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Welcome to the Sunday Post, a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer to share weekly news and updates on what we’ve been up to on our blog, with our books, and book-related happenings.
The First Week of School
I was quite overwhelmed this first week of school! It wasn’t so much the courses, but all the setups and signups and logins, and apps and softwares I had to install for the courses. It’s been such a long while since I went to college as a young adult and now everything has been digitized! I don’t necessarily have a problem with technology, and in fact, I like having the courses available online, but I don’t like having so many different apps for so many different things!
Maybe this is karma; I used to complain about my parents being technology dinosaurs when I was a teenager and this is the Universe’s way of paying me back! 😂
It was a really busy week nevertheless, and I wasn’t able to read as much as I wanted but I did manage a couple of books! Plus I caught up on a few reviews! Hopefully, things will settle down once I get all the setups done, but I know I also have a lot of study and assignments and exams ahead of me. Is it too soon to start complaining? 😅
The Books
Books I read last week:
Dragons of Winter Night by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman – The second book in the Dragonlance Chronicles series. Things escalated a lot faster than I expected but I am still very invested in the story and the characters. The ending was crazy but I started the next book already because I needed to find out what happens next!
Taste by Stanley Tucci – I loved listening to Tucci talk about his relationship with the people in his life through the lens of food and the meals he has with them. He’s such a personable character and I love his work in the acting world as well.
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami – I picked up this book because of the subject matter and not the author. I’ve never read a single book by Murakami before this one, but I’m very impressed and inspired by his dedication to everything he does in life, including his running, and it has made me curious and wanting to read his books.
Books I’m reading:
Dragons of Spring Dawning by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman – Just recently started so there’s not much to say yet. I just really want all my favorite characters to be okay!
If I can, I’ll get the rest of the Dragonlance Chronicles finished this week. It’s been so many years, I just want to feel that resolution to the story. But I do have a couple of other series in the Dragonlance universe to read after this, though I will try to finish other series I’ve started before starting a new one!
How was your week? I hope you had a great week last week, and I hope you have a great one again this week!
Dragons of Winter Night by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
With the return of the dragon minions of Takhisis, the Queen of Dragons, the land of Krynn has become more dangerous than ever. But as the nations of Krynn prepare to fight for their homes, their lives, and their freedom, longstanding hatreds and prejudices interfere. When fighting breaks out among the races, it seems the battle is lost before it even begins.
Meanwhile, the heroic Companions have been torn apart by war. A full season will pass before they meet again—if they meet again. Raistlin has made an ominous prediction, one that implies not all of the Companions will survive the fight. His warning, along with sinister dreams, haunt the friends as they search for the weapons that will stop the Dark Queen in her tracks: the mysterious Dragon Orbs and legendary Dragonlance.
Another riveting tale in the Dragonlance Chronicles, Dragons of Winter Night is an action-packed adventure in which the true value of love and friendship is measured against the backdrop of a catastrophic war between good and evil.
They won their first real battle in the war for Krynn, but the war has only just begun for the Companions! Friendships born in conflict will be torn apart. Hope will rest on the shoulders of a disgraced Knight and his two inexperienced companions. Worlds long divided by hatred and prejudice will either band together in a last struggle against darkness – or perish for all time.
“If we deny love that is given to us, if we refuse to give love because we fear the pain of loss, then our lives will be empty, our loss greater.”
“Do not enter with defeat in your heart for that is the first victory of evil.”
“Why insult the door’s purpose by locking it?” is a favorite kender expression.”
“Be thankful you can feel pity and horror at the death of an enemy. The day we cease to care, even for our enemies, is the day we have lost this battle.”
The Narrator(s)
Paul Boehmer. Still perfect!
