Amanda Roberts's Blog, page 15

Sweet and Spicy Salmon Dumpling Recipe

Hi everyone! Today I want to share a really yummy dumpling recipe with you! I already shared this with my backers on Kickstarter, so if you want to get a hundred more dumpling recipes, be sure to check out the campaign!

You can find the dumpling wrapper recipe here.

This flavorful recipe is sweet with a kick of pepper. Sure to be your new favorite!

Sweet and Spicy Salmon Dumplings

This recipe says you can use cooked salmon (maybe from a leftover meal at home or from a restaurant), but you can also used fresh salmon. The dumplings will get hot enough when fried to cook the salmon. You can also use canned salmon in a pinch. 

¾ cup honey

¼ cup soy sauce

¼ cup brown sugar, packed

¼ cup pineapple juice

Juice of 1 lemon

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp cayenne pepper

Dash of paprika

Dash of garlic powder

1 cup cooked salmon, chopped or shredded

12 dumpling wrappers

1 cup of oil, if frying

In a saucepan, add all filling ingredients except salmon and heat over medium heat. Stir occasionally until sauce begins to boil. Simmer uncovered for 15 minutes until syrupy.
Remove from heat and blend in salmon.
Drain sauce from salmon and set aside.
Spoon salmon mixture into dumpling wrappers and pinch closed.
Cook dumplings.

To fry dumplings, preheat oil in a wok for 30 seconds on high heat, then lower heat to medium. Cook dumplings on each side for about 3 minutes or until golden brown.
To steam dumplings, place in a steamer basket or on an elevated plate in a wok over water on high heat for about 10 minutes.


Always cut a dumpling open to make sure it is cooked through.
Serve hot with excess sauce for dipping.

To get more than a hundred Crazy Dumpling recipes, check out Crazy Dumplings II: Even Dumplinger, now on Kickstarter!

Crazy Dumplings II – Awesome First Week!

Crazy Dumplings II had an awesome first week on Kickstarter! We reached our goal in less than 5 days, and then blew past it, raising 150% of our goal in just 7 days! We have over 170 backers and were named as a Staff Pick! If anyone has done a Kickstarter before, you know how important being a Staff Pick can be. Over 40 of our backers found us after checking out the Staff Pick pages.

We had A LOT of returning backers, which is so amazing! That means not only did they like the first Crazy Dumplings cookbook, they came back for seconds! To celebrate hitting our goal, I posted a new dumpling recipe. You can see it here and try it for yourself.

I have to give a shout-out to all of our amazing backers so far:

