It’s genuinely insane how intelligent Ken Liu is. His method is he writes more than he needs then finds the emotional core of the story and cuts everything else out.
I first learned of Ken Liu from his translation of "The Three Body Problem". To this day, that book is a top 5 all-time book for me; highly recommend it! Translation is by its nature transformative, and Ken Liu's writing shines through in the translation. Add that to the excellence of Cixin Liu (original author), and you have a masterpiece
If you like Grace of Kings, I would recommend Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay. It's insane how little attention Kay gets in the fantasy community despite having been around for years. His prose is also laser sharp, with not a single word feeling out of place. His characters are incredible and you get invested in a side character that might only be there for a page and a half but somehow feels instantly real and relatable. If you want action, you get it. If you want tragedy, you get the highest, most elegiac tragedy you could ask for. The world is so solid and breathing and liveable. Oh, and Tigana is also about people fighting to reclaim their homeland.
Oh girl! This is the vlog that sealed Yona for me…I’ve been on the fence, but NO MORE! Also I am for SURE going to be starting The Grace of Kings….right after I dive down The Magicians rabbit hole😂 Thanks for a lovely vlog!
I love how much you love the Grace of Kings! If you're interested you can read up on the historical background of the series. It's based on the Chu-Han conflict and I found it fascinating to see how Liu wrote with that as an inspiration! Also, the sequel legit hurt me so much😂🥲
Chapter 2 has a 10-page history lore dump, with no connections to characters or plot, just an inserted mini history lesson. I DNF'd Grace of Kings immediately after that.
Loving that you're loving GoK! Completely agree. "I would hate this normally, but I love how he writes it!" is definitely his writing style. Continue to scream.
The Grace of Kings seems like a fine read, and watching your progression through the story made me more interested. Also, the interludes were very good!
Grace of Kings does read like a history book, but we get all the characters' thoughts and emotions, so it's so much more engaging. It's about a period in the history of a whole continent, but the story revolves around Kuni and Mata. They are the main focus of the book, and their story is amazing. Ken Liu tells it perfectly. I agree with you, Merph, the book is phenominal. It's an all-time great for me.
I got the Grace of Kings from my library last year, but I only had 14 days to read a chonker. It was so good!! I requested The Fall of Storms, but I also had only 14 days to ready it and it was at least 100 pages longer than the first one. This vlog actually makes me want to pick it up again but start with The Grace of Kings because I'm sure I forgot most of it. I just need to get my own copies and read them at my own pace. You may never see this, but I highly recommend Fireborne by Rosaria Munda, it is a YA fantasy with dragons and many similar themes as The Grace of Kings. I love both of these for themes and characters.
Great vlog Merphy, your feelings about Grace of Kings are word for word exactly how I felt while reading! I ended up feeling like this was one of the greatest books I have ever read, and then somehow Book 2 is even better. It's mind boggling. Hope you enjoy when you get there!
I love grace of kings, it's great to see it's getting love now. It's got so many nods to real things that happened in history like the deer and horse. It's also deeply ingrained with daoist philosophy and critiques the cultural values of confucianism through out.
I think I have seen at least three vlogs out of order lol. But I love the trails in each of the vlogs. So nice to see them from this side of the screen, since I hate ticks so much that it at times makes me go "nahhh" to being in the woods anymore.
I had no idea you were so deep into the Yona manga!!! One Piece is the best manga series I’ve ever read but Yona is still my favorite and the series that got me into the medium in the first place. Love to see the love and someone getting caught up!!
I absolutely love Yona! I feel like, the story alone would be more in a middle ground for me, but I just love the characters and their relationships so much!
So happy to see this book getting lots of love among booktubers over the last year or so. It was always very divisive on goodreads, reddit, and other forums. It's absolutely one of my favorite books of all time and I agree with everything in this video. Book 1 is my favorite but there's still good stuff ahead.
I though you might have finished "The BoneHunters" by now. I think you will like Hellian who is a Female Sgt City Gaurd who joins the Malazan Army. Some folks don't like Hellian. I guess it would not be a good idea to start Bonehunters while being around so many distractions around at the Beach.😁 Hellian has a fear of spiders. I will try " Grace of Kings" Now Malazan is not a tragedy. If Hemmingway wrote Fantasy, it would be Malazan.