My Thoughts
This second book in the series was so much darker than the first one! It surprised me because there are two more books in the series and this seemed like a huge escalation from the first to second book as opposed to gradual escalation throughout the books. The stakes are higher now, and the Companions’ lives are very much in peril. I was very invested in everything that happened to them; I didn’t like the fact that they kept getting separated, and that there was so much internal conflict between themselves. There was some levity, as there always is with a kender in the mix, and that at least kept me sane! You know I love Tasslehoff!
As of this writing I haven’t started the next book yet, but right now I am completely devastated by the ending. I am hoping that we’ll get more clarity in the next books because I don’t see how we can move forward like this! I have forgotten everything about the books because it’s been decades since I read them but I am completely enthralled by the story once again and I’m excited to finish the series!
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
This Dungeons & Dragons-inspired fantasy adventure is the first installment in the beloved Dragonlance Chronicles, set in the magical world of Krynn.
Once merely creatures of legend, the dragons have returned to Krynn. But with their arrival comes the departure of the old gods—and all healing magic. As war threatens to engulf the land, lifelong friends reunite for an adventure that will change their lives and shape their world forever . . .
When Tanis, Sturm, Caramon, Raistlin, Flint, and Tasslehoff see a woman use a blue crystal staff to heal a villager, they wonder if it’s a sign the gods have not abandoned them after all. Fueled by this glimmer of hope, the Companions band together to uncover the truth behind the gods’ absence—though they aren’t the only ones with an interest in the staff. The Seekers, a new religious order, wants the artifact for their own ends, believing it will help them replace the gods and overtake the continent of Ansalon. Now, the Companions must assume the unlikely roles of heroes if they hope to prevent the staff from falling into the hands of darkness.
Lifelong friends, they went their separate ways. Now they are together again, though each holds secrets from the others in his heart. They speak of a world shadowed with rumors of war. They speak of tales of strange monsters, creatures of myth, creatures of legend. They do not speak of their secrets. Not then. Not until a chance encounter with a beautiful, sorrowful woman, who bears a magical crystal staff, draws the companions deeper into the shadows, forever changing their lives and shaping the fate of the world.
“Say that our lives are measured not by gain but by giving.”
“People want to believe in something—even if, deep inside, they know it is false.”
“He said kenders were small because we were meant to do small things. ‘If you look at all the big things in the world closely,’ he said, ‘you’ll see that they’re really made up of small things all joined together.’ That big dragon down there comes to nothing but tiny drops of blood, maybe. It’s the small things that make the difference.”
“We do not mourn the loss of those who die fulfilling their destinies.”
The Narrator(s)
Paul Boehmer. I really like his narration and the different voices he makes for the different characters; they really bring the characters to life!
My Thoughts
It was so nice to revisit this story and some of my favorite characters. Tasslehoff Burrfoot, the kender, I’m sure would be an annoying friend to have in real life, but he’s so funny and adorable in the book and I always look forward to scenes with him and his antics! Raistlin is another standout character; I don’t necessarily like him as a person, but he is the most fascinating character and I want to know more about him.
We also meet a couple of non-main characters in this book; Fizban, an absent-minded wizard, and Bupu, a sweet gully dwarf, that are hilarious and I love reading about them! The plot is also really good, don’t get me wrong, it’s just that the characters are the best part of the series. The first time I read this series was decades ago so I was more easily impressed and although the details of the story didn’t stay with me, the impression it made on me certainly did, and I’m glad to say I still love the story and the characters decades later!
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
Magic has made the city of Tiran an industrial utopia, but magic has a cost—and the collectors have come calling.
An orphan since the age of four, Sciona has always had more to prove than her fellow students. For twenty years, she has devoted every waking moment to the study of magic, fueled by a mad desire to achieve the impossible: to be the first woman ever admitted to the High Magistry. When she finally claws her way up the ranks to become a highmage, however, she finds that her challenges have just begun. Her new colleagues will stop at nothing to let her know she is unwelcome, beginning with giving her a janitor instead of a qualified lab assistant.
