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Author: Wesley Chu

Format: Audiobook (Narrator: Natalie Naudus)

The last two books of the War Arts Saga continue and finish the story of Wen Jian, Ling Taishi, Maza Qisami, and Salminda (see the other review I guess). Overall, I enjoyed the series (as evidenced by burning through these books in like 2 weeks). The setting is fun, the characters are very enjoyable to watch develop and grow, and the writing is overall pretty solid. That said, the overall pace of the books definitely felt a lot slower than I expected. Wesley Chu is seemingly really good at putting the main characters in Scenarios and watching them flounder through each scenario in succession, but it really doesn’t feel like there’s much of an overarching narrative like you might expect from other high fantasy series. It really feels as if another half book could’ve worked to flesh the world and the overall story out, though the haphazard stumbling through the plot thematically resonates with the constant reminder that Destiny does not really exist per se; the world is molded by a series of decisions made by fallible humans and a shit ton of luck.

This is especially noticable in the ending, which feels quite rushed, though the overall story beats are generally good / make sense. In the end [minor spoilers], all the MC’s come together for basically a single chapter, with barely any space devoted to any one of them. In the end, this means that Wen Jian is kinda thrown aside in favour of Sali / Qisami / Taishi — this feels intentional given that the prophesied hero not being really that heroic is the foundation of the series, but still comes across as odd because, other than this point, Wen Jian is still generally treated by the narrative and characters as the primary main character. I do wonder how much my experience would’ve differed if I hadn’t burned through the audiobooks this quickly; I suspect these things would feel a bit more drawn out just reading.

There were some other clumsy parts stylistically (how often do I need to be reminded that Ling Taishi is old?) but these were mostly overlookable because the characters were compelling enough. The name spellings still baffle me though — I swear every Jun name is pronounced like a Mandarin name and then I look at the actual spellings (helpfully provided in a character guide / list with the final audiobook) and it’s some weird mix of pinyin, Wade-Giles, Gwoyeu Romatzyh, and then some guy just making shit up. It didn’t help probably that the narrator (otherwise great) pronounced “r-“ closer to “zh-“ half the time.

SPOILER THOUGHTS
  • I think the overall resolution — the Oracle and the Khan are two paired god-like figures — makes a lot of sense, and was pretty well hinted at in earlier books
    • That said, the execution felt a bit off — the Oracle shows up and the Khan immediately gives up. I would’ve liked a bit at least a little bit hinting that the Khan at all would’ve done that.
    • Even with the running joke that the prophecy doesn’t mean shit, it’s clear that it actually does mean something even if not in the way most people think. But then Wen Jian doesn’t really even fulfill it ??
  • On the other hand, I didn’t find Taishi staying with the Oracle really fit; it’s like fine but she’s repeatedly emphasized how much her life now revolves around her kids (Zo Fi / Wen Jian)
  • Qisami is def the best developed of the mc’s overall, I really enjoyed her arc going from deranged assassin to deranged assassin who likes taking care of little kids.
    • Highkey, Sali mostly changes as soon as she discovers the truth about the Khan and Wen Jian/Taishi mostly develop through the timeskips between books
    • Why did Wesley Chu make Qisami bi instead of a lesbian though she really didn’t have to find the Khan insanely attractive Sun Ri could’ve done that idk.
      • Mostly a slight annoyance in a series where basically everyone is fantasy-pansexual
  • Poor Xin De