Thanks to all of the early reviewers who helped me keep all of the moving parts of this book straight! Steel Crow Saga is an epic fantasy taking place in an alternative version of Asia, with four main characters and a lot of queer representation. I've heard it described as being similar to P:okemon in that the Sanbuna people "shadepact" with animals that they then use in fights and battles. However, the first comparison that came to me was His Dark Materials, because of the intense world building, with daemons representing a piece of their soul. Comparisons aside, you come for this 600 page book for the character development and the partnerships and alliances that are created along the way. Prepare to spend time learning each of the different kingdoms and their skills for the first half of the book, but speed through the second half as the action ramps up. My only critique is that there were a few times were I felt like the pacing might have been a little uneven - it would skip to a scene where I felt like I was missing a key transition, but I think it was necessary to keep the plot moving and to keep me invested. Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

This book was received as an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I could not put this book down. I got a lot of Red Queen, Last Airbender and some Pokémon vibes to the story but most of all, I love story lines where two unlikely heroes become all lies and rely on one another and their intentions completely change off course like Princess Xiulan and Lee and then it's all chaos from there you root for so many and get caught up in the action that you can't help but finish the book and feel accomplished.

We will consider adding this title to our YFiction collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

Wow. Fast paced and adventurous, this was a fun read. I really enjoyed the world building and the moral ambiguity of binding your soul to an animal who you can then control. It feels very much like an anime story which works as it is very asian feeling. Really Good Book!

I’m still processing this book but holy crap.

I just loved this book. The characters, the lore, and the world feel painful and hopeful in equal measure.

Tala, Jimuro, Xiulan, and Lee. This book was complex, heartbreaking, and emotional.

My full review will be going up in a few days once I have some time to process, but I’m so glad that I read this book

This is not my comprehensive review, but I just had to tell you how much I loved this book. My full review will be live on my blog (Teatime Reading) this coming Monday.

The Steel Crow Saga is an epic fantasy with kick-ass characters recovering from a lifetime of war and magic that's familiar yet original.
The Steel Crow Saga would be great for fans of Priory of the Orange Tree or Jade City. It's a sprawling epic fantasy in a unique and interesting world. The characters are varied and sympathetic, yet willing and able to be ruthlessly cunning and kick ass when the need arises. Bonus points for queer representation!
The magic system was familiar in that it involves a being like a familiar and something like metal-bending, but it's more complex and leaves room for new secrets to uncover.
I'm looking forward to book 2!

This book dragged for me throughout most of it but I did enjoy the ending. I can't say if I'll continue with reading the rest of the author's works in the future though.

A solid 4.5 in my opinion but slightly fell short of a 5.

I don’t think I even knew about this book until about a month ago. I think stumbled upon it by accident in someone’s blogpost about upcoming Asian inspired fantasy releases, and I was immediately fascinated. And while it took me a bit to immerse myself in it, I am so glad to have discovered this book and gotten hold of the ARC.

The world building is one aspect that impressed me a lot. As the author is Filipino-American, I was expecting some inspiration from his country and their culture, but I was pleasantly surprised to realize that each of the kingdom present in this book is drawn from a different Asian country, and it’s developed so well that we are able to distinguish them pretty well. I particularly loved that one of them was based on India but it’s also the one kingdom which is least talked about in the book, so I kept wishing for more.

The other interesting aspect of this world is the pacting (or their version of magic). The people of Sanbuna and Shang are capable of shadepacting with animals - which is like forming a soul bond with an animal’s shade and then being able to call upon their familiar to fight alongside them. The Tomodanese on the other hand pact with metals, which helps them in controlling their weapons or using it to power their vehicles. The people of Dahal use their power internally to enhance their personal capabilities. Jeongsonese are the oppressed minority who are capable of pacting but have always been denied the right to gain the knowledge to do so. This distinction between the use of magic across various kingdoms is very helpful in developing differing motivations for each of them, letting us as readers experience varying perspectives and probably finding our own favorites.