I just started Grace of Kings on Tuesday; I'm roughly 200 pages in, and I'm enjoying it so much! I agree that it's a very odd book, but it really works for me. I was also introduced to Ken Liu's writing through his short stories, specifically The Paper Menagerie (Levar Burton read it on his podcast, and I immediately fell so in love with the writing that I bought Grace of Kings - and then I didn't get around to reading it until this week).
I was worried I wasn't going to love it but that 2nd half was straight fire. Not saying the first half was bad (far from it) but I wasn't hooked yet. Of all the series I've started and haven't continued yet, DD is one of the ones I'm looking forward to restarting the soonest.
Oshi no Ko is the latest example of a series that I would vehemently hate on paper, but I love unendingly in oractice. I enjoyed the manga quite a bit, but I think the anime is on of the greatest adaptations of all time. And normally I prefer manga.
I love that this basically became a Grace of Kings vlog. I can't wait to get to this series! Definitely a super high priority in the second half of the year.
I read the first two books on Petrik's recommendation and i still think of scenes from that book. Everytime i remember anything from that book its just so visual i barely remember reading it, more than just experiencing it. Its so easy to get lost in these books, they are so immersive.
Gosh! You really sold me to on reading books from Ken Liu ( and i just realised he is the translator from Three Body Problem series!). Maybe I might start with his short stories and i'm excited to explore this author's work. p/s: your beach scene is very different than mine's (in Malaysia)😅 I thought yours looks more like a lake/ river than the ocean but i enjoy the interlude nontheless😊
Your initial feelings about The Grace of Kings echo my own. I started the series at the end of last year and devoured it. Gave every book 5 stars and I love that a lot of channels I follow have been picking up the series this year and loving it. But I have to give a shout out to Petrik who convinced me to try the series. If you love The Grace of Kings, you're in for treat in what I think is one of the greatest fantasy series ever written. It's currently my personal favorite series, even more than Stormlight Archive.
I've been awed by the cover of The Grace of Kings probably since it came out and pretty much every time I'm at the bookstore I pick up but I've always put it back down. Thank you, Merphy, for being the final straw! Next time I'll go to the bookstore, I won't have a choice. I MUST get it and I should've already....
For some reason I haven't watched any videos in quite some time, and I didn't know you were reading Yona! But I'm so happy you're enjoying it! It's one of my favorite manga series, I just love the characters
I couldn’t help but think Liu pacing in The Grace of Kings is reminiscent of an Eastern epic ballad. It on paper, and to a lot of people, would be jarring because it’s not how Western stories are told. Lyrical, but also straight forward if that makes any sense 😂
I cannot wait to read the Dandelion Dynasty. I've already got a lot of books planned for this year, but maybe I can fit in Grace of Kings sometime because I just keep hearing more and more fantastic things about it.
Can you please do a spoiler review that’s like one hour long or a discussion with other booktubers that’s like 3 hours long about the Grace of Kings? 😂That would be the dream! Grace of Kings is my favourite book this year so far, I‘m currently reading book 3 😊 Wall of Storms is also one of my favourite books but I have the unpopular opinion that I love Grace of Kings more
Grace of Kings is so good! The series is amazing too! I haven’t finished the last book yet but will soon. I love your take on how it’s written. You’re absolutely right.
Have been in an exausting grind with finishing up this semester's projects and preparing for the exams, here in portugal. Thanks for the vlog merph, always a joy to watch, and FOR SURE grace of kings is in my tbr now, seems right up my alley ❤
I finished the grace of Kings a few years ago I think I remember really enjoying it but I just never started the second book I got around to some other things and it was around with covid hit as well so I was just really busy be good nurse and all that jazz. When you start the second what baby all started then to enjoy it all that reading club thingy but jiggy
Merphy, in these past few vlogs, your reception to these Yona volumes continue to surprise me. Maybe I got it wrong, but I remember that when the flashback was happening, people in the subreddit weren't entirely happy. Therefore, you being so invested in it and happy with the reveals was refreshing. Also, it's kind of funny how you say that the story is going really fast because a big criticism this arc had in the beginning is how slow it was pacing-wise. Though on a binge, it is much quicker. Getting to read a new chapter every month gives a different impression. Regarding the sickness, I don't think that it affects her differently. It's more like that other character that has it is really good at hiding the symptoms and really composed, unless you're referring to someone else. Lastly, Ao made a new friend, and it's adorable. Additionally, Hak can't catch a break, Lol.