What neither Sciona nor her peers realize is that her taciturn assistant was once more than a janitor; before he mopped floors for the mages, Thomil was a nomadic hunter from beyond Tiran’s magical barrier. Ten years have passed since he survived the perilous crossing that killed his family. But working for a highmage, he sees the opportunity to finally understand the forces that decimated his tribe, drove him from his homeland, and keep the Tiranish in power.
Through their fractious relationship, mage and outsider uncover an ancient secret that could change the course of magic forever—if it doesn’t get them killed first. Sciona has defined her life by the pursuit of truth, but how much is one truth worth with the fate of civilization in the balance?
A standalone dark academia brimming with mystery, tragedy, and the damning echoes of the past. For fans of Leigh Bardugo, V. E. Schwab, and Fullmetal Alchemist.
For the Reading Challenge(s): N/A
The Reason
I’d been curious about the author because of another one of their books, and one of my friends convinced me to read this one as a buddy read.
The Quotes
“It’s much easier to tell yourself you’re a good person than it is to actually be one.”
“The question isn’t: How do I stop feeling this way? That’s stupid. I can’t. The question is: What can I do with this feeling?”
“So many parents will try to kill everything brilliant about a girl in the name of giving her a good life, a safe life, a chance at happiness.”
“Because good people can turn desperate when the horrors are upon them—especially people whose culture of plenty has left them with no systems to cope with scarcity or cataclysm. Good people will turn monstrous when it’s down to their survival or someone else’s.”
My Thoughts
This story was so brutal and hard hitting. It’s not what I expected because I thought there would be more magic study, more learning, advancements of the craft, more feminism and women breaking into the Magistry as Highmage, but instead, it’s a whole riot and revolution that happens so quickly, and with so much destruction! I’m not sure yet what I think about the direction the story went with all this destruction, but the storytelling itself is great. All that teaching through dialogue is not an easy thing to do without boring the reader, but I found it interesting and now I’m a little sad that this is a standalone and there’s not more to the story.
The thing that stands out most to me is definitely the denial of truth when it interferes with your comfort and way of life. We all do that to an extent, I think, but when it goes so deep and is rooted so deeply in evil, it’s just easier to not think about it and justify all the evil doing. Most evil doers don’t see themselves as evil, so it’s also interesting to see that characterized with some of the characters and how they see themselves. There is so much to think about with this story, honestly. I think I’ll be thinking about this book for a while.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.
Today’s topic is Books Set in/Take Place During X
I’m choosing books set in the dream realm for today’s topic. The distinction for me with “dream realm” is that they are not portals to an alternate world, but rather a place where you can only go with your mind, ie. your body does not follow.
Having said that, I haven’t read some of the books below (and some I read a while ago and might have forgotten details) so I can’t be 100% sure if they fit the criteria. I’ve added them here based on their book descriptions, what others have said about them, and other non-spoilery info. If you’ve read them and you think I’m wrong, feel free to let me know!
Top Ten Books Set in the Dream Realm
The Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick – This series has one of the best world-building and magical lore. Most of it relates to card divination but it also includes navigating the spiritual realm. It needs a reread!
The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo – This is one of my favorite books that I’ve talked a lot about. A big part of the story has the FMC’s body sick and unconscious and her spirit spending a lot of time in the underworld.
Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan – A recent favorite, but interesting enough, it also has the FMC sick and I’m assuming in a coma, while her consciousness is in another world.
Super Powered by Drew Hayes – This is a series featuring super powered young adults. One of them has the ability to go into people’s dreams and influence them that way. I loved the series, it was so much fun!
Doctor Sleep by Stephen King – The sequel to The Shining, it follows a now-adult Dan. Dan and another one of the MCs, Abra, communicate through dreams. One of my favorites from the King.
The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin – I have heard much about this book but haven’t read it. It’s a scifi story where the MC’s dreams can affect reality. Definitely adding to my TBR.
Dreamfall by Amy Plum – This is a thriller/horror where the MCs participate in some kind of sleep study and end up stuck in the dream together. It sounds so good!
