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Book Reviewed by:A sweeping debut inspired by the Chinese folk practice of necromancy, Deathly Fates is perfect for fans of Descendant of the Crane, The Bone Shard Daughter, and A Magic Steeped in Poison.
As a priestess paid to guide the deceased home, Kang Siying has never feared death. However, when her beloved father collapses, Siying realizes that even she is not free from the cruel grasp of mortality. Desperate to provide her father with the medical aid he needs, Siying accepts a dangerous job that promises a generous commission, and travels to a hostile state to retrieve the corpse of a missing prince.
But the moment Siying places her reanimation talisman on the dead prince's head, rather than make the corpse obedient to Siying's commands, the talisman brings the prince back to life. Worse, he won't stay alive for long―not unless he absorbs enough qi, or life force, to keep his soul anchored to his body.
In return for a reward worth twice her original commission, Siying agrees to aid the frustratingly handsome prince in finding and purifying evil spirits for their qi. As they journey across the countryside, encountering vengeful ghosts and enemy spies alike, they gradually uncover dark secrets about the prince's death―secrets that could endanger both Siying's father and their entire kingdom.
Chapter One
As always, I smelled death before I saw it. The odor was gut-deep, a blend of sickly-sweet and putrid rot. Most humans rushed away from such a scent, not toward it.
But I was a ganshi priestess, a shepherd of the dead, and I'd been offered forty thousand silvers to retrieve a corpse from enemy territory.
I approached the abandoned battleground, a large, rugged
field. The yellowed grass had been trampled by heavy boots and horse hooves, human waste mixing with mud made from past ram.
People always assumed the iron tang of blood would be strongest, if blood was present at all in death. But it was the stench of excrement, released after the body's muscles failed, that prompted me to wrap a scarf around my nose and mouth.
Accustomed to death as I was, I couldn't help but shudder as I took in the field. Roughly a hundred dead Sian soldiers littered the cursed ground. Arrows and spears jutted from the earth like snapped bones. Even the trees framing one side of the land looked forlorn,...
The travel sequences, which move slowly before culminating in a boss battle against an evil spirit, feel a bit disjointed... These battles are also where the novel reflects on the nature of death from the perspectives of both the living and the deceased, which imbue them with additional significance. Although Siying is an accomplished priestess, her face-offs with evil spirits aren't as straightforward as she expected. Despite their evil actions, these spirits are also suffering from the circumstances of their deaths, and Siying genuinely wants to help them find peace...continued
Full Review
(922 words)
(Reviewed by Jordan Lynch).
Amber Chen, UK #1 bestselling author of Of Jade and Dragons
Deathly Fates is a lush and mesmerizing tale that blends adventure with mystery, and is also deeply heartfelt in the way it explores the responsibilities that we bear to the ones we care about. Siying and Ren are two of my favorite characters to ever grace the page, and their journey and growth will keep you captivated throughout. This is a debut not to be missed! Chloe Gong, #1 New York Times bestselling author of These Violent Delights
Rich and wholeheartedly poignant. Deathly Fates sings with profound spirit, exploring the consequences of war and the scars cut by nobility during trying times. An entrancing world that will certainly linger. Xiran Jay Zhao, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Iron Widow
Beauty and sorrow intertwine in Deathly Fates, whose gorgeous, atmospheric prose will transport you right to the forests and towns of a Chinese-inspired fantasy world where ganshi necromancy is practiced. Eldest daughter Siying's tenacious love for her family will resonate with anyone who has carried more responsibility on their shoulders for their loved ones than they should have to. A poetic gem of a book that will linger in your soul long after the final page.
In Tesia Tsai's debut novel Deathly Fates, Kang Siying is a ganshi priestess who reanimates corpses in order to guide them back to their home for burial. This fantastical premise is based off of the historical occupation of "corpse-driving" or "corpse-herding"—gǎn shī—a tradition that stretches back centuries in the Xiangxi region of the Hunan province in central China. In legend, corpse-driving was performed by Taoist priests who used sorcery to reanimate dead bodies for transport.
During the Qing dynasty, which began in 1644 AD and lasted until 1912, Chinese custom required that bodies be buried in the soil of their hometown, so that the individual could become a proper ancestor; if not returned, the spirit ...
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