Two other characters, one in the present and one in the past Spoilers . . . . . . . Su-Won and Kashi I'm reading it with Merphy, and I personally think the difference is how their personalities were before they fell sick and Lady M was already a bit of a loose cannon.
I fell in love with this book just within the first three chapters! How the Zyndus and Kuni view the Xana Empire completely opposite to each other: Revenge from complete destruction of their family, status and independence vs a cosmopolitan mix of culture and end of endless small wars between the free nations at the expense of the “small folk”: 👨🍳 And then they become unlikely friends and later opponents: 👨🍳 👨🍳 👨🍳! Liu has said that while the book is based on the Qin and Han Dynasties of Ancient China, there are characters inspired by the American Founding Fathers (especially Jefferson and Franklin, with their declarations and inventions), a multiculturalism inspired as well of the US as the Tang Dynasty, the subtle interaction by the Gods as in the Iliad, Xana is as much Qin Dynasty as Imperial Japan occupying WW2 China, colonization both from the Manifest Destiny and the Sinification of Southern China and a Island slightly similar to Ireland in shape, how also was divided into smaller kingdoms and occupied by an Island Empire… And Cogu Yelu is perhaps the Fantasy character I find myself the most in! 😂
Great to hear you like The Grace of Kings, it had been on my TBR for a long time and seeing you talked about it just helped me decided it should be my next book
Great vlog! I’m about to start Yona so I’m excited 😆 oh where’d you get your one piece shirt? I’ve been looking for more v neck shirts that are anime but can’t find any 😢
Were you talking about Jia and Kuni at 2:45? If yes, wait till you read all the way through the rest of the series. Jia is easily the most interesting female character I've ever read and I have so much mixed feelings about her, in a good way! There are so many well-written female characters in this series and they're often the ones to push things forward. It's just funny how people criticize The Grace of Kings for the lack of female characters with their own agency and bam, Ken Liu pulled the ultimate UNO Reverse card -- introducing us to a wide variety of female characters with different motivations and desires, and then pushed all of these out into conspiracies and plans that thoroughly changed an entire nation's trajectory.
I never read GOK but I remember reafing a review about how he copied real history and people past the point of an homage, he just changed the names and passed it off as his own? That reviewer also said chinese people were bothered by the rip-off too. I obviously don't know myself, but I remembered that that's where I heard of the book from.
Hey quick question: are there by chance aspects of the way Ken Liu tells the story that, on paper, would turn you off of it, but, in practice, you surprisingly enjoy?
Important questions here. Where did you find that UK paperback of Grace of Kings? The US covers are hideous, but I can't find the UK ones available to actually purchase online anywhere.
I recently purchased Tress of the Emerald Sea and I'm very excited to start it. I haven't read any other Sanderson books. Can I start TOTES without having read any of his other works or are there any books I should read prior to this one?
You are absolutely fine to read Tress without reading any others If you've read other Cosmere books, then you'll have some lovely Easter Eggs to enhance but knowledge of those are not needed to understand or enjoy Tress.
A video set around a certain time frame (for Merphy it's a week of reading) where they show the journey of reading books - checking in with their thoughts while currently reading, rather than giving their thoughts after finishing - while sharing tidbits from their every day lives too.
As good as Malazan? No. Waaayyyy better than Malazan. Simple elegant prose. Intricate world. Great characters. Close to perfection. Malazan is boring. Ken Liu is great.
So happy you loved The Grace of Kings! You’ve now finished the prologue!! Nah just kidding… kind off The pacing will be much better but not different - I think the correct wording would be more aware of itself and the uses it has - in the second book but the feeling of short stories will still be there and as true but just in a more aware way. For me, if anyone likes the Kikoma plotline in Grace of Kings then you’re gonna love the rest of the series just based off of themes and storytelling. Also the Wall of Storms AND Bonehunters?!? Next month is going to be the death of me.🫶
It’s genuinely insane how intelligent Ken Liu is.
