REVIEW: Autumn Princess, Dragon Child by Lian Hearn

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Autumn Princess, Dragon Child by Lian Hearn
Publishing information: paperback; 288pgs
Publisher: FSG Original; 7 June 2016
ISBN: 9780374536329
Series: The Tale of Shikanoko #2
Copy: Provided by publisher
Reviewer: Tyson

Amazon

Synopsis: "A self-assured warrior stumbles into a game of Go that turns fatal. An ambitious lord leaves his nephew for dead and seizes his lands. A stubborn father forces his son to give up his wife to his older brother. A powerful priest meddles in the succession to the Lotus Throne. A woman of the Old People seeks five fathers for her five children, who will go on to found the Spider Tribe and direct the fate of the country. As destiny weaves its tapestry in Lian Hearn's Tale of Shikanoko series, an emotionally rich and compelling drama plays out against a background of wild forests, elegant castles, hidden temples, and savage battlefields in Autumn Princess, Dragon Child."

I enjoyed Lian Hearn's last book in the series, Emperor of the Eight Islands (review here). However, in the second book in the series, Autumn Princess, Dragon Child, I found it hard to get into as I had difficulty remembering who all the players were. It also didn't help that the pacing felt a little disjointed.

Shikanoko's path seems to have gotten off the rails as he spends most of his time in the woods teaching demons how to behave, yet when the demons come to in contact with humankind they act impetuous and forget any training they received all those months. The child emperor is separated from his childhood friend and must learn to live as an entertainer, while the political landscape is constantly in flux as everyone looks to find themselves on the winning side once things settle down.

Autumn Princess, Dragon Child suffers from being the second book in a series of four and while some headway is made to advance the overall plot, the majority of the book feels like filler as we get set up for things to come.

Autumn Princess, Dragon Child was definitely not her best work but having enjoyed Hearn's previous series so I will continue on knowing she can write some brilliant passages and will more than likely pull the story out from the low point that this book was.

Overall 6/10
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