Strike the Zither

Kingdom of Three, Book 1

By: Joan He

Narrated by: Nancy Wu

A dazzling new fantasy from New York Times and indie bestselling author Joan He, Strike the Zither is a powerful, inventive, and sweeping fantasy that reimagines the Chinese classic tale of the Three Kingdoms.

The year is 414 of the Xin Dynasty, and chaos abounds. A puppet empress is on the throne. The realm has fractured into three factions and three warlordesses hoping to claim the continent for themselves.

But Zephyr knows it's no contest.

Orphaned at a young age, Zephyr took control of her fate by becoming the best strategist of the land and serving under Xin Ren, a warlordess whose loyalty to the empress is double-edged—while Ren's honor draws Zephyr to her cause, it also jeopardizes their survival in a war where one must betray or be betrayed. When Zephyr is forced to infiltrate an enemy camp to keep Ren's followers from being slaughtered, she encounters the enigmatic Crow, an opposing strategist who is finally her match. But there are more enemies than one—and not all of them are human.

©2022 Joan He (P)2022 Tantor

rushed

This book frustrated me. The plot seemed to rush from one thing to the next, without giving any moment impact. Every time I started to get invested, the subplot would seemingly abruptly wrap up, and we'd move on to the next thing. Character relationships felt superficial, making it hard to really get attached. I am interested in reading the sequel when it comes out, as the premise is interesting. I just hope the author is able to take the time to give moments more weight and flesh out character relationships.