Of Jade and Dragons by Amber Chen

Title: Of Jade and Dragons

Author: Amber Chen

Genre: Fantasy

Series: Fall of the Dragons # 1

Hardcover, 480 pages 

Publication: June 18, 2024 by Viking Books for Young Readers

Source: I received a review copy in exchange for a honest review.
Buy|AMAZON|B&N

Eighteen-year-old Aihui Ying dreams of becoming a world-class engineer like her father, but after his sudden murder, her life falls apart. Left with only a journal of her father’s engineering secrets and a jade pendant snatched from the assassin, a heartbroken Ying follows the trail to the capital and the prestigious Engineers Guild—a place that harbors her father’s hidden past—determined to discover why anyone would threaten a man who ultimately chose a quiet life over fame and fortune.

Disguised as her brother, Ying manages to infiltrate the guild’s male-only apprenticeship trial with the help of an unlikely ally—Aogiya Ye-yang, the taciturn eighth prince of the High Command. With her father’s renown placing a target firmly on her back, Ying must stay one step ahead of her fellow competitors, the jealous guild masters, and the killer still hunting for her father’s journal. Complicating everything is her increasingly tangled relationship with the prince, who may have mysterious plans of his own.

The secrets concealed within the guild can be as deadly as the weapons they build—and with her life and the future of her homeland at stake, Ying doesn’t know who to trust. Can she avenge her father even if it means going against everything he stood for, or will she be next in the mastermind’s line of fire?

MY THOUGHTS

Of Jade and Dragons was promoted as a Mulan retelling with a dash of Dystopian Steampunk. However, the only similarity to Mulan was when our heroine, Ying disguises herself as her older brother to be admitted to the Engineering Guild Trials; one to fulfill her father's legacy and secondly to find his murderer.

The world building was a little hard to understand. Of course, there's a hierarchy within the Kingdoms as well as the Engineering Guild. But there were too many characters with similar names, that left me confused most of the time.

Readers were told that only heirs of the aristocratic were allowed admittance into the prestigious guild. But thanks to happenstance Ying crosses path with a young prince who was able to nominate anyone and bypass registrations, earning her a one-way ticket into the trials. Now Ying's job is to find out why the assassin wanted Ying father's journal, stay alive, and pass the trials. 

Sadly, I didn't find myself connecting with Ying or the love interest, Prince Yang. Ying was supposed to be a prodigy, daughter of the most famous engineer the guild has ever seen, and yet she caused problems wherever she went. Also, the Mulan similarity and the aspect I loved the most was the hidden identiy and disguise trope but unfortunately, that fell to the way side and must've been pretty terrible to be discovered early on in barely chapter 4. 

Ying's relationship with the prince felt very two-dimensional and unbelievable. The two barely knew each other and perhaps spent less than a handful of times together. It was such a short amount of time that it was impossible that they felt as they did. At least, in my opinion. There was no chemistry, no spark, nada. The only saving grace were Ying's friends. One of the most memorable scenes and the best, actually, was during the second trial of hearts. Ying abandoned logic and risked everything to save her friends' lives. 

I thought the overall writing was just okay but most importantly it was easy to read. Nothing fancy or complicated. The pacing of the book was quite slow, which made getting into the book hard. It wasn't until I was 60% into the book that I felt more invested in the story. But the action and payoff didn't truly come until we were near the end, the last three chapters of the book. To be honest, if this wasn't a review book that I asked to read, I probably would've DNF it earlier on. 

In the end, Of Jade and Dragons didn't live up to my expectations or synopsis. I feel like within the last couple of years, there's been a ton of Asian-inspired Fantasy and Of Jade and Dragons just doesn't stand out in all that. The market has become so saturated and I'm here still trying to find that one book that stands out from all the rest. The one that has the spark. With that said, would I recommend Of Jade and Dragons? Sadly, no. And I will not be continuing with this series.

Gates of Stone by Angus Macallan



Title: Gates of Stone
Author: Angus Macallan
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Lord of the Islands # 1

Paperback, 544 pages
Publication: February 19, 2019 by Ace

Source: I received a review copy from the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

Buy|Amazon|B&N|

AN EMPEROR'S DAUGHTER WHO WILL NOT BE DENIED

Just before her sixteenth birthday, Princess Katerina is refused her rightful place as heir to the Empire of the Ice-Bear--solely because of her sex. Determined to regain her inheritance, she murders the foreign lord she's been ordered to marry and embarks on a perilous voyage to the lush, tropical islands of the Laut Besar in search of the vast wealth and power she needs to claim the Empire for herself.


A PRINCE FORCED TO TAKE A STAND

On a small island kingdom, Prince Arjun's idyllic life is shattered when a malignant sorcerer invades, slaughters his people and steals the sacred sword of Jun's ancestors. With his royal father dead and his palace in ruins, Jun reluctantly tracks the sorcerer and the magical blade far across the pirate-infested waters of the Laut Besar.

A SORCERER SEEKING TO DESTROY THE WORLD

Long ago the powerful relics known as the Seven Keys were used to safely lock away the terrifying evils of the Seven Hells. With Jun's ancient sword in his grasp, the sorcerer Mangku has claimed the first Key, and begun his mission to unleash catastrophe upon the land.

As the destinies of these three entwine in the lawless islands of the Laut Besar, the fate of humanity hangs in the balance. For if the sorcerer cannot be stopped, the world itself will be unmade...

There’s been a huge wave of POC/diverse novels and authors the past year which led to many Asian-Inspired novels. But it was something I saw more prevalent in the Young Adult genre. I haven’t seen many adult Asian Fantasy, at least none that piqued my interest until Gates of Stone. I was intrigued by the ambitious princess willing to do whatever it took to regain her throne and the prince on a quest to hunt his father’s killer. From reading the synopsis, I thought for sure the prince and princess’s path would cross and together they would fight the evil sorcerer hellbent on destroying the world…I was way, way off. 

Gates of Stone follows four characters in my opinion, not three. We have Katerina, Jun, Sorcerer Mangku and a sneaky merchant named Farhan. For about 85% of the book, the character’s stories are somewhat self contained, their threads don’t converge until the last 15% of the book, though some won’t meet face to face until the second book. What I liked about Gates of Stone was that Macallan used a medley of various Asian cultures, incorporating influences predominately from Indonesia, China, Japan and India. Something I don’t see often enough and done very well. 

I thought the world building was very complex and detailed. It was a bit difficult in the beginning keeping track of all the locations and characters mentioned but Macallan explained everything thoroughly and after a few chapters I was able to get into the flow of the writing and differentiate whose narrative I was reading. I also thought Macallan did an excellent job with the characters. Each character was unique in their personality, goals and flaws. However, none of them were good people or likeable…not even decent. This book was full of politics and everyone had their own agenda, doing everything and anything to get to the top of the ladder from bribery, lying to backstabbing and murder. And speaking of such, Gates of Stone is extremely graphic and violent, at times a bit too much and unnecessary in my opinion. It was so off-putting I had to stop reading and put it down for a length of time. Has anyone else noticed that fantasy (adult and YA) is getting darker and more brutal?  

Overall, Gates of Stone was a pretty good start to a new series. I may not be a fan of the characters, but I am still interested in seeing how everything plays out. Will Mangku succeed in finding all seven of the special artifacts? What will happen when Jun and Katerina meet? If you’re looking for a good Asian-inspired fantasy, then I think Gates of Stone is worth checking out, just be warned it is bloody violent and not for the faint of heart.