Steel Crow Saga by Paul Krueger

Paul Krueger’s Steel Crow Saga is a masterwork of character development. You’ll fall in love with the characters Krueger has created in this book and feel bad for them when they discover how their world is changing and how it requires that they change as well. All of this takes place in a gorgeously conceived secondary universe with Asian influences.

The Steel Crow Saga takes place in a parallel universe with technology that is comparable to our own but exists before cell phones and the internet. There are allusions to television shows, as well as images of cars, motorways, and weapons. But everything feels natural and authentic because of how nicely the magic system integrates with it. Another aspect of Krueger’s book that stands out is the magic. It somewhat reminds me of the magic system in Jim Butcher’s Codex Alera series, but it has a lot more modern feel and becomes much more intricate if magic is introduced that goes beyond shadepacing.

The fact that each culture approaches magic differently, even if they all seem to be a part of the same reality, is actually one of the aspects about magic that makes it so much fun. That’s a tricky balance to achieve, but Krueger does it flawlessly. The characters in this book are strong, which elevates them beyond so many other novels, enjoyable as the setting and magic are. Tala is a vengeful soldier charged with guarding the guy who stands for everything she has come to despise. Jimuro is a prince whose nation is in ruins as a result of their own expansionism and haughtiness years previously.

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He is uncertain as to whether he will live up to his forebears. Xiulan wants a different society, but she still harbours a lot of deeply held animosities. Lee, a criminal who has learnt never to trust, still encounters circumstances in which trust may be the only viable option. About a third of the way through, a significant event occurs that just gripped me, and the characters didn’t let go after that. The characters in this book truly grow on you, which is something you should know. At the third chapter, I was hooked; by the halfway mark, I was smitten; and by the last third, the characters are simply perfect.

Memorable, genuine, and prone to making a lot of mistakes but learning from them, they confront the realities of their environment and their place in it while also learning a lot about themselves in the process. The four viewpoint characters in Krueger’s story gradually and incrementally change in front of your eyes. This character growth makes the book immensely pleasant to read. By the way, that development is not merely superficial. We’re discussing ingrained prejudices and phobias. Krueger has provided us with a work of art that is incredibly remarkable. One could contend that the novel addresses racism on all sides, unjust treatment over a long period of time, and pain on some level. It’s heartrending, and yet it feels like this is exactly the sort of story we need to read if we’re ever to understand ourselves and those who are other to us.

In Steel Crow Saga, I don’t have many criticisms to make. The book definitely gets off to a slow start. About the first quarter, it seems very slow. I can’t, however, be very harsh because I can see what Krueger is doing. He is developing these people. He’s offering us something unique, so it needs to be developed gradually. This book might be challenging for readers who detest or lack tolerance for slow starts. Beyond the sluggish beginning, there isn’t much at all to fault.

In Steel Crow Saga, the character development is nothing short of magnificent. The author’s foundational work makes up for the slower beginning in a big way. There are many elements to enjoy for fans of character stories and Asian-inspired settings, but all fantasy aficionados will find an authentic world with characters that triumph through heartbreakingly real challenges.