What Asian authors have I been reading in the month of February? Mostly all authors that I’ve read before, but there are a few new faces in the mix this month, so lets dive in.
Mystery
Okay, if you’ve been here for a while, you will have seen the name Gigi Pandian pop up before. Her Staircase Mysteries series is one that I’ve been with since the start. Unfortunately, I think that we might be parting ways in the future. While the book is generally fine, and some folks might love this cozy mystery, I’m not finding that the set-up and characters are working for me any more. The decisions being made by the main character are frequently foolish and the mysteries are getting stupidly convoluted to the point where most of what’s happening feels overly contrived. I’m disappointed because I really loved book 2 in this series.
Urban Fantasy
Last month I mentioned that I had been on an Ilona Andrews bender. I ran out of books to read but was still in an urban fantasy mood so I decided to revisit the Chronicles of Elantra series by Japanese Canadian author Michelle Sagara. Now, when I re-read this series I usually start somewhere in the middle because all the main players that I love have arrived by that point. This time that meant starting with Cast in Honor which is book 11. I tried out the audiobook for this one, and it did not work for me. It wasn’t bad, but I’ve been reading about these folks for so long that I have voices and pronunciations already fixed in my heart for this world and the narrator wasn’t hitting the right beats for me.
Next up came book 12, Cast in Flight. This series is about a police detective in a magical world that includes a variety of immortal and mortal characters. Our main character, Kaylin, is an unusual human who collects friends from these different people groups. In this story, one of her Aerian co-workers (they have wings and can fly) is at the centre of a decades old political intrigue that has come to a head when her wings were damaged during a battle from book 10. I really enjoy this book because until now we haven’t seen a lot about the way that the Aerians live outside of the Halls of Law where Kaylin works.
Back in book 9, Kaylin took a trip to the West March, a country home of the Barrani people. The Barrani are an immortal race which falls somewhere in between high elves and vampires on the fantasy scale. In Cast in Deception, Kaylin is dealing with the aftermath of her visit to the West March. I used to read these book every year or two, and it has been a good long while since I last re-read these this time. I’m finding it great because while I have some vague ideas of where the story goes as a whole, I don’t remember the details of each individual volume anymore, so it’s almost like reading them fresh again.
Speaking of urban fantasy re-reads, back in 2023 I wrote a review of Ebony Gate by writing duo Julia Vee and Ken Bebelle. The third book in their Phoenix Hoard series is coming out this summer, so I figured that was as good a reason as any to do another re-read. Then my local public library notified me that they had gotten my requested copy in and since I want them to know that I will be reading these books if they buy them all, I headed over to check out the brand new hard cover copy. This series is so much fun. If you love dragons and Asian mythologies and culture then you should definitely check this out.
Book two in the Phoenix Hoard saga takes us back to Emiko’s hometown of Tokyo for a sort of Hunger Games style graduation ceremony at her brother’s magical high school. There are new characters and new magic introduced as we get to explore Emiko’s roots and relationships with her family. This story is just as good as the first one, and I love seeing the mystery of Emiko’s past unfold. It makes me super-excited to move on to book three Pearl City I almost don’t want to read it because I will be really sad to see the end of all these incredible characters. I really hope the authors will be inspired to re-visit this world in the future.
Cozy Fantasy
This month I was lucky to listen to an advanced copy of the newest novella in Tao Wong’s cozy magical kitchen series Hidden Dishes. Thaumaturgic Tapas is another slice of magical life story about a day where the restaurant decides to do a kitchen cleanout and serve nothing but tapas made mostly from leftover ingredients. As usual, the story is slow and soft with lots of philosophizing and detailed cooking descriptions. Unique to this story is the inclusion of a new staff member learning to bus the tables and serve the customers. I really love this series and really appreciate that there are audio versions made available.
Well, that’s all I managed to get in this month. I fell into the Dungeon Crawler Carl LitRPG hole and have been busy inhaling that series. Also, I’m making more time to watch dramas lately (yay!). What have y’all been reading lately? Or watching? Let me know!