His method is he writes more than he needs then finds the emotional core of the story and cuts everything else out.
Honestly Brandon sandersons recent books could learn from that
That makes so much sense actually
The Dandelion Dynasty is ABSOLUTELY amazing!!!
I first learned of Ken Liu from his translation of "The Three Body Problem". To this day, that book is a top 5 all-time book for me; highly recommend it! Translation is by its nature transformative, and Ken Liu's writing shines through in the translation. Add that to the excellence of Cixin Liu (original author), and you have a masterpiece
If you like Grace of Kings, I would recommend Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay. It's insane how little attention Kay gets in the fantasy community despite having been around for years. His prose is also laser sharp, with not a single word feeling out of place. His characters are incredible and you get invested in a side character that might only be there for a page and a half but somehow feels instantly real and relatable. If you want action, you get it. If you want tragedy, you get the highest, most elegiac tragedy you could ask for. The world is so solid and breathing and liveable. Oh, and Tigana is also about people fighting to reclaim their homeland.
Oh girl! This is the vlog that sealed Yona for me…I’ve been on the fence, but NO MORE! Also I am for SURE going to be starting The Grace of Kings….right after I dive down The Magicians rabbit hole😂
Thanks for a lovely vlog!
I love how much you love the Grace of Kings! If you're interested you can read up on the historical background of the series. It's based on the Chu-Han conflict and I found it fascinating to see how Liu wrote with that as an inspiration! Also, the sequel legit hurt me so much😂🥲
Chapter 2 has a 10-page history lore dump, with no connections to characters or plot, just an inserted mini history lesson. I DNF'd Grace of Kings immediately after that.
Loving that you're loving GoK! Completely agree. "I would hate this normally, but I love how he writes it!" is definitely his writing style. Continue to scream.
The Grace of Kings seems like a fine read, and watching your progression through the story made me more interested. Also, the interludes were very good!
The Dandelion Dynasty series is PHENOMENAL!! Books 1 & 2 are some of the best books I’ve ever read ever!
Grace of Kings does read like a history book, but we get all the characters' thoughts and emotions, so it's so much more engaging.
It's about a period in the history of a whole continent, but the story revolves around Kuni and Mata. They are the main focus of the book, and their story is amazing. Ken Liu tells it perfectly.
I agree with you, Merph, the book is phenominal. It's an all-time great for me.
I got the Grace of Kings from my library last year, but I only had 14 days to read a chonker. It was so good!! I requested The Fall of Storms, but I also had only 14 days to ready it and it was at least 100 pages longer than the first one. This vlog actually makes me want to pick it up again but start with The Grace of Kings because I'm sure I forgot most of it. I just need to get my own copies and read them at my own pace.
You may never see this, but I highly recommend Fireborne by Rosaria Munda, it is a YA fantasy with dragons and many similar themes as The Grace of Kings. I love both of these for themes and characters.
Great vlog Merphy, your feelings about Grace of Kings are word for word exactly how I felt while reading! I ended up feeling like this was one of the greatest books I have ever read, and then somehow Book 2 is even better. It's mind boggling. Hope you enjoy when you get there!
I love grace of kings, it's great to see it's getting love now. It's got so many nods to real things that happened in history like the deer and horse. It's also deeply ingrained with daoist philosophy and critiques the cultural values of confucianism through out.
i love how most of these vlog you did in nature
I think I have seen at least three vlogs out of order lol. But I love the trails in each of the vlogs. So nice to see them from this side of the screen, since I hate ticks so much that it at times makes me go "nahhh" to being in the woods anymore.
Everytime I watch one of your videos with the nature interludes, I get the urge to go for a hike.
I had no idea you were so deep into the Yona manga!!! One Piece is the best manga series I’ve ever read but Yona is still my favorite and the series that got me into the medium in the first place. Love to see the love and someone getting caught up!!
Same. One Piece and Yona are constantly fighting for the #1 spot in my favorites list.
@@bastion4975 they’re both such great stories with amazing characters!
