The Grace of Kings, Ken Liu
The Grace of Kings, Ken Liu
5 Rating(s)
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The Grace of Kings

Author: Ken Liu

Narrator: Michael Kramer

Unabridged: 21 hr 37 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/07/2015

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included

Synopsis

One of the Time 100 Best Fantasy Books Of All Time

Two men rebel together against tyranny—and then become rivals—in this first sweeping book of an epic fantasy series from Ken Liu, recipient of Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy awards. Hailed as one of the best books of 2015 by NPR.

Wily, charming Kuni Garu, a bandit, and stern, fearless Mata Zyndu, the son of a deposed duke, seem like polar opposites. Yet, in the uprising against the emperor, the two quickly become the best of friends after a series of adventures fighting against vast conscripted armies, silk-draped airships, and shapeshifting gods. Once the emperor has been overthrown, however, they each find themselves the leader of separate factions—two sides with very different ideas about how the world should be run and the meaning of justice.

Fans of intrigue, intimate plots, and action will find a new series to embrace in the Dandelion Dynasty.

About Ken Liu

Ken Liu is an award-winning American author of speculative fiction. His collection, The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories, has been published in more than a dozen languages. Liu’s other works include The Grace of Kings, The Wall of Storms, The Veiled Throne, a second collection The Hidden Girl and Other Stories, and the forthcoming Julia Z series. He has been involved in multiple media adaptations of his work, including the short story “Good Hunting,” adapted as an episode in Netflix’s animated series Love, Death + Robots; and AMC’s Pantheon, adapted from an interconnected series of short stories. “The Hidden Girl,” “The Message,” and “The Oracle” have also been optioned for development. Liu previously worked as a software engineer, corporate lawyer, and litigation consultant. He frequently speaks at conferences and universities on topics including futurism, machine-augmented creativity, the history of technology, and the value of storytelling. Liu lives with his family near Boston, Massachusetts.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Petrik on August 26, 2022

This debut is super underrated. Ken Liu’s reimagining of the birth of China’s Han Dynasty is nothing short of epic, complex, thrilling, and heartbreaking. “Read a lot of books and try a lot of recipes…When you learn enough about the world, even a blade of grass can be a weapon.” Let’s start with......more

Goodreads review by Matt's Fantasy Book Reviews on February 27, 2023

This remarkably perfect fantasy book is going down as my second favorite book of all time. Simply incredible. Words cannot describe how wonderful this book is, but I will try my best. I went into this book was a healthy dose of skepticism. For whatever reason, whenever a book gets enormous praise from......more

Goodreads review by Ira on November 22, 2023

A masterpiece. An absolute flipping masterpiece. Take a bow Ken Liu, and enjoy only my second five star rating of the year!! Final Rating: 5.0/5🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 Let me level with you—'The Grace of Kings' might not land in everyone's fantasy favorites. Obviously. It's sitting around a 3.7 out of 5 on Goodreads, a......more

Goodreads review by Bradley on February 10, 2017

This is a very interesting tale, reminding me as I read it just how little I still know of Chinese history. I want to romance kingdoms and wallow in all the warring states, and yet, from everything I do know, this novel is and remains unique. It borrows from the old histories to make a thoroughly mo......more

Goodreads review by Althea on May 19, 2016

An ambitious, epic fantasy... that at times felt more like reading a history than a novel. I've become a fan of Liu's short stories, so was eager to read his debut long-form novel. (At over 600 pages, it is pretty long). We're introduced to the archipelago of Dara, a collection of islands which seem t......more

Quotes

"A refreshing epic."

"Ken Liu's The Grace of Kings — a magnificent fantasy epic. Liu is building a dynasty."

"The Grace of Kings is an ambitious, astonishing, and sublime work, one that both exemplifies and diverges from what one might think of when it comes to epic fantasy. It should rank amongst the genre's best works."

"Told in Liu’s graceful, intelligent, and literate prose, the novel is a sumptuous Epic feast."

"The epic fantasy genre can only be enriched by more novels drawing from non-Western traditions. Liu’s ambitious work expertly blends mythology, history, military tactics, and technological innovation (airships and submarines). "

"The Grace of Kings is a fantasy, with petty meddling gods, odd mechanized inventions, and a sense that mystical powers lurk around the corner. It is nothing if not epic."

"Liu’s combination of elements from China, Polynesia and beyond, told in an epic style, is the kind of Silk Road Fantasy that I’ve always wanted to read, and love all the more now that I have."

"The Grace of Kings is grand, mythic and epic, but Liu’s “silk-punk” world of trickster gods and giant horned whales is also a delight."

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