackstone even controls the weather. Finn, who has never had dreams before, starts to dream events from her past she doesn't remember, including learning to use firearms and meeting her father's executives. Then she learns that top students from her private school will soon get to visit Blackstone Technologies.
The Battle: I read the opening 25 pages of each of these two books over a week ago, but got busy and didn't have time to write up this battle post right away. It turns out that the passage of time makes it easier for me to articulate the basis for my decision.
After a week, I had to reread much of the opening of Infinity Lost to write the above synopsis. The first two chapters of the book are written well, and yet they did not stay in my mind. I think that's because so far it's a one-dimensional story: it's exclusively about Finn trying to figure out what the deal is with her rich, reclusive father. And I think after 25 pages, I can pretty much guess the answer. There have been many hints that Finn's father ignores her because she is to him only one of his company's many research projects.
In contrast, I remembered The Grace of Kings well enough that I could have picked it up and continued reading without missing a beat. The opening pages of The Grace of Kings begin to weave a rich tapestry, and the parts I've glimpsed so far have very much stuck with me.
We have already learned some of the interesting history of the Islands of Dara, but we can tell there's a lot more backstory that will yet be filled in. The characters have also caught my interest, Mata because of his burning need to address the wrongs done his family, Kuni simply for his wit and eagerness. I don't know what is going to happen to them, but I know one way or another Mata and Kuni will prove a challenge to the emperor's rule, and I want to see how that story unfolds.
THE WINNER: The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu
The Grace of Kings advances to the second round to face Fortune's Blight by Evie Manieri.
To see the whole bracket, click here.
No comments:
Post a Comment