Madisen Trueg, Vidya, Sarah Mosley, ATH, evan, Hazel O’Keeffe, Aimee Smith, Gail, Nathan Kellen, Joshua Martin, Brandon Marris, Lisa Eyers, tofuji, Tim Meakins, Daniel, Sara, Amy, Pamela Izzo, Vincent Briamonte Jr, Jessica Zhu, Alex Tsue, Joshua, Mj, DeHart, Daniel Moo, Bruce Bellak, Marco Seidel, Ineke Allez, Ruben Schäfer-Baehre, Dawn Smith, Tyler Whitlock, Josh, Ellen, Richard Fresow, Theresa, Breanna Gallagher, Devin, Roxy Pope, Melissa Smith, MDrake42, Kelly Kohagura, Duke Games, Drew, Stiemke, Dwight Bishop, Kelly Beecher, Vivianne Audiss, Chris Sandy, Alistair, Kristin, Rabon, Heather Hostetler, ryan Harrison, Thilo, Keba Jackson, Megan, Brandon, Jablonski, Rob Steinberger, Daniel Munday, Koendert Ruifrok, Laura Lundy, Nicole, Pelchat, Seth Anderson, Krista, James Mattly, Bob T Kozono, Shane barker, William Hall, Evonne Okafor, Flint, Xander, Jessica Slavik, Laurie Kibbe, Arimenthe, Angela Pritchett, Celeste Tamura, Kelly, Aaron Beard, Stephie I., Amelia McLearan Hite, Sara H. Lappi, Damian Morgan, Johan Buts, Carrie Lillie-Lugo, Stephenie C-L, kyle trudel, Rebekah Bernard, J.A.W., Hilla-Mari Heikkilä, Shauna Ratliff, Regan Smith, Dean Gillis, Sara Doty, Erin Rowett, Alison Benowitz, Rebecca Dixon, Ahad Al Saud, Joan Schulz, Tina Young, Jessica Dulin, David Miller, jenelle campion, Josh Garneau, Tina Tipton, Visalachy Sittampalam, Camey, Jonathon ‘jono’ Zachariah, Willhameena power, Eileen LaBoone, Aline Hong, John Gillespie, Cristie Fagnano, Rachel Alystine, Danielle Greene, Dane, Cullen Gilchrist, Bruce Martin, Heather Whittaker, Marina Turovsky, Carolyn Brindle, ExecutionGlitch, Ludvig Carleson, Dan Canzonieri, Louise, Alex Ambers, Dan Rothstein, Burgin Howdeshell, Stefanie, oliver, Zach B., AC, Jonas Claumarch, Jen Brown, Robert McKeagney, Vincent B. Donadio, Jacob Cord, Neil Graham, Frank Cernik, Stine, Aaron B, Ted Beyer, James McKendrew, Victor A Eichhorn, P-P-P-P-Powerbook, Mark Henderson, Sinzor, Joseph Moyer, Donna Nutter, Daniel Lanigan, Gearsoul, Kit Wickliff, Eileen Hendriksen, Steffen Heise, Keith Solomon, Timo Glander, Max, Lenaldo Branco Rocha, Margaret St. John, Stefan Winkler, Black Squadron Monkey King 42, David Spaxman, Geoff Peterson, Marijo Yates, Rob Coke, H J, Luke Otlang, Scott Loonan, Jaime Ruiz-Morales, Sören Koch, Amy, Michael Brand, Nicholas Smillie, James, Tom Wardill, Kate Scott, MrsDHaggis, Kim Dyer, Thierry Corlieto.

Who else wants to join the list? Jump over to Kickstarter right now and back Crazy Dumplings II: Even Dumplinger right now!

Your Local Cousin Helps You Travel Like a Local

Hi everyone, I came across this really cool company and wanted to let you know about it!
What Is Your Local Cousin?
Your Local Cousin www.yourlocalcousin.co, is disrupting travel and is part of the sharing economy. We have been in business since February 2015 and match travelers looking for customized advice with actual locals in over 80 countries and 200 cities. Travelers looking to get a local perspective on where to find the best beaches in Maui, shop in the Grand Bazar in Istanbul or where to find the best paella in Madrid can choose to text, e-mail or speak with a local. We typically charge between $15 for a 30 minute Skype call and also offer customized itineraries for $25 – $60 and travel maps for $10. We pay locals 70% of revenue and vet all of them over Skype.
How to Use Your Local Cousin
Travelers can find locals by the city or country that they plan to visit and then pick the one that they feel will be best able to plan their trip. Each local’s profile mentions their interests, in other words what they can advise you on and also includes the kind of traveler they can help i.e. families with kids, expats, business traveler, senior citizens and backpackers etc. Travelers can decide to speak with a local, connect with them over text message or whatsapp or ask them to prepare detailed itineraries depending on the duration of their trip. Once connected, the traveler can provide further detail about their trip and ask any questions from the local. The more detailed your questions the more useful are the recommendations! Once don with the interaction, travelers also rate locals on the quality of information provided and responsiveness.
How to Become a Local Cousin
Local experts, aka ‘local cousins,’ are individuals from various backgrounds who should be fluent in English (additional languages are always a big bonus), love to talk about their city and are passionate about helping others have a great experience when they’re visiting and of course don’t mind getting paid for giving advice :). Our local are individuals who live in a city, went to school there recently or own a business / home there, thus they possess in-depth information about a place and are not passers-by or outsourced agents. Locals get paid via Paypal and are also rated by travelers. Locals and travelers do not have to meet in person or provide any personal details to the traveler other than perhaps their Skype handle or email address. If you want to become a local, please register on www.yourlocalcousin.co by clicking on “Become a Local Cousin” on the top right of the home page and complete your profile.