The writing style of this novel was also slightly different from what I’m used to but I’m unable to articulate exactly how that was. It is very introspective and we are subjected to many inner monologues of the characters - which I really enjoyed for the most part and helped me understand them better and invest in their development - but it also got long winded at times and may have contributed to the size of the book. I’m usually not a fan of dense writing, so the descriptive writing style should have put me off but I kinda enjoyed it and it made the settings feel more real. The main theme of the book is colonialism but despite the dark themes, there is also a very humorous undertone in the writing. The pacing is also a little slow throughout but it is relentless, with things changing quickly and the characters having to adapt and evolve all the time. This is also essentially a quest/ journey novel and those seem to be my thing this year, so it’s not a surprise that I thoroughly enjoyed this journey with the characters. And the best part was that the author managed to give very distinct voices to each of them, so we are never confused about whose POV we are reading. I’m currently unsure if this is a standalone or a series, but the author did a wonderful job ending it very satisfactorily, so I’m happy if this the actual end; but there are also multiple threads that can be pursued to further this story and I would be delighted to jump into this world all over again.

The characters are definitely the best and my most favorite part of this book, but I don’t wanna talk about them much. I think the beauty of this book is in discovering the various layers of each character and realizing what lays at the core of them. One thing common between all the POV characters is that they are real, flawed, pretty morally grey, not immune from being prejudiced and treating those different from them in a vile manner - but all of them go through a journey of unlearning all the wrong things, understanding others’ perspectives and building relationships with unlikely people. I felt very invested in knowing where the characters were going and what they might do next, so I never wanted to put the book down even though it was all a bit slow going. The characters do fall into familiar fantasy tropes like a grumpy soldier, an arrogant prince, a Sherlock inspired detective type character and a petty thief who gets roped into working for the other side - so it can feel a little predictable, but I enjoyed this slight predictability but also felt highly satisfied with the way things turned out for each of them.

Though the author chose not to be very subtle in discussing some important themes, it didn’t in anyway lessen the impact of what was being told through the story. The impact of colonialism is very brutally described, along with the blatant disingenuous reasons that power hungry nations can come up with to colonize and occupy another country. It’s very evident that whatever noble the initial intentions may have been, the reality of occupation is always ugly. But the most important point that I think the author tried to make was that even if the colonizer is defeated by a revolution, war always brings out worst impulses and it doesn’t take much for the oppressed to turn into an oppressor. The nature of war and it’s impact on soldiers, and the utter lack of direction and purpose that they might feel during peace time is also deftly talked about.

I also loved how the author decided to give equal weight to all kinds of relationships. The importance of family and sibling bonds, and how losing them can have far reaching consequences forms an important part of the character’s choices and the kind of people they turn out to be. I also enjoyed the way human/animal bonds are shown - while some people can truly treat their familiars as slaves and impose their will upon them, others form bonds based on mutual respect and it was wonderful of the author to show us both perspectives. The book is also very queer and I loved how normalized it was in this world. It was lovely to see lesbian, gay, bi and trans characters all be able to be their true selves without any judgement.

I guess I’ve gone on long enough in this review. Basically, all I want to say is I really really enjoyed this book a lot and I’m glad I got this opportunity to discover a new to me Asian author. As it has been marketed, if you like anime or Pokémon or are a fan of Fullmetal Alchemist, then this book might be for you, but I can’t vouch for it because I know nothing about them. However, if you do love reading about an ensemble cast of characters going on a physical (as well as metaphorical) journey to discover some hard truths about the world and find themselves changing accordingly, then this might be the perfect book for you. It also works very well as a standalone, so you should definitely give this a try if you aren’t ready to invest your time in a new series.

If I could sum this book up in one sentence, it would be A novel that shows what truly happens after the war has ended.

I was given the opportunity to provide my honest review on this post-war fantasy novel. Thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, for giving me a copy to read.

