I'd seen this book in my local book shop for weeks and though I was draw to the dandelion on the cover I never picked it up. Then when doing one of my monthly hunts for upcoming books I came across Ken Liu's pending short story collection 'The Paper Menagerie and other stories' and the cover was simple and effect, the description enough to make me type his name into a search engine and up popped The Grace of Kings.
This is not a light read. Its detail is dense, but Liu has a lightness of touch that lets you move though it. At times I felt like I was reading a historical thesis however its reads so fluidly, with such care to detail and wonderful pacing of information that I loved every minute of it. You do feel compassion for the characters, joy at their successes and sorrow at their failures (and the occasional panic that you might know what's coming).
If I was going to poke any holes it would be a slight over anticipation of invention brought on by the jacket's blurb. There are no lies, it all features, but I was looking forward to a slightly more mechanical world. Never the less I would highly recommend this book.
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