surhigh

This was the first book I'd read by this author, so a lot of the negative points that I've read in reviews posted by his other readers who are familiar with his work didn't really occur to me at all. I could not put this book down, first of all. Kay creates a lovely, detailed world that seems to more or less be ancient China, a setting I can always get behind. While the main character is *presented* as Shen Tai, the recipient of an absurd number of fancy horses (I was never entirely sure what made the horses so fancy, but hey), I got the feeling that the characters that were truly important were the women. I liked watching them use their places in society -- usually as "lesser" citizens simply because they had a uterus -- and their limited power to shape their situations and sometimes even manipulate the entire damn empire using the tools given to them. Others complained about the ending being suddenly rushed, but I think those people are kind of missing the point. I saw this as a story about transitions in one's life, and not necessarily SHEN TAI IS COMING TO SAVE THE DAY. It's about fate, I think, and not QUASH THE REBELLION or SAVE THE GIRL or KILL THE DUDE. I loved the voice Kay used, and the inclusion of poetry and the cultural elements that he chose to illustrate the culture and the characters. Sima Zian was probably my favorite character. I'll definitely be reading the next book in the series.

2023-02-01 22:59