Song of the Six Realms
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Description
Judy I. Lin, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Magic Steeped in Poison, weaves a dreamy standalone romance about a talented musician swept away to the Celestial Realm by a handsome duke in Song of the Six Realms.
Xue, a talented young musician, has no past and probably no future. Orphaned at a young age, her kindly poet uncle took her in and arranged for an apprenticeship at one of the most esteemed entertainment houses in the kingdom. She doesn't remember much from before entering the House of Flowing Water, and when her uncle is suddenly killed in a bandit attack, she is devastated to lose her last connection to a life outside of her indenture contract.
With no family and no patron, Xue is facing the possibility of a lifetime of servitude playing the qin for nobles that praise her talent with one breath and sneer at her lowly social status with the next. Then one night she is unexpectedly called to the garden to put on a private performance for the enigmatic Duke Meng. For a young man of nobility, he is strangely kind and awkward, and surprises Xue further with an irresistible offer: serve as a musician in residence at his manor for one year, and he'll set her free of her indenture.
But the Duke's motives become increasingly more suspect when he and Xue barely survive an attack by a nightmarish monster, and when he whisks her away to his estate, she discovers he's not just some country noble: He's the Duke of Dreams, one of the divine rulers of the Celestial Realm. There she learns the Six Realms are on the brink of disaster, and incursions by demonic beasts are growing more frequent.
The Duke needs Xue's help to unlock memories from her past that could hold the answers to how to stop the impending war... but first Xue will need to survive being the target of every monster and deity in the Six Realms.
Also by Judy I. Lin:
A Magic Steeped in Poison
A Venom Dark and Sweet
Book Information
Posts
Judy I. Lin let's you float into a fairytale-like world congenial to the title of the book. The musical theme can be found throughout the whole story and carries the reader like notes carry a song. However, when reading I do preferences a little but more tension than there was in the Song of the Six Realms, which is why it's only a 4,5 Stars - Book. Also, what I really enjoy about Judy's books is the culinary adventure she provides to the reader, leaving them query if there's ever gonna be a cookbook written by Judy or a restaurant dedicated to the meals described in her novels.
"Song Of The Six Realms" is the third book I've read by Judy I. Lin. The other two (A Magic Steeped In Poison & A Venom Dark And Sweet) are some of my favourite fantasy books I've read this year so I was excited for this one, too. The start was promising - Lin's books are heavy with Chinese mythology, which I adore. We follow Xue, an orphaned musician, while she navigates a life of servitude as an outcast, until she meets the ML. I liked their dynamic and budding friendship. As in the other two books, the romance is very sweet and soft and slow, and not the main focus of the story, but so lovely nonetheless. Starting around the middle of the book, there was just so much going on and Xue felt more like a puppet than a protagonist - things were just happening to her, some events felt rather random and crammed in. There was a part where she questions if humans truly have a free will if their fate has already been decided by the gods, and it seems that the answer to this question was a big No. The fight at the end felt a little anticlimactic (and we get a Deus Ex Machina situation in a way), but the ending itself was very hopeful and sweet. "Song of the Six Realms" is a standalone book, which I only learned after finishing it. I was hoping for a second part, and I think it would have worked better as a duology (like Lin's first series), so some things could have been fleshed out more. Nonetheless, I had fun reading it and can recommend it to fantasy lovers!
Der Anfang des Buches war sehr süß und die Welt und Geschichte sehr interessant. Zur Mitte des Buches fiel es mir dann immer schwerer noch dran zu bleiben und bis zum Ende hin musste ich mich leider etwas quälen. Alles kam auf einmal ganz schnell und ging Schlag auf Schlag und mit den ganzen Verschiedenen Gottheiten war es wirklich zäh. Auch die Liebesgeschichte, wenn man sie denn so nennen möchte, war sehr zart. Was auch ihren Charme hat, aber von gar nichts zu wir sind verliebt, war es für mich dann doch ein großer Sprung. Für den Anfang des Buches und das Setting gibt es die 2,5 Sterne.
Magical, emotional and thoughtful!
I enjoyed this book a lot, good world building and great storytelling. It was easy to get into and l'd definitely recommend it if you want to get into chinese mythology, as there are lots of books with a similar genre. It's also slow burn romance which I really love toh! It was heavy on arts like music and poetry, especially the poetic aspect I thoroughly enjoyed. The book has an open ending and because of that and the mythology aspect, I think, it reminded me a teensy, tiny bit of Song of Achilles.