About Your Local Cousin
I founded Your Local Cousin with my actual cousin, Aarti Kanodia (based in New York) and have a CTO also based in NY. I have traveled to more than 30 countries and decided to help travelers solve the problem of wading through information overload online, heavy and outdated guidebooks and sifting through biased reviews on review sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor only to get stuck in tourist traps. We want travelers to get customized advice from real locals who share common interests at price points that are affordable. We allow travelers to get the “inside scoop” on where to find all the cool places locals love to visit and avoid the tourist traps. We want to bring the old-school back into travel planning which is seriously missing the ‘human element’ these days. We are YOUR next best thing to speaking with a friend who lives in the city you are visiting.
Press:

We have been featured in Travel and Leisure

http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/your-local-cousin-travel-startup

and USA Today

http://roadwarriorvoices.com/2015/08/21/these-startups-help-travelers-explore-the-local-side-of-the-city/

and Chicago Tribune

http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/travel/sc-trav-1229-sharing-economy-20151216-story.html

Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YourLocalCousins/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/YourLocalCousin
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourlocalcousin/

Crazy Dumplings II is now on Kickstarter!

Crazy Dumplings II: Even Dumplinger is now on Kickstarter!

Dumplings from around the world and the most unique combinations of ingredients come together in Crazy Dumplings II: Even Dumplinger. From Thailand, Vietnam, India, and of course across China, traditional snacks are given a new twist when stuffed into dumpling wrappers. Sweet, savory, spicy, and all delicious, Crazy Dumplings II: Even Dumplinger will take you where your taste buds have never been before!

After the success of last year’s Crazy Dumplings Cookbook, I can’t get dumplings off my mind. Every time I come across a new recipe, the first thing I think is “how can I turn this into a dumpling?” So I’m back with dozens of crazy new dumpling recipes you will want to try!

China’s favored dish, the dumpling (jiaozi in Chinese), can be found on every street corner, in every restaurant, and in every kitchen in China, but they are all pretty much prepared the same way: a bit of meat, some garlic and ginger, and a bit of vegetables if you’re lucky. Even a visit to the freezer section at any grocery store displays hundreds of packages of dumplings that all look and taste the same.

But the dumpling is so versatile! Have you ever tried stuffing a dumpling with chicken? Pesto? Egg tart filling? No? Hardly anyone has! My cookbook, Crazy Dumplings II, takes this simple staple food and prepares it in ways you never thought possible! From Avocado Chipotle Dumplings to Lamb Pomegranate Dumplings to Pumpkin Cream Cheese Dumplings, a world of foods is available to you in an easy dumpling wrapper with Crazy Dumplings.

About the Book

Crazy Dumplings II will contain dozens of new recipes plus dumpling recipes submitted by backers, the dumpling wrapper recipe, and several original sauce and dip recipes such as Avocado Lime Sauce and Honey Chipotle Sauce. There are dumpling recipes for appetizers, main courses, and desserts. I have done my best to include some vegetarian recipes, but dumplings are so versatile, you can turn almost any recipe in the book vegetarian, and the book will explain how!

About the Campaign

There are lots of new Backer Rewards, including an updated Amazing Dumplinger and adorable Plushy Dumplings!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can also get last year’s original Crazy Dumplings Cookbook at a discounted rate!

I’ll also be sharing lots of new dumpling recipes only with Kickstarter backers, so click here to hurry over to Kickstarter and back Crazy Dumpings II: Even Dumplinger right now!

IMPERIA by Jason Hatcher

IMPERIA

by Jason Hatcher

GENRE: Fantasy, Asian Gothic

BLURB:

IMPERIA is a tale of revenge. It is a resurrection of Asian myth. It is fantasy’s untold story.

