The Art Of Prophecy by Wesley Chu

 

 

 

An epic fantasy ode to martial arts and magic about what happens when a prophesied hero is not the chosen one after all—and has to work with a band of unlikely allies to save the kingdom anyway, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Lives of Tao

So many stories begin the same way: With a prophecy. A Chosen One. And the inevitable quest to slay a villain, save the kingdom, and fulfill a grand destiny.

But this is not that kind of story.

It does begin with a prophecy: A child will rise to defeat the Eternal Khan, a cruel immortal god-king, and save the kingdom.

And that prophecy did anoint a hero, Jian, raised since birth in luxury and splendor, and celebrated before he has won a single battle.

But that’s when the story hits its first twist: The prophecy was wrong.

What follows is a story more wondrous than any prophecy can foresee, and with many unexpected heroes: Taishi, an older woman who is the greatest grandmaster of magical martial arts in the kingdom but who thought her adventuring days were all behind her; Sali, a straitlaced warrior who learns the rules may no longer apply when the leader she pledged her life to is gone; and Qisami, a chaotic assassin who takes a little too much pleasure in the kill.

And Jian himself, who has to find a way to become what he no longer believes he can be—a hero after all.

 MY REVIEW: 4 STARS 

I absolutely loved the character, Taishi. She's an older lady with a disability but can kick your arse and take names at the same time. She's one bad ass master. She decides to take on Jian who is part of a prophecy that kinda falls flat. This puts him in hiding as people want to kill him. I loved the parts when Jian and Taishi are together the most and the humor is fantastic! 

Some of the other characters are doing their own thing. Qisami is pretty evil but she didn't kill that dog people... repeat.. she didn't kill that dog!!!!!!! 

I'm up in the air whether I want to own the physical copy. I did use one of my Audible credits to get the book as I couldn't seem to get through it with my Netgalley copy. The narration is very good and funny as hell at times so I do recommend it. 

Overall, the book was enjoyable and I will be reading the rest of the books in the series/trilogy

*I would like to thank Netgalley and Random House Publishing - Ballantine for a digital copy of this book. 

Mel