A Palace Near the Wind

How do you like your science fiction and fantasy? I will admit to being someone who loves a simple and accessible tale, but the genres can offer so much more than this. There are few genres better equipped to take a reader to truly alien places, to worlds that feel like they were designed in a fever dream. Ai Jiang blends a subtle tale of family and fantasy into a world of wonder in the novel A Palace Near the Wind.  

Liu Lufeng may be the eldest daughter of the Feng dynasty, but she is one of the last to marry. Younger sisters have gone to marry the human king, but still more Princesses are asked for and now it is Feng’s turn. Feng has it in mind to discover what happened to her mother and sisters, and if needed revenge them. For the first time in her life, Feng must leave the sanctuary of the Feng lands for those of the human, a vastly different and alien place. 

Palace is not a book that drops you softly into a fantasy world but instead plunges you instantly into something that feels like a poem. Jiang uses a lyrical style of writing that heightens the mystery of the Feng people, but it can take a reader a while to get in step with the style. After a few pages you start to get a feel for the prose and then you realise that the Feng people are not human at all, but beings who are part of nature, with bark-like skin. Why does the human King want to marry them so much and why must they negotiate constantly to save their lands? These are the mysteries that inform the book. 

Rather than instantly go into detail about Liu and the Feng people, Jiang lets the book flow naturally. It takes a while to understand what is happening, how the people are different and what the world is about. This may be confusing to some readers but repeat fans of fantasy and science fiction should be able to handle the style. It evolves in a way to reveal the world and mystery slowly; the writing style adds to the magical feel of the Feng people. 

Beneath the ethereal style is a classic feeling fantasy tale. It takes from traditional fairy tales with its story of sisters and an evil king. Like fairy tales of old, it also takes a dark twist. As the reader learns more about the human world, you start to understand why they want the Feng land so much. There is obviously a further set of tales that can be set in this land as there are further kingdoms and peoples to meet. 

At under two hundred pages Palace is more of a novelette than a novel, it introduces ideas and characters, but they are so numerous and the page count so short that they are not fully explored. This adds to the enigmatic nature of the book and the characters, but it will lead some readers frustrated. I found it an intriguing tale that offered something different than the usual fantasy fiction.