About the Book

From a rising-star author, winner of the both the Bram Stoker® and Nebula Awards, a richly inventive, brutal and beautiful science-fantasy novella. A story of family, loss, oppression and rebellion that will stay with you long after the final page. For readers of Nghi Vo’s The Empress of Salt and Fortune, Neon Yang’s The Black Tides of Heaven and Kritika H. Rao’s The Surviving Sky.

Liu Lufeng is the eldest princess of the Feng royalty and, bound by duty and tradition, the next bride to the human king. With their bark faces, arms of braided branches and hair of needle threads, the Feng people live within nature, nurtured by the land. But they exist under the constant threat of human expansion, and the negotiation of bridewealth is the only way to stop— or at least delay—the destruction of their home. Come her wedding day, Lufeng plans to kill the king and finally put an end to the marriages.

Trapped in the great human palace in the run-up to the union, Lufeng begins to uncover the truth about her people’s origins and realizes they will never be safe from the humans. So she must learn to let go of duty and tradition, choose her allies carefully, and risk the unknown in order to free her family and shape her own fate.

From a rising-star author, winner of the both the Bram Stoker® and Nebula Awards, a richly inventive, brutal and beautiful story of family, loss, oppression and rebellion.

Review

The concept of A Place Near the Wind is that Lufeng is forced to marry a king to save her land. It had happened to her older sisters, her mom, and now it’s happening to her. She is sent to a land that is unfamiliar to her and destructive to the environment, plants, and animals. Information is withheld from her, and she doesn’t know what is going on. She is determined to end the cycle and save her younger sister, with the only option being to kill the king.

I had to take my time with A Place Near the Wind. It was very dense and descriptive. There was very little dialogue. It’s a story centered on nature versus technology, with technology portrayed as horrifying. Most things that occurred in the palace were horrifying to Lufeng. The author did a great job of making things feel uncomfortable.

The world-building in this was fantastic. It felt like a Studio Ghibli production with how vivid it was and how pretty and flowy the words were. Lufeng was described multiple times as being their grandmother’s puppet and severely values the tradition from her old land. Something can also be said about her commitment to saving her mother and sisters; however, there is a lack of character development with her. There was a lot left to be explored with her.

Final Thoughts

A Place Near the Wind is an allegorical novella exploring the friction between different cultures and identities. Describing it as Studio Ghibli horror feels fitting. While the world-building and pose are compelling and rich, the narrative feels confusing, requiring readers to re-read sections for understanding. The narrative overshadows the character development.

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