Okay, this book starts off pretty slow as we follow Lee and Tala, who are two very different people with different morals and background. Then it starts to pick up when we meet Jimuro and Xiulan a princess who is nerdy and curious. Lee is a thief awaiting execution, Xiulan is an Inspector looking for Steel Prince, Jimuro is a prince who the entire world wants dead, and last but not least, Tala is a special forces soldier. All three are victims of the war and have different outlooks on one another's countries. The first thing I thought while I was reading from Tala's perspective, was that she reminds me of an anime character in specific scenes. She reminds me of Edward The Full Metal Alchemist" Elric from Full Metal Alchemist. Tala's character with a very touching connection to family and military prowess makes her the character you look forward to reading about. Out of all of them, she is my second favorite. While Lee is very straightforward, morally grey character, you can not help but love. She is the comic relief within the story and gives that outside looking in perspective in scenes that are slow and dark. These four individuals are living in a post-war society where they are trying to come back after the war with the Iron Lords has come to an end.

The story pacing has some slow parts and parts that are a bit too drawn out. The multi-perspectives in one chapter were confusing towards the end. However, overall, the politics and historical back story made me invest emotionally with story, plot, and characters. The magic system using pact systems as a method for magic is explained and presented in evenly paced scenes. Lee is hilarious, Tala is stubborn, Xiulan is wonderfully naive, and Jimuro is prejudice, but the character arc for each character was outstanding! The ending was terrific, and I think everyone should read this book. My favorite scene, by far is the rooster scene!!

Very entertaining read! I'm not a fan of Asian or modern-day fantasy but damned if animals flying out of people didn't get me all wrapped up in this world.This thing is filled with great writing and wonderful characters.

Meh, I struggled with this one. Another reviewer said it perfectly, beautiful written but it just went on and on. I found 1 page that caught my attention in about every 20 pages. Can you have too much, yup it was just way too much unnecessary stuff for me.

Steel Crow Saga had really intriguing worldbuilding rooted in our world's history and a thrilling plot with relatable characters. I definitely recommend it for fans of Fonda Lee's Green Bone Saga and R.F. Kuang's The Poppy War.

There are clear parallels between the countries of this world and Japan, China, Korea, India, and the Philippines in ours. I thought it was fascinating how Krueger drew on past history and combined it with magic in an all new world. It's also fairly modern, in that there are electronics. In fact, one of the magic systems is based on metal.

The magic system was very interesting; each country has their own specialty. There's shadepacting (bonding with an animal for life), metalpacting (pouring your will into metal), and something else I forgot the name of but was basically pacting with the human body. I also liked seeing how each country views others' magic, specifically shadepacting, which some view as slavery.

I really loved all of our main characters. There's Jimuro, the Iron Prince who has to face the consequences of the horrifics done by his countrymen; Tala, the sergeant tasked with delivering Jimuro safely; Xiulan, the princess who's trying to prove she's more than her title; and Lee, the thief who's roped into finding Jimuro by Xiulan. They all have such amazing character arcs, and it was so exciting to see all of their story lines converge.

Tala's relationship with her brother was also a complex, almost heartbreaking one to read. It was nice to read about their struggles and the love that overcame all of them.

Romance-wise, there's a f/f one with Xiulan and Lee. Jimuro and Tala may or may not have an enemies-to-lovers thing going on...In both cases, the romance was very evenly balanced with the plot.

Steel Crow Saga was a fast-paced, thrilling read. I loved the worldbuilding and magic systems, and the characters were incredibly developed. Pick this one up, fantasy fan or not!

**This review will be up on my blog Magical Reads on September 17, 2019.**

Steel Crow Saga is a gorgeous novel that follows a cast of five incredibly well-developed characters living inside a politically chaotic fantasy world. That was a lot of words in one sentence.

Basically, this book is everything that I love. It was so character-driven, providing amazing development, riveting backstory, and great banter. It also focused heavily on politics and the various, opposing cultures that make up this Asian-inspired fantasy world. The world-building was so well done, especially seeing as it was so complex. Throughout the course of the book, you'll find yourself wholly immersed into the world, its customs, and its cultures.

