Fantasy
![Marjorie M. Liu - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B001ILFM58.jpg)
The Tangleroot Palace: Stories
July 2021 Indie Next Recommended Book
[STARRED REVIEW] "Liu's mastery of so many different subgenres astounds, and her ear for language carries each story forward on gorgeously crafted sentences. This is a must-read"
―Publishers Weekly, Top-10 forthcoming SF/F/H title
New York Times bestseller and Hugo, British Fantasy, Romantic Times, and Eisner award-winning author of the graphic novel Monstress, Marjorie Liu leads you deep into the heart of the tangled woods. In her long-awaited debut collection of dark, lush, and spellbinding short fiction, you will find unexpected detours, dangerous magic, and even more dangerous women.
Briar, bodyguard for a body-stealing sorceress, discovers her love for Rose, whose true soul emerges only once a week. An apprentice witch seeks her freedom through betrayal, the bones of the innocent, and a meticulously plotted spell. In a world powered by crystal skulls, a warrior returns to save China from invasion by her jealous ex. A princess runs away from an arranged marriage, finding family in a strange troupe of traveling actors at the border of the kingdom's deep, dark woods.
Concluding with a gorgeous full-length novella, Marjorie Liu's first short fiction collection is an unflinching sojourn into her thorny tales of love, revenge, and new beginnings.
[STARRED REVIEW] "Liu's mastery of so many different subgenres astounds, and her ear for language carries each story forward on gorgeously crafted sentences. This is a must-read"
―Publishers Weekly, Top-10 forthcoming SF/F/H title
New York Times bestseller and Hugo, British Fantasy, Romantic Times, and Eisner award-winning author of the graphic novel Monstress, Marjorie Liu leads you deep into the heart of the tangled woods. In her long-awaited debut collection of dark, lush, and spellbinding short fiction, you will find unexpected detours, dangerous magic, and even more dangerous women.
Briar, bodyguard for a body-stealing sorceress, discovers her love for Rose, whose true soul emerges only once a week. An apprentice witch seeks her freedom through betrayal, the bones of the innocent, and a meticulously plotted spell. In a world powered by crystal skulls, a warrior returns to save China from invasion by her jealous ex. A princess runs away from an arranged marriage, finding family in a strange troupe of traveling actors at the border of the kingdom's deep, dark woods.
Concluding with a gorgeous full-length novella, Marjorie Liu's first short fiction collection is an unflinching sojourn into her thorny tales of love, revenge, and new beginnings.
Editorial Reviews
2021 Publishers Weekly Top-10 Sci-Fi/Fantasy Forthcoming Titles
2021 Indie Next List selection
[STARRED REVIEW] "Liu (the Monstress series) charms with this spellbinding collection of six short stories and one novella. The standouts are ‘The Briar and the Rose,' a darkly fascinating retelling of ‘Sleeping Beauty,' in which a female duelist discovers her witch employer is living in the stolen body of Princess Rose, and helps Rose to regain it; and ‘Call Her Savage,' a steampunk western set during the Opium Wars and following half-Chinese antiheroine Lady Marshal as she struggles to be the hero others need her to be. Also of note are the haunting and eerie, ‘Sympathy for the Bones'; ‘The Last Dignity of Man,' about a would-be supervillain who realizes he must be his own superman; and two stories set in the world of Liu's Dirk & Steele paranormal romance series: the atmospheric historical fantasy, ‘Where the Heart Lives,' which serves as a prequel to the series, and the dystopian ‘After the Blood,' about Amish vampires, set in the series's future. The title novella offers a more standard secondary world fantasy, about a runaway princess drawn to an enchanted forest, but uses this familiar plot to probe the character's feelings of being trapped. Liu's mastery of so many different subgenres astounds, and her ear for language carries each story forward on gorgeously crafted sentences. This is a must-read."
―Publishers Weekly,
[STARRED REVIEW] "A collection of short stories exploring the emotional complexity, diverse physicality, and layered sexuality of resourceful women. In ‘Sympathy for the Bones,' Clora is old Ruth's unwilling apprentice witch in Kentucky, forced to murder men with hoodoo magic or surrender her soul. Having lost her family, Clora longs to know what it feels like to love and be loved, even as she plans her escape. Another kind of escape is brewing in ‘The Briar and the Rose,' a retelling of ‘Sleeping Beauty,' only this time the charming prince is a brown warrior-woman who must walk the dangerous line between freeing the woman she's come to love and her duty to her mistress¬―the sorceress who inhabits Rose's body six days out of seven. In ‘Call Her Savage,' a striking magical alternate history, ex–Lady Marshall Xing MacNamara―who comes from New China, on the Pacifica coast of an America allied with its Native peoples―must kill her former lover Maude in order to stop the Redcoats from colonizing the world. Rounding out the collection are a story about Amish vampires and a secret marriage in a plague-ridden future that gingerly explores trauma and strength; a gay wannabe-supervillain looking for a superhero to love him in a story that asks what true vulnerability can awaken; and a princess, determined to forge her own p...