Thirty years is a long time to hold a grudge. The Red Empress has endured every single day of the past three decades living among enemies. A captive empress, she bides her time, her mind’s machinations plotting a future bathed in blood. And then the future becomes the present. Across the Empire of Heaven, the winds blow calmly no more.

 

EXCERPT:

 Among the People of the Empire of Heaven, the Great Capital was not simply the heart of an empire; to them, it was the center of civilization itself. The city sprawled across a great valley, a landscape much different than the parched wastelands of the West. As winter made its final retreat and spring took hold, this contrast became even more apparent.

The Great Capital’s skyline was a tessellation of tiled eaves that framed the edges of homes, shop buildings, temples, and courtyards. Except for a few brief hours preceding dawn, the streets overflowed with life: artisans and beggars, soldiers and thieves; merchants, priests, and prostitutes.

Everywhere was the echo of cartwheels on cobblestones. From the few streets left unpaved rose clouds of red dust, churned up by the pitter patter of too many feet.

A hundred generations had lived and died in this city. With such spans of time came the accumulation of ghosts, visible in every worn footpath and every magic amulet hung before the shrine of this or that dead ancestor. History radiated from the beams and the mortar of edifices that filled the valley to its brim, from the base of one mountain to the other. Temples crept up the sides of the surrounding hills, as the intrepid faithful sought out new places to burn their incense, give their offerings, and pray.

 

About the Author:

Originally from Pensacola, Florida, Jason Hatcher attended the International Baccalaureate senior high school program, then went on to study Japanese and English literature at the University of Florida. He attended law school in Boston, and worked as an attorney in New York City for eight years. A lifelong lover of Asia, he spent much of his childhood in Japan. He speaks, reads, and writes Japanese, and has traveled extensively throughout that part of the world. Today, he lives in Westchester County, New York, with his husband, mother, and twin sons.

Author website

Author Facebook fan page

IMPERIA Facebook fan page

Amazon Kindle book purchase site

Goodreads author page

Goodreads book page

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China’s New Domestic Violence Law – The Good, The Bad, and the Vague

On Sunday, China passed its first law prohibiting domestic violence and offering protection for victims of domestic abuse. It might be hard to believe, but before Sunday, there was no law prohibiting domestic violence in China.

“Love is no excuse for violence”

As far as authorities were concerned, a husband beating his wife was not breaking the law. Women who did seek help were often told to go back home to their abusers. Thanks to several high-profile cases in recent years of horrific instances of spousal and child abuse and the work of women’s rights groups, a new law is now in effect. But what does this law mean exactly and what are its flaws?

The Good

China now has a domestic violence law! This is good. Any law on the books is better than none.

The new law will provide protection for abuse victims and allow abusers to be charged with abuse. The law covers men and women. While it is unlikely that man men will take advantage of the protections the law allows, I was impressed that the law took men in abusive relationships into account. This is very important considering that before last year, men could not legally be considered rape victims. The gender-neutral stance of the law is a big step forward.

A Chinese woman abusing her boyfriend on a busy street

The law also grants protection to victims who are not legally married. Cohabitation without marriage is on the rise in China, and barely a day goes by that I don’t read about a Chinese woman being murdered by her boyfriend. The fact that the law will allow unmarried women protection from abusive men who are not their husbands is a great addition to the law (one that wasn’t in the initial drafts).

The law also protects children, not only from abusive parents but from abusive guardians, even those the child may not be related to. In a country with millions of “left behind children,” this was also an important addition.

The law will also allow abuse to be a mitigating factor in divorce proceedings. Previously, a partner’s abuse was not taken into consideration when granting divorces or divorce settlements.

The Bad

The law doesn’t actually go into effect until March. So, I guess, beat your wife while you can?

Lu Zhong and Liu Wangqiang at their wedding in Fujian

The law doesn’t cover same-sex couples. It isn’t just that the law is vague and doesn’t mention them one way or another, the law explicitly doesn’t apply. Guo Linmao, a member of the Legislative Affairs Commission of parliament’s standing committee, said, “There are a lot of examples of domestic violence between family members, and also between people who cohabit. As for homosexuals in our country, we have not yet discovered this form of violence, so to give you a certain answer, it can be said that people who cohabit does not include homosexuals.”

So according to Guo, homosexual couples don’t experience violence so they don’t need protection.

This is, of course, wrong and blatant misdirection. Many rights groups in China have latched on to this issue, so maybe someday the law will be expanded to include them.

The Vague

The law does not explicitly protect people from sexual violence. The law defines domestic violence as “physical, psychological and other harm inflicted by family members with beatings, restraint or forcible limits on physical liberty.” While “physical” harm could include sexual violence, the fact that the law doesn’t specifically list sexual violence is worrisome. Even countries such as the United States that have made marital rape illegal continue to grapple with this issue. The is something that China’s leaders need to clarify sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, it is unlikely any changes will be made to the law anytime soon. We will have to wait and see how judges interpret the law to see if it covers sexual violence. Hopefully it will.  

Have you looked over China’s new domestic abuse law? What do you think? Let me know in the comments!

Don’t forget to enter this month’s drawing! Learn about this month’s prize, Beijing Monkeys, here!

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China Should Accept Syrian Refugees

The following was originally published in the Shenzhen Daily.

Anne Frank

In the 1930s and 40s, America turned its back on Jewish refugees. Otto Frank, the father of perhaps the most famous Jewish victim of the Holocaust Anne Frank, applied for American visas to get his family to safety, but the family, and thousands of others, were denied, left to be crushed under a wave of Nazi oppression.

Perhaps Mr. Frank should have applied for Chinese visas.

While European countries and America closed their doors to those asking for help, a few brave Chinese foreign ministers went out of their way to rescue as many refugees as they could and put them on boats to Shanghai.

Ho Feng-Shan was the consul general of China in Vienna during that tumultuous time. Sometimes called “China’s Schindler,” from 1938-1940 he saved thousands of Jewish lives by issuing them visas for Shanghai. Shanghai accepted over 20,000 Jewish refugees during the WWII era.

The similarities between the refugee crisis of WWII and the Syrian refugee crisis of today cannot be ignored. But while Europe and America openly debate why and how they should accept the refugees or not, China has remained shockingly silent on the matter.

China is a vast land with a growing economy but is facing several demographic issues. With an aging population and a dwindling workforce, accepting refugees would make good economic, if not moral, sense.

Even though China has already announced plans to amend the one-child policy into a two-child policy, it will take decades to see any improvement. Economists predict that China’s workforce will diminish sharply by 2030, a mere 14 years from now. Second-children born next year will not be able to enter the workforce in time.

Statistics show that immigrants increase gross domestic product. More people means more production.

In 2014, Germany was also facing a shortage of millions of skilled workers. After Germany agreed to accept 800,000 Syrian refugees, the head of the International Monetary Fund (the IMF) Christine Lagarde said, “If the influx [of refugees] is well-managed, yes, it is bound to be a positive in a society which is aging and which has the fiscal space to accommodate it.”

Economist Thomas Piketty, the author of “Capital in the 21st Century,” recently wrote, the crisis represents an “opportunity for Europeans to jump-start the continent’s economy.”

Why shouldn’t China take a bite of this economy-boosting pie?

Ho Feng-Shan, the “Chinese Schindler”

There are other ways immigrant populations can benefit China. More workers pay more taxes, which benefit everyone, but especially future generations. Public education in London, England has seen extraordinary improvement in recent years, much of which is credited with the city’s large migrant population.

Immigrants bring different skills and aptitudes and can transmit those to non-immigrant colleagues (and vice versa). They can increase competition in particular labor markets, increasing the incentive for natives to acquire certain skills. Workplace diversity can boost productivity, as a number of U.S. and U.K. studies have shown.