This book also has so much representation, and I'm not talking about the token side characters we're so used to seeing in fantasy novels. The cast of Steel Crow Saga is incredibly diverse, featuring gay, lesbian, bi, and trans characters--many of which are MAIN characters.

It's very evident that this book uses tropes popularized by anime. For example, the magic system has many resemblances to popular animes like Fullmetal Alchemist and Pokemon. I was not surprised to find out that the author has publically cited those two shows as inspiration for his work on social media. Basically, if you're a big anime fan, you'll probably enjoy this one. If not, I don't think it's a problem. I'm somewhere in the middle, and I really liked the book.

The characters were definitely what made me love Steel Crow Saga, though. While the plot slowed down at times, my investment in them carried me through to the end. Dimangan, Tala, Jimuro, Lee, and Xiulian were fascinating to read about, and I loved their interactions with one another. One of my favorite things is when books force characters from clashing cultures to interact and settle their differences, and this one definitely did that. I also really enjoyed the author's focus on how war had affected people of different ranks in this world--from thieves to soldiers to royalty.

Oh, and the few romantic scenes that we did get were SO cute. I'm really hoping for a sequel that gives us more of that.

My big issue with the book was pacing. The plot did really slow down at times. I also didn't feel that the antagonistic "threats" were ever threatening enough. This takes place in a dangerous fantasy world; the stakes could've been WAY higher, and that would've easily made this a five-star read for me.

Overall, I think the type of reader you are determines if this will be the book for you. If you love character-driven stories that focus on slow development and interactions, I think you'll love this. If you're interested in a fast-moving, no-fluff story, maybe skip. If you're unsure, I'd recommend picking it up. I LOVED this book and reading it was such a fun experience. I can't wait to see what Paul Krueger comes out with next.

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This review will be posted on or shortly after Steel Crow Saga's on-sale date (October 1st, 2019) at the request of the publisher. It will be posted to my Goodreads account and applicable booksellers.

It will be posted to this URL on Goodreads after October 1st, 2019:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2935614001?type=review#rating_229734433

I have to say- I was a little disappointed with this.  I'll be up front and say that the premise: Pokemon meets Airbender, is in no way my thing- so your mileage may vary.  In my defense I didn't see it marketed that way until well after I started reading it, but the comparison is legitimate enough, and the Pokemon part was a lot of fun.

However I couldn't shake the feeling that the motivations for these characters and their countries didn't always make sense.  When the book starts we are with Dimangan and Tala, observing them as children running errands in the market.  While there, they see the prince of the Tomodanese people jetting through the streets.  The Tomodanese people occupy Sanbuna by force, and the prince's presence in the street starts a riot.

The problem is: the Tomodanese view the Sanbuna and their shades (think Pokemon) as slavers and slaves respectively.  The Tomodanese don't eat meat and they don't believe in utilizing animals for human benefit.  Basically, they are PETA.

And of course, the Sanbuna don't view it that way.  The pact between them and their shades is an agreement, with give and take, not slavery.  (They do eat meat though...)  Cultural views on animals aside, obviously the Sanbuna are angry at the attempted colonization and occupation of their country.

Anyway- now that we've got that straightened out, what I don't understand is what the other two cultures we are introduced to have anything to do with it.  There are also the Shang, and the Jeongsonese.  All of which seem to be against the Tomodanese, and then to top it off, the Shang, Sanbuna, and Tomodanese all look down upon the Jeongsonese, despite the fact that they don't seem to have done anything.  

Sound complex?  It is.  And I'm okay with complex.. but without knowing the motivations of the other two countries involved I wasn't sure why the author felt the need to include them.  It seemed needlessly complex and without knowing the reasoning behind it I couldn't help but feel like it was added to give the world building an illusion of depth.

