The Art of Prophecy

More like 3.5 stars, rounded up.

I admit, I got sucked in by another pretty cover. I have a thing for striking black and white art.

Jian is told from an early age that he's the chosen one, the one who is expected to do great things and save the people based on prophecy alone. The problem is that he was raised knowing this, and as a result grows up spoiled, unprepared, and basically untrained. Taishi, an elderly martial arts master sent to test him on his preparedness, is stunned and disgusted to find out what's been made of their once-in-a-lifetime champion, and becomes his teacher to make things right. Along the way, this master/student duo meets up with skeptical side characters who disagree with Jian's Chosen One role, and things decidedly do not go as planned.

This book definitely reminded me of high flying fantastical wuxia films I've seen in the past. There's lots of magical martial arts involved, drunken style references, and a good bit of sometimes slapstick humor. The cast is large and interesting for the most part, though I had some side characters I liked more than others. The setting is definitely inspired by Imperial China, but varied enough that I didn't get a been-there-done-that vibe. The Chosen One trope, evident from the book's description, is turned on its head in an interesting (if not unexpected) way, which was refreshing to read.

All that said, this book just didn't hit the right notes for me to rate it much higher. The writing style was just okay, a bit flat for what I generally read. The book was also very long and a bit meandering in its many different plot lines, and the constant shifting of viewpoints were sometimes hard to keep up with. It definitely had an anime/wuxia feel to parts, which I really appreciated, but sometimes in other parts just didn't work.

I highly recommend this book if you're into high flying wuxia epics, particularly because this is the first book of a series. Maybe pass on it if you're looking for depth and nuance, though.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.