“Touch me and your blood will desecrate these sacred grounds. I assure you I deserve my legend.”

The Art of Prophecy by Wesley Chu was an absolute joy to read from start to finish. Though the author has written many books, this was the first I’ve read by him and I was suitably impressed. Chu superbly weaves together all the elements of a traditional old school epic fantasy with an added sprinkle of comedy. 

This is a story of a hero and a warrior, their enemies and a prophecy gone to shit. Wen Jian is the Hero of Prophecy, Champion of the Five Under Heaven and he is destined to fight the Eternal Khan and save the people of Zhuun. That is until the prophecy is shown to be wrong. Then Jian the hero is made a target, a threat to be disposed of, and his only ally is an aged war arts grandmaster who sees him as an incompetent fool. Ling Taishi is a respected and rightly feared Windwhisper and when she sees Jian has been poorly tutored and overly pampered by his war arts masters she takes him under her wing. Little did she know it may just cost her life, for there are two other highly skilled women on their trail. 

I am an absolute sucker for fantasy tropes, especially the old school ones such as prophecies and the chosen one, so if you tell me a book has either or both of these, I’m going to read it. Chu explores the power of prophecies and what makes prophecies come to fruition. There are a million different factors that can cause a prophecy to evolve, or a million different ways to interpret one, so relying upon a prophecy alone as a guide to future events and in this case basing an entire religion upon one can be… problematic to say the least, as we see when the prophecy is seemingly shown to be false. It not only endangers Jian and Taishi’s lives but the entire people of Zhuun and the Katuia clan are thrown into further turmoil. As Taishi goes in search of the source of the prophecy and discover if it indeed has failed, Chu gives us an interesting philosophical look at the nature of prophecies and their correlation to free will, which I absolutely loved. As for the chosen one trope, here is where we see how that burden affects our characters, which in Jian’s case results in him being a rather spoiled ignorant brat. Still it’s completely understandable, when you’ve spent your entire life being told you’re special and important, you’re going to bloody believe it, you’re going to become the product of the prophecy. What was unexpected was the fact that the hero status had made Jian, as a warrior, completely incompetent when faced with a real threat! I found this absolutely hilarious and knew that this would lead to a great story arc where Jian would need to train properly. Which leads us to Chu including further fantasy tropes such as a training school, found families, and quests.

Though Jian may appear entitled and pompous he’s actually a rather lonely boy who’s had his whole life dictated by his several war arts masters and the Five Dukes of Zhuun. Jian’s character grows spectacularly throughout with him starting off as petulant but then facing real dangers and hardships, matures considerably. His narrative follows a coming of age story arc but reverses the ones we usually find in fantasy books. Instead of the hero beginning as a simple farm boy who rises above and becomes the saviour, what Chu gives us here is Jian starting out as the warrior saviour and then becoming a simple servant and ultimately being better for it. However, as loveable as Jian was in every way, it is our grandmaster Ling Taishi who completely stole the show for me. Taishi is grumpy, starting to feel her age but most of all she’s tired of all these so-called war arts masters and their shit. Even with one arm Taishi is an outstanding warrior, her legacy is worth its weight and as a Windwhiperer her ability to ride wind currents and send her voice across them, makes her an absolute delight to visualise in action! It is also clear that Taishi’s past holds many regrets and tragedy, but her fondness for Jian and her drive to protect him at all costs shows us that Taishi isn’t as hard as her exterior appears. Through Taishi and Jian’s banter and quips I was not only rolling in laughter but also loving the growing bond between mentor and student. 

“This woman did not need saving. She was a lioness tolerating sheep. Those morons were alive only by the grace of her goodwill, and were simply too stupid to realise.”

Aside from Taishi, Chu also presents two other formidable female warriors—Sali and Qisami. With Sali’s character we are given some fascinating insight into the Katuia clan, the Eternal Khan and the unique place known as the Grass Sea. Without going into too much detail, Sali is linked to the Eternal Khan and therefore we see the intricacies that make up this ‘villain’ and in what ways this affects Sali’s destiny. In addition Sali is a Viperstrike and her abilities as one mean she has a very cool weapon and just her mere presence is a threat to anyone. What I enjoyed most about Sali is her love for her home in the  Grass Sea, which is a place of forever moving grass with a deadly ecosystem and mobile cities that traverse upon it. Sali’s narrative leads us to exploring political matters and rebellion from the POV of the supposed enemy, but really Chu is showing us that this whole situation is not a matter of good vs evil but a matter of the choices people make and their motivations. While Sali just wants the best for her people, in contrast Qisami is a completely unhinged assassin whose motives are solely based upon fame and money. Qisami is of course one of my favourites, she’s a pure dark deranged delight and saucy in the most hilarious ways. One of my absolute favourite scenes sees these women (including Taishi) go up against one another and fight in a very cinematic and bloody way. 

The Art of Prophecy, for me, displays a fantastic balance between gripping storytelling and compelling characters whilst also being abundantly fun. Chu expertly delivers a wuxia inspired tale that was an electrifying and wonderfully entertaining experience to read.

“There is nothing weak about being in tune with your emotions. There is great strength once you learn to harness it. I want you to care so deeply it brings tears to your eyes.”

ARC provided by Jamie at Black Crow and Daphne Press in exchange for an honest review—thank you for the copy. 

The Art of Prophecy is out now, you can order your copy HERE