2021 Indie Next List selection
[STARRED REVIEW] "Liu (the Monstress series) charms with this spellbinding collection of six short stories and one novella. The standouts are ‘The Briar and the Rose,' a darkly fascinating retelling of ‘Sleeping Beauty,' in which a female duelist discovers her witch employer is living in the stolen body of Princess Rose, and helps Rose to regain it; and ‘Call Her Savage,' a steampunk western set during the Opium Wars and following half-Chinese antiheroine Lady Marshal as she struggles to be the hero others need her to be. Also of note are the haunting and eerie, ‘Sympathy for the Bones'; ‘The Last Dignity of Man,' about a would-be supervillain who realizes he must be his own superman; and two stories set in the world of Liu's Dirk & Steele paranormal romance series: the atmospheric historical fantasy, ‘Where the Heart Lives,' which serves as a prequel to the series, and the dystopian ‘After the Blood,' about Amish vampires, set in the series's future. The title novella offers a more standard secondary world fantasy, about a runaway princess drawn to an enchanted forest, but uses this familiar plot to probe the character's feelings of being trapped. Liu's mastery of so many different subgenres astounds, and her ear for language carries each story forward on gorgeously crafted sentences. This is a must-read."
―Publishers Weekly,
[STARRED REVIEW] "A collection of short stories exploring the emotional complexity, diverse physicality, and layered sexuality of resourceful women. In ‘Sympathy for the Bones,' Clora is old Ruth's unwilling apprentice witch in Kentucky, forced to murder men with hoodoo magic or surrender her soul. Having lost her family, Clora longs to know what it feels like to love and be loved, even as she plans her escape. Another kind of escape is brewing in ‘The Briar and the Rose,' a retelling of ‘Sleeping Beauty,' only this time the charming prince is a brown warrior-woman who must walk the dangerous line between freeing the woman she's come to love and her duty to her mistress¬―the sorceress who inhabits Rose's body six days out of seven. In ‘Call Her Savage,' a striking magical alternate history, ex–Lady Marshall Xing MacNamara―who comes from New China, on the Pacifica coast of an America allied with its Native peoples―must kill her former lover Maude in order to stop the Redcoats from colonizing the world. Rounding out the collection are a story about Amish vampires and a secret marriage in a plague-ridden future that gingerly explores trauma and strength; a gay wannabe-supervillain looking for a superhero to love him in a story that asks what true vulnerability can awaken; and a princess, determined to forge her own p...
Readers Top Reviews
Ron Titusbiz5thSteve
Marjorie Liu comes through with this collection of her short stories! All of the stories have appeared elsewhere, but now the author has taken the opportunity to gather them under one cover. A couple I had encountered before, but enjoyed renewing my acquaintance. My favorite was the last piece which gave collection its name - "Tangleroot Palace" - a tale of magic, fated love, and a spooky forest. So it you like out-spoken heroines, eerie tales, and stories told at a slant, be sure to grab a copy of Tangleroot Palace! Thanks Netgalley for the opportunity to read this title!
Utopia State of Mind
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.) The Tangleroot Palace: Stories is an immersive and intricate short story collection. Normally there's a clear favorite in a collection for me, but in The Tangleroot Palace: Stories I can't pick my favorite! Liu infuses each story with such expansive world building in such a short time - I'm constantly impressed. Another talent Liu has, especially in world building, but also in story crafting, is knowing when not to say. When to leave holes and gaps and moments of suspended intrigue.
Shilo
This book is Dark. Most short stories are pretty dark but these are just. Beyond dark. I should have guessed after Monstress, but this is somehow darker. Maybe because I understand what’s going on more than in the graphic novels? Some of the darkness gets lots in translation to pictures I think. These stories are quite good just. Need to read in small doses. And the images - often disturbing - stick with you no matter how you might wish to forget. I received a review copy of this book.
Marta Cox
This is a collection of short stories by this author that I believe have previously been published. What makes this slightly different though is the simple fact that at the end of each one the author gives her thoughts and background about just why each story was written. I have to say this actually added greatly to my enjoyment and overall appreciation. I will admit these are very dark stories, quite creepy and bloodthirsty too. As I write we are in the midst of a pandemic and there's a story here about the aftermath of such a cataclysmic event and it really gave me pause. Not only depressing vibes here though as there's a lot of love in these stories although perhaps sometimes you do have to think outside the usual box. Some of these characters are truly tortured souls so prepare yourself to be disgusted, sickened and yet I was very entertained so perhaps I myself am not all sweetness and light ? Whatever the case I do recommend this book with its insights and applaud the author for being unafraid to write unique fiction. This is a voluntary take of an advanced copy and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair
yupikwolf
I was a fan of the the Hunter Kiss series and reading her short stories has made me decide to reread Hunter Kiss again. She’s a marvel.
