This started slowly and although the characters are interesting in a well built world the story just plodded along.
It does improve the further you go.
An average story for me.

Hotsuka's Story follows Hostuka, a celestial being who's been forced to wander Earth as a human after certain events that displeased his superiors.  Hotsuka starts off pretty arrogant, with little consideration for human emotions, as expected for an immortal godlike being who observes the universe for fun. After Hostuka is turned into a human, we watch his slow journey as he learns humility and to understand why humans do what they do. This story is very character driven and while the pacing is pretty quick, the plot is rather slow. Large portions of the book felt very slice-of-life-y, and while that isn't a bad thing, it just wasn't something I was in the mood for when I read it. 

This book's strengths are really in the world building and Hotsuka's character development. The world is based influenced by Asian culture and Asian mythology, and I thought it was done very well. Being Chinese myself, I felt like I could really identify with the settings and the characters. I also really enjoyed the depth the author goes into Hotsuka's character development. We see him go from uncaring celestial who's merely using humans to suit his own curiosity, to temporarily playing surrogate dad to three orphaned boys. 

Overall, I give this book a 3/5. While I enjoyed the character development and the worldbuilding, I really could have used some more plot. The true consequences don't get revealed til the very end, and while I understand this is a collection of 6 novellas, it made this book feel like a protracted prologue.

Hotsuka's Story is part one of six in the Dragon Pearl series and all six are available currently! I had gotten it as an ARC a few months ago but at that time, it didn't grab me so it languished for awhile. Picking it up again, I found it to be an enthralling read and finished it over a few days.

The story revolves around dealing with the consequences of one's actions and arrogance spanning heaven, earth and the universe. Hotsuka was originally one of the Meijin, a group of immortal celestial beings with innumerable powers. As a Explorer Meijin, Hotsuka was able to travel throughout the universe, observing and recording. His fatal mistake was to become involved with a human female, sparking off a chain of unforeseen events both in heaven and on earth. For this, he was harshly punished by Lord Takeo (Father Meijin), imprisoned and helpless. The author stated he had inspiration from asian and middle eastern mythology and I wonder if part of this was derived from the Chinese classic Journey To The West where the Monkey King/God was imprisoned beneath a mountain by the Jade Emperor for defying heavenly laws. The Monkey King was eventually freed by Goddess Guan Yin to accompany an important monk to seek buddhist sutras, just as here Hotsuka was freed by Lady Shinjo (Mother Meijin) to find his son and help her in her power bid. The names - Shinjo, Takeo, Tenshi, Meijin - contribute to giving a Japanese feel.

Thus Hotsuka released becomes part human and part Meijin, retaining some powers such as mind control and mind wiping. I found his progress and journey intriguing, especially his time at the monastery studying the Skein of Time. The interactions with his fellow monks, mentor Chaturang and abbot at the monastery took on a Zen Buddhism tinge, as we learn lessons alongside him about patience and forgiveness. Jagan, a young Buddhist monk, moved me with his attitude to Hotsuka's unintended transgression against him. Through the Skein of Time, we whizz by many years to learn the monastery's history and future with the position of abbot passed down through the ages. I became quite attached to the monastery and didn't want to leave it! The time skip of nineteen years was quite jarring. In contrast, I felt a lot less connection to Suday (Hotsuka's son) despite the search for him playing a pivotal role in the plot but Suday himself actually only appears briefly and towards the end of the book.

One peeve I have to mention is the use of physical appearance descriptors of "slanted eyes" or "slant eyes". This derogatory term has been traditionally used to insult and bully people of asian origin like the Japanese, Korean, Chinese and Vietnamese.

Hotsuka's Story is quite unlike other traditional fantasy out there. There is an intriguing mix of mythology: djinni, goddesses, reincarnation, ascensions, celestial power battles become enmeshed in earthly affairs. Cause and effect on an epic scale. Some of the races mentioned, like the Tamuda, will have their own importance and culmination of events in the rest of the series. The Tamuda brought to mind First Nations or native people with their shamans, animal clans and fight against "empire expansion."

Thanks to JF Mehentee, the publisher and Netgalley for kindly providing a copy of this book for review. Note that it is currently available for free on Amazon and at the end of the book, you can subscribe to the author's newsletter to receive the next book for free.

Hotsuka's Story is the first book of a 6 book series called The Dragon Pearls. This beautifully written narrative takes place in a world based on Eastern mythology with djinni, nagas, quarrelsome gods and goddesses and spirit beings (meijin, roughly equivalent to celestial angels). Meijin have hierarchies and different responsibilities, and Hotsuka's job was to travel all of existence and observe the creations and beings contained therein. Hotsuka becomes infatuated with a human woman and the consummation of his infatuation and the subsequent child produced threaten to unbalance the entire universe.

The writing is truly deft and immaculately paced. I was drawn along and never once felt myself dragged out of the story by an awkwardly written bit of dialogue or plotting.

According to goodreads and Amazon, this 6 book cycle is author J F Mehentee's first published work. It's an impressive debut. Further amazement ensued when I learned that all 6 books were self-published simultaneously 1st Nov, 2017 and promoted by Xpresso Book Tours on NetGalley. Books aren't just written and they don't just spring into creation fully formed. The author's credits in the afterword credit editor James Christy and copy editor Richard Shealy and I have to say that they did a stellar job. I found not one single typo or formatting error and the structural and story arc editing were seamless and completely unobtrusive.

Kudos for the gorgeous cover also, by Deranged Doctor Design. The cover is what first caught my eye, and I'm so glad it did.

Just a really wonderfully written book. I intend to acquire the rest of them asap.

Five stars

I just could not get into this book, but it was well edited.