For our second and third books of our Book Club, we decided on The Blood of Stars Series by Elizabeth Lim. The two-book series is a retelling of the story of Mulan.
For those who aren't familiar, Hua Mulan is a Chinese folk heroine, who disguises herself as a man in order to take her ailing father's place in the war. The story is quite popular, with Disney adapting it into an animated movie in 1998, and more recently, a live-action film starring Yifei Liu.
Elizabeth Lim also wrote Reflection, which was a part of Disney's Twisted Tales series, and was written as an alternate ending for the animated Mulan movie.
In The Blood of Stars series, our heroine is Maia Tamarin, who disguises herself as her brother, Keton, when the Emporer calls for a challenge to find an Imperial Tailor.
*mild spoilers ahead*
In the first book, Spin the Dawn, Maia Tamarin's family receives orders from the Palace in order to take part in the challenge to find an Imperial Tailor for the Emporer's to-be bride, Lady Sarnai. As tailoring is a man's job, Maia has no choice but to disguise herself as her brother, and take his place instead. Being the talented seamstress she is, Maia wins, but at the cost of her identity being revealed. In order to keep it secret (and prevent herself from being, ya know, killed), she agrees to go on a quest to make the Dresses of Amana, three magical dresses made from sunlight, moonlight, and the stars, which would bring great power to the one who wears them. Maia embarks on the journey, with the enchanter (and love interest, swoon) Edan.
The second book, Unravel the Dawn, picks up where the first left off. While Maia succeeds in making the three dresses, she unwittingly gets marked by a demon and starts to become one herself. The struggle to save her humanity, and how she brings peace for her country, A'landi, is the rest of the story.
The first book was fast-paced and followed the story of Mulan pretty closely. We were constantly on edge, waiting to see what would happen next.
The second book was really surprising; none of us expected the darker turn to the tale, with Maia losing her humanity, bit by bit. The constant struggle Maia faced made for a very compelling read, and we also get to see the true power of the dresses.
Overall, this series was fast-paced, surprising, and beautifully written. The story and the gorgeous descriptions make this series a must-read for fantasy lovers!