Dreamology by Lucy Keating – This is a romance where the two MCs dream about each other all the time, but one day they meet and realize the other person is real! I’m intrigued!
Palimpsest by Catherynne M. Valente – I’ve only read one book by the author but loved it. This one is about a world that you can only access through dreams, but you have to sleep with someone who’s already been there.
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor – Dreams choose the dreamer in this book. I had this on my TBR but forgot all about it. Now it’s back on my radar!
Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Would you read any of these books?
A startlingly original voice makes her literary debut with this wondrous coming-of-age story infused with Chinese folklore, romantic intrigue, adventure, and fascinating, dreamlike twists.
‘One evening, my father asked me whether I would like to become a ghost bride…’
Though ruled by British overlords, the Chinese of colonial Malaya still cling to ancient customs. And in the sleepy port town of Malacca, ghosts and superstitions abound.
Li Lan, the daughter of a genteel but bankrupt family, has few prospects. But fate intervenes when she receives an unusual proposal from the wealthy and powerful Lim family. They want her to become a ghost bride for the family’s only son, who recently died under mysterious circumstances. Rarely practiced, traditional ghost marriages are used to placate restless spirits. Such a union would guarantee Li Lan a home for the rest of her days, but at a terrible price.
After an ominous visit to the opulent Lim mansion, Li Lan finds herself haunted not only by her ghostly would-be suitor, but also by her desire for the Lims’ handsome new heir, Tian Bai. Night after night, she is drawn into the shadowy parallel world of the Chinese afterlife, with its ghost cities, paper funeral offerings, vengeful spirits, and monstrous bureaucracy—including the mysterious Er Lang, a charming but unpredictable guardian spirit. Li Lan must uncover the Lim family’s darkest secrets—and the truth about her own family—before she is trapped in this ghostly world forever.
This is one of my favorite books by a favorite Malaysian author. It’s my in-person bookclub’s BOTM and I’m excited to discuss it with them!
The Quotes
“The problem with the dead was that they all wanted someone to listen to them.”
“It seemed to me that in this confluence of cultures we had acquired one another’s superstitions without necessarily any of their comforts.”
“The contrast between the realization of his neglect and the fondness I had for my father was painful”.”
“If I had known how easy it is to lose your life, I would have treasured mine better”.”
The Narrator(s)
The author herself. I love her! She’s got such a gift for writing and storytelling, and is also such a talent with voices!
My Thoughts
I’ve read this book and loved it before, but it had been a while and I had forgotten a lot of the details. Sometimes when I reread a book, I get scared that I might not like it as much as I used to, but if anything, I think I loved it more this time around!
It’s such a joy to read about my own culture and heritage, through the lens of both real life and folklore. Our culture is so filled with superstition, but also so rich in flavor and imagination, it’s sometimes difficult to explain it to people of other cultures. But Choo’s storytelling is wonderful and sublime, and her portrayal of 1900’s Malaya and the Chinese’s idea of the underworld is just perfect.
The story itself is wonderful too. I can’t stop using all the positive adjectives to describe this book. It’s good, amazing, incredible, gorgeous, delightful, magnificent. It’s all the things I love in a fantasy, historical fiction, folklore and mythology, romance… everything! I just love it!
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers
With no water, no air, and no native life, the planet Gora is unremarkable. The only thing it has going for it is a chance proximity to more popular worlds, making it a decent stopover for ships traveling between the wormholes that keep the Galactic Commons connected. If deep space is a highway, Gora is just your average truck stop.
At the Five-Hop One-Stop, long-haul spacers can stretch their legs (if they have legs, that is), and get fuel, transit permits, and assorted supplies. The Five-Hop is run by an enterprising alien and her sometimes helpful child, who work hard to provide a little piece of home to everyone passing through.