I absolutely love Yona! I feel like, the story alone would be more in a middle ground for me, but I just love the characters and their relationships so much!
So happy to see this book getting lots of love among booktubers over the last year or so. It was always very divisive on goodreads, reddit, and other forums. It's absolutely one of my favorite books of all time and I agree with everything in this video. Book 1 is my favorite but there's still good stuff ahead.
I though you might have finished "The BoneHunters" by now. I think you will like Hellian who is a Female Sgt City Gaurd who joins the Malazan Army. Some folks don't like Hellian.
I guess it would not be a good idea to start Bonehunters while being around so many distractions around at the Beach.😁 Hellian has a fear of spiders. I will try " Grace of Kings"
Now Malazan is not a tragedy. If Hemmingway wrote Fantasy, it would be Malazan.
Your enthusiasm is very contagious! 😮
I just started Grace of Kings on Tuesday; I'm roughly 200 pages in, and I'm enjoying it so much! I agree that it's a very odd book, but it really works for me.
I was also introduced to Ken Liu's writing through his short stories, specifically The Paper Menagerie (Levar Burton read it on his podcast, and I immediately fell so in love with the writing that I bought Grace of Kings - and then I didn't get around to reading it until this week).
Just finished Grace of Kings last week and it’s an instant top-5 books of all time for me. Happy to hear you also loved it!
This GoK praise pleases me greatly
I was worried I wasn't going to love it but that 2nd half was straight fire. Not saying the first half was bad (far from it) but I wasn't hooked yet. Of all the series I've started and haven't continued yet, DD is one of the ones I'm looking forward to restarting the soonest.
Oshi no Ko is the latest example of a series that I would vehemently hate on paper, but I love unendingly in oractice. I enjoyed the manga quite a bit, but I think the anime is on of the greatest adaptations of all time. And normally I prefer manga.
I love that this basically became a Grace of Kings vlog. I can't wait to get to this series! Definitely a super high priority in the second half of the year.
I’m glad to see The Dandelion Dynasty getting some love. I love how different the writing style is.
I picked this up because you mentioned Wall of Storms on your main channel. I also loved it instantly and did not mind the nonstandard storytelling
Picked up Grace of Kings today! Several people on and off BookTube have been talking about it. You’re enthusiasm for it tipped the scales. ❤❤❤
My latest obsession is watching and reading the Shining and consuming every theory on the movie ever devised
I read the first two books on Petrik's recommendation and i still think of scenes from that book. Everytime i remember anything from that book its just so visual i barely remember reading it, more than just experiencing it. Its so easy to get lost in these books, they are so immersive.
Gosh! You really sold me to on reading books from Ken Liu ( and i just realised he is the translator from Three Body Problem series!). Maybe I might start with his short stories and i'm excited to explore this author's work.
p/s: your beach scene is very different than mine's (in Malaysia)😅 I thought yours looks more like a lake/ river than the ocean but i enjoy the interlude nontheless😊
Same, we are at a beach in Florida and it’s pretty crowded. So spent some time and the deck reading
Your initial feelings about The Grace of Kings echo my own. I started the series at the end of last year and devoured it. Gave every book 5 stars and I love that a lot of channels I follow have been picking up the series this year and loving it. But I have to give a shout out to Petrik who convinced me to try the series. If you love The Grace of Kings, you're in for treat in what I think is one of the greatest fantasy series ever written. It's currently my personal favorite series, even more than Stormlight Archive.
I've been awed by the cover of The Grace of Kings probably since it came out and pretty much every time I'm at the bookstore I pick up but I've always put it back down. Thank you, Merphy, for being the final straw! Next time I'll go to the bookstore, I won't have a choice. I MUST get it and I should've already....
I hope you love it!!
despite the praise for the grace of kings in booktube I didn't think it would be my type. You've convinced me 😄, it's going to the top of my TBR
Yona is so good! Love that you're loving Yona. It's the best.
For some reason I haven't watched any videos in quite some time, and I didn't know you were reading Yona! But I'm so happy you're enjoying it! It's one of my favorite manga series, I just love the characters
I love the UK covers!! It’s on the top of my TBR. So may books, so little time!
