THE ART OF DESTINY

Three years after the events in the previous volume of this martial arts fantasy series (The Art of Prophecy, 2022), the paths of three foes diverge.

As the Zhuun empire approaches civil war, the fighting skills of the empire’s Prophesied Hero, Wen Jian, are improving. He’s still not ready to fight the Eternal Khan, but that’s fine for now, because the Khan hasn’t been reincarnated yet. However, there’s still an enormous bounty on his head, and the religion that anointed him a hero now dubs him a villain for not having killed the previous Khan. The Khan can’t reincarnate until one of his inner circle, Salminde the Viperstrike, submits herself to a ritual death and frees the portion of the Khan’s soul trapped and rotting within her. While Salminde seeks a way to cure herself and prevent the birth of a new Khan, the sociopathic assassin Maza Qisami is desperate for a way out of her own troubles. Having lost considerable status and money for failing to kill Wen Jian, she accepts a new assignment that just might get her back on track—unless she gets too comfortable in her cover as a ducal servant and/or entirely fails to notice that someone is planning to double-cross her (the reader will figure out most of what’s going on long before poor Qisami does). This story continues Wen Jian’s personal journey from rash, naïve spoiled brat to perhaps, eventually, a true martial artist, while vigorously introducing new characters and new plotlines. It is also genuinely interesting to watch Qisami begin to question her previously ruthless ways and confront the consequences of her behavior, and to see both her and Salminde struggle to seize a purpose and a place to belong that represent more than the next great fight against an enemy. As a result, this is a fun and fascinating book in its own right, and not a mere setup for the final installment in the trilogy.

Fights, schemes, snappy dialogue, and some genuinely touching moments make this series continue to shine.