The Art of Prophecy: 1 (The War Arts Saga)

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Some of the other characters are doing their own thing. Qisami is pretty evil but she didn't kill that dog people... repeat.. she didn't kill that dog!!!!!!!

Una profecía. Un elegido con la misión de salvar al reino, enfrentarse al Kan Eterno y cumplir con su destino... Pero la profecía estaba equivocada pues el enemigo al que debía derrotar ha muerto. There was much bloodshed, many scenes of action, and lots of brawls, both magical and otherwise, to add tension and pacing to what was, otherwise, a densely political and constitutional read. These were, again, provided throughout all the perspectives and with increasing frequency as the novel continued.

The Art of Prophecy

It does begin with a prophecy: A child will rise to defeat the Eternal Khan, a cruel immortal god-king, and save the kingdom.

there were some points where i did get whiplashed/ thrown off guard by some plot choices, but they've never been strong enough to make me deeply upset. it never took away from my enjoyment. overall, this first book was a strong beginning in the sense that it satisfied the foundational worldbuilding and overarching plot set-up for future books while providing readers with lovable characters we can easily get attached to and root for. Speaking of female characters, one of the ways The Art of Prophecy stands out is that aside from Jian, all of the major POV characters in this book are female, which is so refreshing to see in epic fantasy. To round out the cast, we have Salimade, a high ranking member of the Khanate (the Great Evil™), who’s dealing with the repercussions of the death of her Khan. In many ways, Salimade and Taishi act as foils, both powerful older women having to deal with the younger generation’s messes. We also have Qisami, a flamboyant, snarky assassin and my least favorite character for reasons just listed. I cheered for her death but sadly it didn’t happen. Sali, our point of view character in the Grass Sea, is fantastic. With a very “takes-no-shit” attitude, Sali has a way with walking into a room and just owning it (she also has one of the coolest weapons I’ve ever read in fantasy). Sali is one of those characters I could sink into so easily, and yet while she has a hard edge and she’s prone to uh… hurting people who cross her, she has a spine crafted of loyalty and love to her people and those she cares about. She has her own moral core, and her raw humanity is what makes the Grass Sea, this incredible, strange place that Chu created, so intensely captivating and immersive.Ah, this year has been a thing that’s happened. I’m going to try to get in the habit of writing at least one review a week from now on, but I’ve been extremely busy and I just haven’t had time. So, here I am. This is an interesting fantasy setting that's inspired by wuxia drama and loosely analogous to China and the Eurasian Steppes during the time of the Khans. Jian is the prophesied hero meant to finally defeat the immortal Khan of the Grass Sea, and is being trained in a variety of martial arts under the auspices of martial arts masters commissioned by the five Dukes of his people. Taishi is a master the war arts who has come to assess Jian's readiness only to find a spoiled brat whose masters have trained in clashing styles. But then the immortal Khan dies at the hands of a simple soldier, and Jian has gone from being the hope of his people to being an embarrassment and a political liability as the five Dukes fall on each other vying for power. That last third really did a good job of bringing together the threads of the first two acts in a compelling way that was fun to read about, while also throwing an anchor into where the series was going to go from here. I like a fantasy that has a clear and direct aim, but it also set up a lot of possibilities and established a world that felt expansive enough to be able to adequately juggle some of the subplots that were also teased. There is an obvious similarity between Art of War and the War Arts Saga, but that isn’t where the inspiration came from. I spent many years training in “wushu” which is an alternate description for what we know as Kung Fu, which actually means to ‘work hard.’ I know, it gets a little confusing. The term “wu shu” has several meanings. The literal translation means “martial technique” or “military art”. I played these definitions and meanings to create the War Arts Saga for the series.

This is such an epic read!! I wasn’t sure what to expect as I don’t usually read books centered around martial arts that don’t have romance in them… but this was amazing!!! Taishi is an especially awesome character, being a combination of epic martial arts master and hilarious comedic relief. She is by far my favorite character. Although Jian really grew on me too. Chu is an accomplished martial artist and a former member of the Screen Actors Guild. He has acted in film and television, and has worked as a model and stuntman, and recently returned from summiting Kilimanjaro. He currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Paula, and two boys, Hunter and River.

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