Got the audiobook version even before the video was completed. Can't wait to dive right in.
I just started reading "Under the Black Flag" and it's so fun, Merphy, your pirate fever must be contagious :D
I couldn’t help but think Liu pacing in The Grace of Kings is reminiscent of an Eastern epic ballad. It on paper, and to a lot of people, would be jarring because it’s not how Western stories are told. Lyrical, but also straight forward if that makes any sense 😂
Now I have to read The Grace of Kings quick!
I loved Grace of Kings! made me want to read Paper Menagerie, which was beautiful. Need to pick back up the series and finish.
I cannot wait to read the Dandelion Dynasty. I've already got a lot of books planned for this year, but maybe I can fit in Grace of Kings sometime because I just keep hearing more and more fantastic things about it.
Can you please do a spoiler review that’s like one hour long or a discussion with other booktubers that’s like 3 hours long about the Grace of Kings? 😂That would be the dream! Grace of Kings is my favourite book this year so far, I‘m currently reading book 3 😊 Wall of Storms is also one of my favourite books but I have the unpopular opinion that I love Grace of Kings more
Grace of Kings is so good! The series is amazing too! I haven’t finished the last book yet but will soon. I love your take on how it’s written. You’re absolutely right.
Have been in an exausting grind with finishing up this semester's projects and preparing for the exams, here in portugal. Thanks for the vlog merph, always a joy to watch, and FOR SURE grace of kings is in my tbr now, seems right up my alley ❤
I finished the grace of Kings a few years ago I think I remember really enjoying it but I just never started the second book I got around to some other things and it was around with covid hit as well so I was just really busy be good nurse and all that jazz. When you start the second what baby all started then to enjoy it all that reading club thingy but jiggy
Okay, I’m buying the The Grace of Kings TODAY!
OK. I'm reading it. Totally into it. You gave me goosebumps this time, jerk face. Thank you.
Merphy, in these past few vlogs, your reception to these Yona volumes continue to surprise me. Maybe I got it wrong, but I remember that when the flashback was happening, people in the subreddit weren't entirely happy. Therefore, you being so invested in it and happy with the reveals was refreshing. Also, it's kind of funny how you say that the story is going really fast because a big criticism this arc had in the beginning is how slow it was pacing-wise. Though on a binge, it is much quicker. Getting to read a new chapter every month gives a different impression.
Regarding the sickness, I don't think that it affects her differently. It's more like that other character that has it is really good at hiding the symptoms and really composed, unless you're referring to someone else.
Lastly, Ao made a new friend, and it's adorable. Additionally, Hak can't catch a break, Lol.
Two other characters, one in the present and one in the past
Spoilers
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.
.
.
.
.
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Su-Won and Kashi
I'm reading it with Merphy, and I personally think the difference is how their personalities were before they fell sick and Lady M was already a bit of a loose cannon.
You just convinced me to put The Grace of Kings on my tbr :D
I fell in love with this book just within the first three chapters! How the Zyndus and Kuni view the Xana Empire completely opposite to each other: Revenge from complete destruction of their family, status and independence vs a cosmopolitan mix of culture and end of endless small wars between the free nations at the expense of the “small folk”: 👨🍳 And then they become unlikely friends and later opponents: 👨🍳 👨🍳 👨🍳!
Liu has said that while the book is based on the Qin and Han Dynasties of Ancient China, there are characters inspired by the American Founding Fathers (especially Jefferson and Franklin, with their declarations and inventions), a multiculturalism inspired as well of the US as the Tang Dynasty, the subtle interaction by the Gods as in the Iliad, Xana is as much Qin Dynasty as Imperial Japan occupying WW2 China, colonization both from the Manifest Destiny and the Sinification of Southern China and a Island slightly similar to Ireland in shape, how also was divided into smaller kingdoms and occupied by an Island Empire…
And Cogu Yelu is perhaps the Fantasy character I find myself the most in! 😂
I think you are further in Yona od the Dawn than I ever got at this point. I got to read it up too
Hopefully you try Mushishi too
Another five stars video love it and love you and your amazing family love your Aussie family friend John ❤❤❤
Great to hear you like The Grace of Kings, it had been on my TBR for a long time and seeing you talked about it just helped me decided it should be my next book
Thank you Meprhy the interludes😭 this made my day...
