Kuang sharply critiques British imperialism and the bureaucratic institutions that hold it up - particularly academic scholarship and monarchy. Image: Harper Voyager Babel: Or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution by R.F. A series already beloved for its thorniness, Suri muddies the dynamics further in The Oleander Sword as political plots, romantic desires, and religious beliefs intertwine and clash in in engrossing and often heartbreaking ways. The rot continues to spread throughout the kingdom, and new revelations about the Yaska leave Priya and Bhumika reevaluating their people’s history and relationship to their faith. Malini’s brother is not the only threat facing the kingdom, though. But when the two women see an opportunity to come together to help each of their people, the lovestruck pair leap at the chance to reunite and end Parijatdvipa’s reign.
The Jasmine Throne ends with Malini’s and Priya’s paths diverging, as Malini wages her vengeful war against her brother to claim the throne and Priya steps into her role as an Elder of Ahiranya. While the first Burning Kingdoms book was a beautifully lush piece of world-building and slow-burn romance, The Oleander Sword is a brutal epic that relentlessly builds toward utter devastation. Image: Orbit The Oleander Sword by Tasha Suri But more than anything, The Spear Cuts Through Water is a love story, and one unlike anything you’ve read before. It’s a thoughtful exploration of identity and family. It’s a spellbinding tribute to oral storytelling and folklore. So, as I said, The Spear Cuts Through Water is many, many things. And his decision to consistently disrupt the primary story with the flowing thoughts of surrounding characters gives you the sense that you’re floating through this world, both tethered to and set free by Jimenez’s mesmerizing prose. The Spear Cuts Through Water recalls Gabriel García Márquez with its surreal fluidity, though the way Jimenez weaves together first-, second-, and third-person perspectives creates an immersive style just his own. But Jun and Keema’s adventure is actually being acted out in a magical theater in another dimension hundreds of years later, with the book’s narrative winds between Jun and Keema’s story, the performance of it, and the experience of one man watching from the audience - though he’s fated to forget what he’s witnessed as soon as he leaves the theater. At its core, it’s the tale of Jun and Keema, two strangers who help a fallen god escape her captivity at the hands of her cruel husband, the emperor, and their sons, aptly dubbed the Three Terrors. The Spear Cuts Through Water is many things. Image: Del Rey Books The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez
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