When a freak technological failure halts all traffic to and from Gora, three strangers—all different species with different aims—are thrown together at the Five-Hop. Grounded, with nothing to do but wait, the trio—an exiled artist with an appointment to keep, a cargo runner at a personal crossroads, and a mysterious individual doing her best to help those on the fringes—are compelled to confront where they’ve been, where they might go, and what they are, or could be, to each other.
This is the fourth book in the Wayfarer series. I’ve read the first three and loved them, so of course I’m reading this one too!
The Quotes
“And sometimes fear is good. Fear keeps you alive. But it can also keep you from what you really want.”
“Because I didn’t want to. And when it comes to a person’s body, that is all the reason there ever needs to be. Doesn’t matter if it’s a decision about a new pair of legs or how you like to trim your claws or—’ she gave Pei a piercing look ‘—what to do about an egg. I didn’t want to. You don’t want to. That’s it.’ Speaker leaned forward. ‘That. Is all. It ever needs to be.”
“He’d been taught that if one person had more than another, feeling guilty about it was the least productive reaction. The only proper way to approach such inequities was to figure out how best to wield them, so as to bring others up to where you stood.”
“This did not mean that laws and rules were not helpful, or that explanations should not be sought, but rather that there should be no fear in changing them as needed, for nothing in the universe ever held still.”
The Narrator(s)
Patricia Rodriguez. As perfect as the first three books!
My Thoughts
I don’t know why I enjoy forced proximity stories, I’m not sure I’d enjoy it happening to me in real life, but I think I love seeing how people interact with each other in “what if” scenarios and Becky Chambers is just so good at writing diverse people. I loved the other books in the series too, but in a way, I feel like it’s a disservice to link them together as a series. They’re very different books, set in the same universe and with relating characters, but the stories are just completely different.
What is the same, is the exploration of different cultures and beliefs, and even physiology of all the different species, and the way they learn about each other and respect each other’s cultures. I love the conversations especially about their differences and similarities. I love it all! I find it so fascinating, learning about each different species’ language and how things are expressed and/or translated, how their beliefs and practices are shaped by their culture and physiology because of what their bodies allow them to do or not do, there is such a rich world-building here!
I love all the characters. Every one of them were so distinct and had such interesting personalities. I don’t know if there’s going to be a book 5 but I feel like I can’t get enough of these books and these characters, and even though we see new characters every book, I still want to keep reading about every one of them. Small mentions of past characters make me so happy! I’m so glad I finally caught up with the series, and I do hope there will be more. I still loved this one and I’m sure I’ll love any new stories set in this world!
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
Beneath the towering bleached ribs of a dead, ancient beast lies the city of New Crobuzon, where the unsavory deal is stranger to no one–not even to Isaac, a gifted and eccentric scientist who has spent a lifetime quietly carrying out his unique research. But when a half-bird, half-human creature known as the Garuda comes to him from afar, Isaac is faced with challenges he has never before encountered. Though the Garuda’s request is scientifically daunting, Isaac is sparked by his own curiosity and an uncanny reverence for this curious stranger. Soon an eerie metamorphosis will occur that will permeate every fiber of New Crobuzon–and not even the Ambassador of Hell will challenge the malignant terror it evokes.
This has been on my TBR for years and years and years! It was recently a buddy read so I thought it was a good time to finally read it.
The Quotes
“Art is something you choose to make… it’s a bringing together of… of everything around you into something that makes you more human, more khepri, whatever. More of a person.”
“I wish that there was nothing to hold me here, that gravity was a suggestion I could ignore.”
“She was intelligent enough to realize that her excitement was childish, but not mature enough to care.”
“Old stories would tell how Weavers would kill each other over aesthetic disagreements, such as whether it was prettier to destroy an army of a thousand men or to leave it be, or whether a particular dandelion should or should not be plucked. For a Weaver, to think was to think aesthetically. To act–to Weave–was to bring about more pleasing patterns. They did not eat physical food: they seemed to subsist on the appreciation of beauty.”
My Thoughts
I tried reading this book twice before, both times on audio, and found that I couldn’t follow it because of the made-up words, names, and places. I always meant to try again with a printed copy, and I finally did this time. I got so much more out of it; more understanding, more immersion, more focus. And the buddy read with the ongoing discussions were a huge part of my experience as well.
Where do I even start, this book is huge with so many different elements to talk about! The worldbuilding, the exploration of different species and the way they live and work together, the criminal world – the petty criminals and crime lords being worlds apart as well, the government and the enforcers and spies, the remade, the Weaver, the AI constructs, the moths! It seems like a lot and yet, it feels so natural, like I can believe that this world exists, and I can see why Mieville is in a league of his own, this is a masterpiece!
It started out slow but it was still so interesting because there was so much to explore about this world and the characters. And even though it was slow, I could already feel the tension building from the beginning, and then all of a sudden everything happened all at once and it was just nonstop tension. I honestly don’t think I could talk about how amazing it was to see every single thing unfold the way they did and how I felt. It got so intense towards the end and I have so many feelings, I’m still processing.
I know this is definitely going to be one of those books where I get something new out of it every time I reread it again and I’m looking forward to that (though not anytime soon!). I wanted to give up on the book so many times because it’s so huge and I’m going through some really hectic times but I’m glad I persevered and finished! It’s completely worth it!
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
In Robin McKinley’s Newbery Medal–winning novel, an outcast princess must earn her birthright as a hero of the realm
Aerin is an outcast in her own father’s court, daughter of the foreign woman who, it was rumored, was a witch, and enchanted the king to marry her.
She makes friends with her father’s lame, retired warhorse, Talat, and discovers an old, overlooked, and dangerously imprecise recipe for dragon-fire-proof ointment in a dusty corner of her father’s library. Two years, many canter circles to the left to strengthen Talat’s weak leg, and many burnt twigs (and a few fingers) secretly experimenting with the ointment recipe later, Aerin is present when someone comes from an outlying village to report a marauding dragon to the king. Aerin slips off alone to fetch her horse, her sword, and her fireproof ointment . . .
But modern dragons, while formidable opponents fully capable of killing a human being, are small and accounted vermin. There is no honor in killing dragons. The great dragons are a tale out of ancient history.
That is, until the day that the king is riding out at the head of an army. A weary man on an exhausted horse staggers into the courtyard where the king’s troop is assembled: “The Black Dragon has come . . . Maur, who has not been seen for generations, the last of the great dragons, great as a mountain. Maur has awakened.”
This is a reread although I don’t remember reading it before. I gave it only two stars previously, but I have enjoyed the author’s other works and I thought I should give this book a second chance.
The Quotes
“If you try to breathe water, you will not turn into a fish, you will drown; but water is still good to drink.”
“Yes, I am letting my own experience color my answer, which is what experience is for….”
“She felt like dead leaves, dry and brown and brittle, although leaves were probably not miserable; they were quietly buried by snow and burned by sun and harried by rain till they peacefully disintegrated into the earth…”
“She fell in love with him, and he with her; that’s a spell if you like.”
The Narrator(s)
Roslyn Alexander. It was great, no complaints!
My Thoughts
I enjoyed this book more than the last time but it’s still not one of my favorites from the author, so I’m only bumping it up one more star for a total of 3 stars. I did enjoy the listening experience very much though. It was suitably light and interesting at the same time, and I found Aerin to be an interesting character.
I must say though, having just recently read Sunshine by the same author, I really wonder about her stance on cheating/polyamory. There are instances of questionable romantic encounters that aren’t explicitly cheating because the relationships are never defined properly, but they aren’t necessarily consensual polyamory either. They bother me a little bit and I feel like I cannot wholly enjoy the romantic aspect of the stories without feeling like they might be morally wrong.
Other than that, I did enjoy the adventure and intrigue parts of the story. There is also a prequel that I’ve read before and also rated only two stars, that I intend to reread again. Let’s hope I enjoy that one more this time too.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.