Great vlog! I’m about to start Yona so I’m excited 😆 oh where’d you get your one piece shirt? I’ve been looking for more v neck shirts that are anime but can’t find any 😢
Let's go!!! We got another one! I hope you enjoy the amazing story that is Yona of the Dawn.
If Erikson is a modern day Homer, everything I've heard about Liu suggests he's a modern day Tolstoy. I have book one on a pile, very near the top.
Ok you've made me decide to give the first book a try at some point while I wait to hear what you think of book 2😂
Were you talking about Jia and Kuni at 2:45? If yes, wait till you read all the way through the rest of the series. Jia is easily the most interesting female character I've ever read and I have so much mixed feelings about her, in a good way! There are so many well-written female characters in this series and they're often the ones to push things forward. It's just funny how people criticize The Grace of Kings for the lack of female characters with their own agency and bam, Ken Liu pulled the ultimate UNO Reverse card -- introducing us to a wide variety of female characters with different motivations and desires, and then pushed all of these out into conspiracies and plans that thoroughly changed an entire nation's trajectory.
I never read GOK but I remember reafing a review about how he copied real history and people past the point of an homage, he just changed the names and passed it off as his own? That reviewer also said chinese people were bothered by the rip-off too.
I obviously don't know myself, but I remembered that that's where I heard of the book from.
As if my TBR wasn't large enough, Grace of Kings sounds too amazing to pass. Ugh. I don't want another 4 volume series, but I can't help myself.
Added on the to read list.
I’m literally reading book 3
I started Malazan because of how you compared it to First Law. Would you draw parallels to First Law too?
Hey quick question: are there by chance aspects of the way Ken Liu tells the story that, on paper, would turn you off of it, but, in practice, you surprisingly enjoy?
I'm a simple man. I see Grace of Kings. I click
🧡📚🧡📚🧡📚🧡
Where can I get the beautiful pink version of this book?
@bookborn you are summoned by Merph witch 😂
😂
@@merphynapierreviews these vlogs are a mood, Merph. 👏👏
💕💕💕
Important questions here. Where did you find that UK paperback of Grace of Kings? The US covers are hideous, but I can't find the UK ones available to actually purchase online anywhere.
Amazon! I just googled “Grace of Kings special edition” and followed the Amazon link 😂
Great vlog but that music is creepy 😂 !
I recently purchased Tress of the Emerald Sea and I'm very excited to start it. I haven't read any other Sanderson books. Can I start TOTES without having read any of his other works or are there any books I should read prior to this one?
You are absolutely fine to read Tress without reading any others
If you've read other Cosmere books, then you'll have some lovely Easter Eggs to enhance but knowledge of those are not needed to understand or enjoy Tress.
I agree with Lynn. You can absolutely read "Tress of the Emerald Sea" without having read anything else from Sanderson.
Thank you! I can't wait to read it
I was also enjoying Grace of Kings until about the halfway point when it got sooo tedious. DNF'd at 52%. Great prose, god-awful storytelling.
Has Merphy read Murderbot?
Yes she has
What is meaning of "Reading vlog"?
A video set around a certain time frame (for Merphy it's a week of reading) where they show the journey of reading books - checking in with their thoughts while currently reading, rather than giving their thoughts after finishing - while sharing tidbits from their every day lives too.
@@Lynn-CA 🤟 yuuppp interludes are great too...
@@Lynn-CA arigato!
As good as Malazan? No. Waaayyyy better than Malazan. Simple elegant prose. Intricate world. Great characters. Close to perfection. Malazan is boring. Ken Liu is great.
So happy you loved The Grace of Kings! You’ve now finished the prologue!! Nah just kidding… kind off
The pacing will be much better but not different - I think the correct wording would be more aware of itself and the uses it has - in the second book but the feeling of short stories will still be there and as true but just in a more aware way. For me, if anyone likes the Kikoma plotline in Grace of Kings then you’re gonna love the rest of the series just based off of themes and storytelling.
Also the Wall of Storms AND Bonehunters?!? Next month is going to be the death of me.🫶