Kuang, R.F.

A deeply compelling satire, with sharp insight into the horrifying notion that authentic voices can be replaced by privileged ones that publishers assume are more marketable. June’s rise and fall in an amoral industry is both entertaining and thought-provoking.

As the story unfolds, June becomes a slightly more nuanced character; however, as she tries to convince herself and others that she didn’t steal Athena’s manuscript during her misguided attempts at allyship, she flagrantly narrates her implicit biases to readers.

Drawing on the bloody history of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–45), debuter Kuang balances strong, graphic details of violent warfare and its effects with a young woman's struggle to succeed and her desire for vengeance in this strikingly grim military fantasy that summons readers into an East Asian-inspired world of battles, opium, gods, and monsters. Fans of Ken Liu's The Grace of Kings will snap this one up. [See Prepub Alert, 11/11/17.]