Today’s topic is Authors (or books by authors) Who Live In My State/Country (submitted by Jennifer @ Funk-N-Fiction)
I currently live in Canada but I am from Malaysia and I absolutely love today’s topic because I am able to promote a couple of my favorite authors and also discover some Malaysian authors I haven’t read! I didn’t love all the ones I’ve read, but I hope that sharing them here anyway will help the right audience find them. Clicking the link on their names will bring you to their author page on Goodreads.
Top Ten Tuesday Malaysian Authors
Yangsze Choo – My absolute favorite Malaysian author, she has written The Ghost Bride, The Night Tiger, and The Fox Wife, all of which I’ve read and loved! Her first two books are steeped in Malaysian Chinese folklore and have wonderful fantastical elements. The Fox Wife is not set in Malaysia, but has the same beautiful storytelling. I recommend these books to as many people as I can. In fact, The Ghost Bride is my in-person bookclub’s current book of the month!
Zen Cho – My next favorite Malaysian author, although I have only read The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water. She writes sci-fi and fantasy and has a good number of successful books. I loved The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water and I keep meaning to pick up more of her books.
Tash Aw – He grew up in Malaysia but has since moved to England. There was a lot of hype around The Harmony Silk Factory when it came out, and I’ve read it but don’t remember very much about it except that I was underwhelmed, unfortunately. I haven’t read any of his other books.
Vanessa Chan – The most recent Malaysian author whose work I read. I really wanted to like The Storm We Made but unfortunately couldn’t because I’m a character-driven reader and some of the characters’ behaviors in the book was just not believable for me. I was quite disappointed with the book but others have liked it and regardless of my own feelings about the book, I always wish success for my fellow Malaysians and hope they find the right audience.
Vanessa Len – She is nationally Australian but has Malaysian Chinese roots. Her Monsters series has been quite successful, but unfortunately I dnf’d the first book of the series. It wasn’t for me but I hope others might find her and love her.
Hanna Alkaf – I just found her through researching for this post and I am very excited about reading her books. It looks like she’s got several books with great ratings; I’m most excited about The Weight of Our Sky because it’s historical fiction set on May 13th, 1969, the day there was a racial war between the Chinese and the Malays in Malaysia. I grew up hearing about it as a cautionary tale but was never given details so I’m very curious to read this book!
Tan Twan Eng – Another Malaysian author I just found out about and whom I’m excited to read. He writes The Gift of Rain and The House of Doors. These books are historical fiction set in the early 1900s in Malaysia. I’m just really starting to appreciate the intricate history of Malaysia/Malaya during the British colonial times, a lot of which we were never taught in school, and I’d love to read more about it!
Sue Lynn Tan – She is the author of Daughter of the Moon Goddess and Heart of the Sun Warrior, two books in the Celestial Kingdom series. I have these books on my TBR but I haven’t gotten around to them yet. I don’t think I knew the author was Malaysian, but now that I do, I’m moving them up the TBR list. These are fantasy books about Chinese mythological figures, something I’m very excited to dive into!
Rani Manicka – She has written four novels, two of which are set in Malaysia. The Rice Mother is her first book and is about a girl who moved to Malaysia for an arranged marriage at the age of fourteen and had several children by the time she was nineteen. She grows up quickly and takes care of her family through WW2 and the Japanese occupation. It sounds absolutely fascinating!
Selina Siak Chin Yoke – The author has written two books in the Malayan series; The Woman Who Breathed Two Worlds and When the Future Comes Too Soon. Historical fiction set in British colonial times in Malaysia, which I’ve mentioned I’ve become more appreciative of. These books weave many of the different, rich Malaysian cultures into the story and I love seeing multicultural aspects of Malaysia being represented so I can’t wait to read these books too.
Have you read any of these books and/or authors? What did you think of them? Would you read any of these books?