Description
Judy I. Lin, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Magic Steeped in Poison, weaves a dreamy standalone romance about a talented musician swept away to the Celestial Realm by a handsome duke in Song of the Six Realms.
Xue, a talented young musician, has no past and probably no future. Orphaned at a young age, her kindly poet uncle took her in and arranged for an apprenticeship at one of the most esteemed entertainment houses in the kingdom. She doesn't remember much from before entering the House of Flowing Water, and when her uncle is suddenly killed in a bandit attack, she is devastated to lose her last connection to a life outside of her indenture contract.
With no family and no patron, Xue is facing the possibility of a lifetime of servitude playing the qin for nobles that praise her talent with one breath and sneer at her lowly social status with the next. Then one night she is unexpectedly called to the garden to put on a private performance for the enigmatic Duke Meng. For a young man of nobility, he is strangely kind and awkward, and surprises Xue further with an irresistible offer: serve as a musician in residence at his manor for one year, and he'll set her free of her indenture.
But the Duke's motives become increasingly more suspect when he and Xue barely survive an attack by a nightmarish monster, and when he whisks her away to his estate, she discovers he's not just some country noble: He's the Duke of Dreams, one of the divine rulers of the Celestial Realm. There she learns the Six Realms are on the brink of disaster, and incursions by demonic beasts are growing more frequent.
The Duke needs Xue's help to unlock memories from her past that could hold the answers to how to stop the impending war... but first Xue will need to survive being the target of every monster and deity in the Six Realms.
Also by Judy I. Lin:
A Magic Steeped in Poison
A Venom Dark and Sweet
Book Information
Posts
Judy I. Lin let's you float into a fairytale-like world congenial to the title of the book. The musical theme can be found throughout the whole story and carries the reader like notes carry a song. However, when reading I do preferences a little but more tension than there was in the Song of the Six Realms, which is why it's only a 4,5 Stars - Book. Also, what I really enjoy about Judy's books is the culinary adventure she provides to the reader, leaving them query if there's ever gonna be a cookbook written by Judy or a restaurant dedicated to the meals described in her novels.
"Song Of The Six Realms" is the third book I've read by Judy I. Lin. The other two (A Magic Steeped In Poison & A Venom Dark And Sweet) are some of my favourite fantasy books I've read this year so I was excited for this one, too. The start was promising - Lin's books are heavy with Chinese mythology, which I adore. We follow Xue, an orphaned musician, while she navigates a life of servitude as an outcast, until she meets the ML. I liked their dynamic and budding friendship. As in the other two books, the romance is very sweet and soft and slow, and not the main focus of the story, but so lovely nonetheless. Starting around the middle of the book, there was just so much going on and Xue felt more like a puppet than a protagonist - things were just happening to her, some events felt rather random and crammed in. There was a part where she questions if humans truly have a free will if their fate has already been decided by the gods, and it seems that the answer to this question was a big No. The fight at the end felt a little anticlimactic (and we get a Deus Ex Machina situation in a way), but the ending itself was very hopeful and sweet. "Song of the Six Realms" is a standalone book, which I only learned after finishing it. I was hoping for a second part, and I think it would have worked better as a duology (like Lin's first series), so some things could have been fleshed out more. Nonetheless, I had fun reading it and can recommend it to fantasy lovers!
Der Anfang des Buches war sehr süß und die Welt und Geschichte sehr interessant. Zur Mitte des Buches fiel es mir dann immer schwerer noch dran zu bleiben und bis zum Ende hin musste ich mich leider etwas quälen. Alles kam auf einmal ganz schnell und ging Schlag auf Schlag und mit den ganzen Verschiedenen Gottheiten war es wirklich zäh. Auch die Liebesgeschichte, wenn man sie denn so nennen möchte, war sehr zart. Was auch ihren Charme hat, aber von gar nichts zu wir sind verliebt, war es für mich dann doch ein großer Sprung. Für den Anfang des Buches und das Setting gibt es die 2,5 Sterne.
Magical, emotional and thoughtful!
I enjoyed this book a lot, good world building and great storytelling. It was easy to get into and l'd definitely recommend it if you want to get into chinese mythology, as there are lots of books with a similar genre. It's also slow burn romance which I really love toh! It was heavy on arts like music and poetry, especially the poetic aspect I thoroughly enjoyed. The book has an open ending and because of that and the mythology aspect, I think, it reminded me a teensy, tiny bit of Song of Achilles.