Does that sort of thing happen in real life?  Yes.  Of course.  Is it right?  Of course not.  But I couldn't help feeling throughout like Lee and Xiulan's story really would have been better dedicated to a different plot and a different book, and being given the time it needed to establish how these cultures all fit together.

The characters aren't terrible, but occasionally felt like cartoons and caricatures.  Xiulan runs around in an all white suit, calls herself the "White Rat," wears a fedora and smokes a pipe in an endless to homage to her childhood hero, a detective from a book, Bai Junjie.  Lee is a morally grey thief character, rogue archetype.  She's always imagining how it would feel to pick so-and-so's pocket, or slip a lock or infiltrate a palace.  I guess my issue is they came off as very one note.

And to top it off... this book is long.  Way too long.  I think if it had been trimmed down to 300 pages and strictly followed Tala and Jimuro's story, we'd have had a tightly paced plot with world building that didn't feel flimsy and a truly unique take on fantasy.  Lee and Xiulan's parts in the story could easily have been removed without effecting the overall plot and end result.

But I don't have all negative things to say about it.  There is LGBT+ representation.  The f/f romance actually felt much stronger and sweeter than the m/f romance.  At least one of the main characters is bisexual, and there is a transgender side character.  And it was all done without any of them being shunned or feeling ashamed.

And despite me not necessarily loving Pokemon or Airbender, I have to say, imagining the battle field running rampant with magical, mutated-animal creatures was lots of fun.  Overall not a bad book that I think other readers will find more joy in than I did.

Steel Crow Saga releases on September 24th, and can be found on GoodReads or preordered on Amazon.  Thank you to Del Rey and NetGalley for providing an eARC for review.

I just could not get invested in this story. I didn't want to not review it but didn't want to give it a bad review because I forced myself to read it. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read it though.

Hats off to what is one of the best books I've read all year. Let me tell you: I've been in a really weird slump where I'm reading things and kind of enjoying them but not really loving anything, and then came along this book. Not to be dramatic, but it literally reminded me why I love reading. There are some books you can sink into with such relish that you forget you're reading, and you're just along for the ride. Steel Crow Saga is that book.

→ plot & pacing ←

I was hooked from the very first page, which is saying something because the book starts with a prologue. But there was something about the writing style that just drew me in immediately. And then the story began, and it moved at a breakneck pace, especially in the beginning. Even as we were getting introduced to new characters and a new world, the plot sprinted along.

→ characters ←

GOD. I loved all four main characters here so much. Do you know how long it's been since I truly cared about a character? All four of these characters were so richly layered and so different from one another, even in their speech patterns. You could always tell who was speaking, even without the dialogue tags, because the author took care to flesh out each characters speech patterns and diction in relation to their personality and upbringing. It all felt effortless in the end, resulting in four memorable and vibrant characters.

→ worldbuilding ←

The book is set in a kind of Fantasy Asia in the mid-20th century. There are four distinct cultures/countries in the book, each heavy with real-life cultural influences which I absolutely loved. It was clear what real-life counterpart each nation in this book was meant to represent, but it was clearly a conscious choice made to pay homage to a variety of Asian cultures. It was done so colorfully and respectfully.

Shadepacting is what's getting this book comparisons to Pokemon, and I concur. Pacting with an animal who becomes your superpowered familiar? Yes please. I really loved the relationships various characters had with their shades.

Queerness in this book is just so...casual? Like it's just an accepted part of the world and it was incredible.

→ misc ←

This book is hilarious. Like, truly laugh-out-loud hilarious, which is so rare to come across in fantasy, as it tends to revel in how grimdark it can be. Not that this book didn't grapple with serious issues with the appropriate respect, but there were just some truly hilarious scenes. And I feel like there was a kind of hope and humor underscoring everything?

The anime influences are clear and as a former watcher of anime can I just say I really loved this.

I just...really loved this book, guys. I had so much fun. I connected with all the characters. I genuinely enjoyed every second of reading this book. It just feels so new and fresh. As happy as I am that this is a standalone, which are so damn rare in fantasy, I would read so many other books about these characters, which you know is the mark of a really good book.

