The Grace of Kings (The Dandelion Dynasty, #1)

by Ken Liu

Creation seems to favor making friends of those destined to be enemies.”

This will be a recurring motif not just in The Grace of Kings, but throughout the series. It is derived from Daoist philosophy, where binary oppositions—the first and the last, the high and the low, the choleric and the phlegmatic, the altruistic and the selfish—are mutually generative as well as destructive. It recurs in much Chinese culture, including traditional medicine (which inspired Jia’s little lecture here) and wuxia literature, which Jin Yong elevated into the highest echelon of storytelling forms by skillfully melding Western and Chinese narrative techniques. A particular type of story that has always fascinated me: two companions become the best of friends as they suffer and struggle and build, enduring trials and tribulations, striving toward a shared dream; but, just as they begin to achieve success, divisions and jealousies and differences, both grand and petty, sunder their bond, plunging them into bitter recrimination and strife. We see this all the time in life: startup founders who sic lawyers on each other days after the IPO; struggling band members who turn against one another once they finally get the recognition they crave; revolutionaries who launch purges and counter purges as soon as the ancien régime has been overthrown. People who can endure adversity together cannot always enjoy fame and happiness together. I have my theories for why this is so … what are your theories? In the end, I don’t think there’s a simple explanation for this constant pattern in human affairs. Like unhappy families, every broken friendship has its own saga.