Stronger Than a Bronze Dragon
Mary Fan
Page Street Publishing
Fiction, YA Fantasy
Themes: Demons, Diversity, Dragons, Ghosts and Spirits, Girl Power, Magic Workers, Steampunk Etc.
***
Description
Liang Anlei was just a child when she watched the Shadow Warrior, a vicious Ligui spirit of living darkness, cut down her father, and ever since she has wanted only one thing: vengeance. Now she is a warrior with the town guard, defending the people of Dailan from the Ligui, but their numbers keep growing as the town dwindles - until the bronze dragons arrive. Viceroy Kang, a mage of considerable power, has devised these and numerous other wonders that would protect the land, but he charges a steep price: the pearl of the River Dragon and the hand of a townswoman as a bride. The pearl is a small enough token - for all that a dragon gifted it to their ancestors, it has done nothing to protect Dailan. But the arrogant man wants Anlei as the bride. For the sake of her family, she reluctantly agrees, until a masked thief makes a more tempting offer: a journey to the Courts of Hell to discover the source of the Ligui. She hardly hesitates to take this last chance for glory before the chains of matrimony tie her down, but what she finds is more terrifying than any demon.
Review
It's a great world with some nice concepts in the magi-mechanical bronze dragons and other wonders, but the story is hobbled by Anlei. She's a frustrating window to view the tale through, being impossibly obtuse about several points even given her atypical mentality: it's established early on that she's dyslexic and possibly a touch autistic, traits that are hammered home so hard that it's some time before any other characteristic can be seen. She may process the world differently, but that doesn't explain how she misses so many glaring clues as to what's going on. Her sidekick, the thief boy Tai, is frankly irritating for far too long; when he is finally explained I was past the point where I felt much sympathy. When you want to reach into the book and slap the main characters silly, it's difficult to care about the world or the plot. Things do at least move rapidly, wending from palace to village and waking lands to underworld and back again, building at last to a reveal that's far less shocking to the reader than the deliberately obtuse leads, but at least involves plenty of action. I liked some of the ideas and mind's-eye candy, and once in a while (almost despite itself) emotions rang true, but overall I just didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped.