"Well, apparently this was Koontz attempt at a "screwball comedy" with of course elements of horror. And there actually is some screwballness to it. It is a rather unhinged cocktail of horror, mystery and comedy. Though his attempts at comedy are rather archaic or at the very least old-fashioned. And his attempts at a strong ingénue character are not very satisfying. Actually, his female characters as a rule are more sarcastic, androgynous characters that voice strangely enough like a middle-aged white dude. Haha go figure. Anywhoo... Koontz wanted to copy a formula of Hitchcock meets Looney tunes in a dark alley, and I'll give him credit, at some parts he almost succeeds.

The story starts with Tommy Phan, a successful Vietnamese-American novelist trying to distance himself from his heritage, who receives a mysterious rag doll at his front doorstep. And that's about the last normal thing to happen in this story. Soon Tommy's night spirals into a frantic, surreal chase. Enter Del, our ingénue, a wildly eccentric blonde stranger with a very sarcastic wit, a big van and many secrets that she alludes to throughout the story. From there construes a night of zany chaos with many bizarre horrific twists.

Underneath it all I feel there is an exploration of identity, culture and family expectations. And yes an attempt at romance plus an adorable dog. And a horrific Beast!

3 stars."

"The good: I really enjoyed the worldbuilding (the people made of bark and their connection to nature was interesting) and the conflict between tech and nature.

I didn't realize this was the first in a novella duology, so there was a lot of setup in the plot for the future novella, which lead to a not exactly satisfying ending (presumably the second novella will finish the whole story). I think that lead to me feeling a bit bored by the plot. I also think because this was a novella, I didn't have enough page time to really connect with Lufeng and care about her.

Overall, I think it might be best to wait for the conclusion and read both novellas together for the whole story. "

"Review: 3.75 stars

Lufeng, the eldest princess of the Feng, who controls the wind is set to marry the human king. To do so, would be to save her people and stop the expansion of the Land Wanderers into the Feng lands. To avoid her younger sister, Chuiliu from the same fate, she vows to kill the human king to end this.

The plot started off slow with Lufeng being sent to the palace where she got acquainted with the culture of the Land Wanderers but missed her home dearly. There were a lot of introspective moments of her missing home and her desperation to save her people and the struggles she faced in coming to terms and adapting to their culture. As it was told in her POV, we find her lost and confused given that she is slowly discovering that there is more to the marriage than meets the eye and the struggles she faces in trusting the right people.

I have to admire the author for the plot twists she added to the book and the story she built between the struggle of nature vs technology/industrialism. This was what drew my nerdy brain to this story. I always interpret how “nature is a tax� and humans are now paying the price for our relationship through climate change, resource depletion and the costs are usually borne by future generations and seeing a story explore this intrigues me.

I empathize with Lufeng as she is unwillingly dragged into a whole new world and goes through a culture shock to adjust such as the concept of wearing shoes and nice clothing and the concept of eating, especially eating meat. At first, she found the whole process terrifying and eventually adjusted quickly but felt guilty for it for fear of losing herself.

The book provided hints to the rich worldbuilding. However, given that this was a novella, it suffers a little where some moments felt too vague. This would be better off as a full length novel to provide more history, and the politics at play here. The pacing of this book also felt off where some moments felt too slow as we delved deeply into Lufeng’s introspective moments and too fast where the plot jumps from twists to twists.

Due to the short length of this book, I feel sometimes there wasn’t much time to sit with the twist and the consequences of it. This feels like it was just touched upon and not exploring the depth and the emotions behind it. In short, the character development felt superficial and flat. While I understand Lufeng’s duty and obligations to her people, I struggle to connect with her as a character. The message behind the novella also comes out vague mainly because the ambitious extras the author touches on for a novella. For example, I would love to explore more in-depth the unethical experiments to the bioengineering of organisms and the consequences.

Overall, I did enjoy the book as it plays to familial obligations, the struggles one faces in adapting in a new culture and nature vs the expansion of industrialism. But, I will admit that some might struggle with this book as you will be going through a learn/unlearn experience and expect the unexpected moments.