Over the last few years, China has been easing and tweaking its visa policies in order to lure overseas talent. Syria has thousands of willing and eager workers looking for a new place to settle down and raise their families – not just live for a few years and leave as many Western workers do. Immigrants are also often eager to assimilate into their new communities, learning the language and accepting local culture so they can quickly call their new location “home.”

China’s open door policy of the Reform and Opening Up Period was nothing new. China has a history of eagerly welcoming those in need. China should live up to its own reputation and build on the legacy of people like Ho Feng-Shan and welcome Syrian refugees with open arms.

Do you think China should accept Syrian refugees? Let me know what you think in the comments.

Don’t forget to enter this month’s drawing! Learn about this month’s prize, Beijing Monkeys, here!

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Book Review: Vermilion by Molly Tanzer

Vermilion by Molly Tanzer is an amazing book. It was the one I have spent years looking for. I read a crazy amount of mystery novels, but as I mentioned in my review of the Red Princess Mysteries by Lisa See, when it comes to historical mysteries, the protagonist is always the same – a white widow of means. I even read two mystery series set in San Francisco this year, and in both of them, Chinese characters are relegated to the sidelines, if they are present at all. Vermilion finally breaks out of this mold. Tanzer has created a facinating story with a unique main Chinese chatacter that appeals to almost all readers.

About Vermilion

Gunslinging, chain smoking, Stetson-wearing Taoist psychopomp, Elouise “Lou” Merriwether might not be a normal 19-year-old, but she’s too busy keeping San Francisco safe from ghosts, shades, and geung si to care much about that. It’s an important job, though most folks consider it downright spooky. Some have even accused Lou of being more comfortable with the dead than the living, and, well… they’re not wrong.

When Lou hears that a bunch of Chinatown boys have gone missing somewhere deep in the Colorado Rockies she decides to saddle up and head into the wilderness to investigate. Lou fears her particular talents make her better suited to help placate their spirits than ensure they get home alive, but it’s the right thing to do, and she’s the only one willing to do it.

On the road to a mysterious sanatorium known as Fountain of Youth, Lou will encounter bears, desperate men, a very undead villain, and even stranger challenges. Lou will need every one of her talents and a whole lot of luck to make it home alive…

My Review

The main character of “Lou” (short for Elouise) is completely different from most mystery novel heroines. She is half Chinese, half white, a girl who passes as a boy, is mostly attracted to boys but certainly appreciates lovely females and works as a Taoist exorcist in 1800s San Francisco. She is absolutely riveting. I loved reading about her and her adventues.

I also apreciated how important Chinese culture is to the story. Chinese people and Chinese culture are not simply there to give San Francisco “color” or to fill the sidelines. Chinese culture, people, and and language are integral to the story, and Tanzer did an excellent job researching and incorporating Chinese elements.

The story is set in America, though, which is highly influenced by European culture. The way she integrates Chinese and European fantasy (specicially vampires) was facinating. I’ve never read a book before that uses both. Usually authors focus on either one or the other, as if they are mutually exclusive and cannot exist in the same realm. The way Tanzer integrates all of these elements together is brilliant.

The only criticism of the book I have is that the prologue is terribly boring and is not a good introduction to the story. Honestly, I think the prologue might even turn some readers away. My advice is to keep reading or just skip it. The prologue is not integral to the story at all. The first chapter, however, is brilliant, and once you start reading it, you won’t want to stop.

I really loved this book and I hope Tanzer has plans for more adventures for Lou.

What about you? Have you read Vermilion? What did you think? Let me know in the comments!

Don’t forget to enter this month’s drawing! Learn about this month’s prize, Beijing Monkeys, here!

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Book Review: The Moon in the Palace by Weina Dai Randel

I have been looking for a novelization about Empress Wu Zetian for a while. I gave Empress by Shan Sa a try, but it was god-awful. So I was very excited to come across The Moon in the Palace by Weina Dai Randel.