An epic adventure that follows multiple POVs. One of my favorite things about this book was the world building, and the representation and rich culture.

This was a monster of a book of a little over 500 pages, and although I'm a huge fan of spending time with world building and character development, I felt like maybe this book was a hundred pages too long. It was a little slow to pick up, and I found myself more interested in other stories lines than the main one. Things that made up for it though was the concept of shades and metal pacing. It reminded me of my days watching anime and waiting for the new episode of The Last Airbender.

As I said, I'm a fan of multiple POVs. I like seeing all these characters, and their perspective of the world. But it's a challenge to make the reader love all of the characters. I found myself liking all of the characters - all but one. I was not a fan of Jimuro, and it took me quite a while for me to finally get used to him and his POV. I know what the author was trying to do with his character, I've seen it done before in other books. But I just don't think it was executed well in this book. But a little more than half way through the book, did I finally think he was getting more bearable. I did like the other 3 POVs, it made up for the 1 I just didn't like.

Overall, I did enjoy this book and if the author ever did another book in this universe I would pick it up in a second. I especially would love to see more of Lee and Xuilan.

I like this book . . . I wanted to LOVE it, but it was slow moving for me with excessively overwritten scenes making it unnecessarily long. I felt myself skipping pages (which is paramount to sacrilegious to me) because I just wanted something to happen. While the characters were well thought-out and complex and the storyline was intriguing enough to get me reading, its overly padded pages had me I struggling to continue to the end.
I read a lot of books, short and long in length, so I have no problem with length. But I get frustrated when words aren't used to convey their point, whether it be descriptive for a scene or narrative for a character. This book suffers from superfluous wordage and scenes.

**I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.**

This is a LOT of fun, it's 100% Pokemon meets Full Metal Alchemist. It's really easy to sink into, partly due to the cultural cues and anime elements I'm already familiar with, which made it a speedy read; I don't know how things might land for someone unfamiliar with those elements, because I always understood what the story was at least going for even if it didn't quite make it there, but all in all it comes together - the two paired journeys, the four countries recovering from revolution, the light and dark of pacting. I think anyone looking for this kind of book will find something they want in here.

The book shines best in its small victories and honest moments, when characters get to understand each other a little more. I knew I would start out wanting to punch some of these characters in the face but go on to love them, and that reversal? Super satisfying. Once things get going, I didn't want to stop reading. Tala and Jimuro were my favorite unsurprisingly, and the heft of their personal turmoils is balanced well against the backdrop of the larger conflict and against each other. Xiulan and Lee are the slick entertainment side of things and got some great bombastic moments, and their resolution made me cackle. The story seems to know what I want and what it's good at, and handily gives it to me.

tl;dr FUN, satisfying, want more.

Their destinies were meant to collide as enemies become allies in an attempt to save an already battered and bruised world from the hands of a monster.

Paul Krueger’s STEEL CROW SAGA has everything it needs to be a hard-hitting fantasy saga, but for me, it just missed the mark. The characters are predictable, they mimic the current trend in writing and while breathtakingly beautiful descriptions painted the backgrounds, it was too much of a good thing and seriously slowed this book down for me. Sometimes less is more!

This author has some incredible talent, but this time out, I didn’t fall into the story and live side by side with the characters, nor did I form an attachment to their world.

I received a complimentary ARC edition from Del Rey! This is my honest and voluntary review.

Publisher: Del Rey (September 24, 2019)
Publication Date: September 24, 2019
Genre: Myth & Legend
Print Length: 528 pages
Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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What an awesome and epic adventure this book takes you on. In the beginning it was hard to follow the characters POV's but the more you get to know them, the more they grow on you and understand each of them. I thought the story building was phenomenal and I enjoyed each of the characters involved. A lot of action, which made it feel like an anime, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Although the book was a little long, it was still enjoyable and a page turner. Looking forward to more books from Paul Kreger.

Thanks so much to netgalley and Random House for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.