Further thoughts:
-The writing has some lyrical moments here as it plays homage to nature
-Interesting how the innovation and tech is used as an “excuse� to destroy nature
-The author does a good job of instilling #foreshadowing vibes

Thank you, Titan Books, for the lovely physical arc and goodies! "

"In a Nutshell: A high-fantasy novella about a Tree-like girl seeking revenge against a human. The first of a duology. Grand world-building, okay character development, amazing themes, slow pace, lyrical writing. This could have been a single novel instead of a pair of novellas.

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Plot Preview:

Liu Lufeng is the eldest princess of the Feng, nature-loving and tree-resembling forest dwellers. Because of her grandmother’s insistence on her duty, Lufeng is the next bride of the human king. The bridewealth of their proposed wedding is the only way to ensure a future for Feng by stopping the unbridled human expansion into Feng land. Feng has already lost four family members to the king. So Lufeng has a secret agenda � she will kill the king to stop his devious plans. But when she reaches the palace of the human king, she realises that there are many more secrets hidden inside its bone walls, and her earlier plan might not work. How can she save herself, her remaining family members and Feng itself from destruction?
The story comes to us in Lufeng’s first-person POV.

For a book of just 192 pages, it sure packs in a lot. With various types of character species, a number of characters, multiple distinct localities, allegorical themes, and ambitious worldbuilding, the novella collapses somewhat under its own weight.

The allegorical content is fabulous. In a very subtle yet impactful way, the plot covers the modern obsessions with commercialism, technology, and human development, all of which are often at the cost of the natural world. The limitless human greed, which doesn’t think twice about anything except itself, is depicted strongly.

The writing is equally excellent. The author’s prose is quite lyrical and vivid, so every single scene comes alive with richness. So much energy has been put in the worldbuilding! However, think of the world building as Google Maps without the ability to zoom in. You can see its immense scope but not the micro-level view of the characters and places except for a few hazy details. Maybe this is revealed in the sequel.

The imaginative characters are also the novel’s strength. The residents of Feng, also called Windwalkers for their ability to command the wind, are strange tree-like humanoids. I am stunned by how true-to-life they felt, which is such an odd thing to say about characters who seem like pseudo-Ents in their appearance.

That said, actually picturing these beings was a big challenge, especially considering the misleading cover art. The blurb clearly says: “The Feng people have bark faces, carved limbs, arms of braided branches, and hair of needle threads�, and this is further confirmed multiple times in the book. Now look at the picture of Lufeng on the cover and tell me if any part of this description matches the woman there. It is a stunning cover, no doubt. But it seems to indicate some exotic East-Asian fantasy, which this book isn't.

The pacing is very much on the slower side. It took me ages to get going as the worldbuilding was too dense, but I did go slightly faster towards the end. On the whole though, the content doesn’t allow you to zoom.

Throughout the book, there are plenty of whats and not enough hows or whys. I was hoping at least some of these would be clarified by the ending. But it is rushed, and it leaves us with too many questions. (Heck, I still don’t know why this series is called “Natural Engines�.) The core story arc is not complete by the ending; bad news for those who don’t like cliffhangers.

There’s no doubting the imagination and the writing talent of this author. I had first encountered her writing in Linghun, which was also an allegorical story. But unlike Linghun, this book is a proper high-fantasy. And as we know, high fantasy needs space to create the world and fit in its characters.

The biggest injustice to this plot was done by whoever decided to make it a novella duology instead of a single novel. Such a complex world and varying character types is too hefty for a short work to do justice to. This novella could easily been doubled in length, such that the plot, the characters, as well as the intricacies of the Feng and other worlds could have had more page space to be crafted in detail.

Regardless, I was still captivated by the core plot, the poetic writing, and the allegorical content. I also am curious to see how the story continues and reaches its finale. I’ll probably need to reread this first book when the sequel comes out as it is too convoluted to remember. I just hope the series does end with Book Two and there are no further extensions.

Recommended to high fantasy fans who enjoy lyrical writing and don’t mind a slow pace, unanswered questions, or a cliffhanger ending.

3.5 stars, rounding up for the fabulous allegory and the description of the Wind Walkers.


My thanks to author Ai Jiang for providing me with a complimentary copy of “A Palace Near the Wind� at my request. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.


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