Book Review | Tales of the Celestial Kingdom

In Tales of the Celestial Kingdom by Sue Lynn Tan, we revisit the enchanting world and characters of The Celestial Kingdom duology through a new collection of short stories. As a nice thematic touch, the book is divided into three parts: Dusk, Twilight, Dawn.

The Dusk section serves as a prequel to the series and follows the legend of the sunbird from both Change'e and Houyi's perspectives.

The Twilight section takes place during the events of Daughter of the Moon Goddess and Heart of the Sun Warrior. Here we get a story about Wenzhi and Xingyin fighting a bone devil together, which I was happy to see since my one complaint about the first novel is that their relationship didn’t get enough screen time or development.

Then Dawn serves almost as an extra epilogue to the series—allowing readers to further glimpse into the characters’ lives following the events of the sequel.

Lastly, I want to mention that the book gorgeous illustrations on the inside, which I really appreciate and honestly wish more adult fantasy novels included.

Overall, these stories are told through Lynn Tan's signature lush prose and I'm sure this collection will delight fans of the series (and especially fans of Wenzhi).

Thank you, Netgalley and Harper Voyager, for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Book Details:

Publication Date : February 6, 2024

Publisher : Harper Voyager

ISBN: ‎ 0063326698

Pages : 176

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