About The Moon in the Palace

There is no easy path for a woman aspiring to power

A concubine at the palace learns quickly that there are many ways to capture the Emperor’s attention. Many paint their faces white and style their hair attractively, hoping to lure in the One Above All with their beauty. Some present him with fantastic gifts, such as jade pendants and scrolls of calligraphy, while others rely on their knowledge of seduction to draw his interest. But young Mei knows nothing of these womanly arts, yet she will give the Emperor a gift he can never forget.

Mei’s intelligence and curiosity, the same traits that make her an outcast among the other concubines, impress the Emperor. But just as she is in a position to seduce the most powerful man in China, divided loyalties split the palace in two, culminating in a perilous battle that Mei can only hope to survive.

In the breakthrough first volume in the Empress of Bright Moon duology, Weina Dai Randel paints a vibrant portrait of ancient China—where love, ambition, and loyalty can spell life or death—and the woman who came to rule it all.

My Review

How gorgeous is that cover? Honestly, even if the book hadn’t been about Wu Zetian, I would have picked up this book based on the cover alone.

But thankfully the book is also very good. I really enjoyed the story that Randel told here. She did a great job of creating the character of Wu Zetian, especially the young woman we don’t really know much about. Wu is often portrayed as a villainess in history, but here, she is a sympathetic protagonist. Randel did a great job humanizing the character of Wu.

She also did a good job of taking us inside Tang Dynasty China, an era I don’t know a lot about (I usually focus on Qing Dynasty China). While this is a work of fiction, it is clear a lot of research went into her descriptions and it was interesting to see what life was like inside the palace at that time.

Unfortunately, the book is part of a two-book set, and I haven’t read the second one yet. I’m dying to know what happens from Wu’s point of view! I mean, I know from history the basic outline of events, but reading about this from a first person perspective will be very interesting. My suspicion is that Randel actually wrote one book, but it was too long so the publisher divided it into two. I really can’t wait to get my hands on the second half!

Have you read The Moon in the Palace? What did you think? Let me know in the comments!

Don’t forget to enter this month’s drawing! Learn about this month’s prize, Beijing Monkeys, here!

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Book Review – Soundless by Richelle Mead

Richelle Mead, the hugely successful author behind the Vampire Academy series, stepped into new territory this year with Soundless, a fantasy novel set an a China-inspired world.

About Soundless

For as long as Fei can remember, there has been no sound in her village, where rocky terrain and frequent avalanches prevent residents from self-sustaining. Fei and her people are at the mercy of a zipline that carries food up the treacherous cliffs from Beiguo, a mysterious faraway kingdom.

 

When villagers begin to lose their sight, deliveries from the zipline shrink and many go hungry. Fei’s home, the people she loves, and her entire existence is plunged into crisis, under threat of darkness and starvation.

 

But soon Fei is awoken in the night by a searing noise, and sound becomes her weapon.

 

Richelle Mead takes readers on a triumphant journey from the peak of Fei’s jagged mountain village to the valley of Beiguo, where a startling truth and an unlikely romance will change her life forever…

My Review

I’m not a fan of YA novels in general, their plots are simplistic at best, problematic at worst, so I hadn’t read any of Mead’s books before. However, since this one featured a “Chinese” setting, I picked it up.

Author Richelle Mead

The plot is both simplistic and full of holes, but it wasn’t terrible. I was easily able to keep reading it.

One of the criticisms I read of the book before I read the book itself said, “While Mead may be commended for attempting to create a world based on a non-Western culture, her use of Chinese mythology and culture is superficial at best. She could have renamed her characters and plonked them down in medieval England with no real narrative impact.”

While this is true, I don’t necessarily think it is a bad thing. The fact that the book features an almost all non-White cast is a big deal. I am sent dozens of books every day from people asking for reviews. I can count on one hand how many of those feature non-White protagonists. Representation matters, and kudos to Mead for stepping out of her comfort zone and creating a novel, and whole world, based on non-Western culture.

If you enjoy YA fiction, I would encourage you to give this book a try. It would also make a good gift for your kids.

Have you read Soundless? What did you think? Let me know in the comments!

Don’t forget to enter this month’s drawing! Learn about this month’s prize, Beijing Monkeys, here!

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