I have been biased in my view of Chloe Gong’s works for two reasons. One, she is a New Zealander and I feel a strong need to support New Zealand writers. The other reason is that her books are Shakespearean retellings rooted in modern Chinese history and include very significant details in the development of modern Chinese history, such as the impact foreigners had on the cultural shift and identity of China, the political movements within the nation, and the all-important invasion of China during the Mukden Incident. These are also why I have been putting off reading Foul Lady Fortune, letting my deadline on the library book near without the motivation to read it.

Well, it was until yesterday when, after several days of gardening, I finally started reading and swept through it, soaking up every word in a matter of hours. I shouldn’t have been worried, for it was everything I was expecting and more, but one cannot control when the mind needs to slow down and halt reading.

Let’s start with this: I haven’t read Shakespeare’s As You Like It, so this is a retelling I picked up without knowledge of the source material. It didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the unfolding events, the tension between characters, or the evident blending of character dynamics with the prior-established characters of These Violent Delights and the new faces of Foul Lady Fortune. If anything, not knowing the plotting of events and subsequent teasers, spoilers, and expectations from Shakespeare’s work eased that pressure from my shoulders.

I really like Chloe Gong’s writing style. I wasn’t sure why at first, wondering if it was simply because it’s a style and voice I gravitate towards when looking for books to read. I think it’s more than that though. When I think about it, I feel that her style is a lot like how I write and the direction she takes with merging fantasy and historical fiction feels similar to how I would do it, and how I plan to do it with projects and novels in the future. Maybe it’s growing up a Kiwi and having restricted access to a variety of narrative structures that shape the ideal voice to tell a story, and our voices so happen to be similar.

The description and dialogue are sharp and illustrate the scenes and the relationships between characters so beautifully. Weaving together historical detail into a story and curating a balance between fiction and plausible fact is very difficult, especially when dealing with fantasy or scientific elements. Though a few details were a little heavy-handed or lacked subtlety for my critical eye, I can see the layers of this book being very pleasing to unravel for a historical fiction fantasy reader. It’s a good thing Foul Heart Huntsman is on my shelf ready to read because I would be pacing through the carpet until the sequel came into my possession.