A Palace Near the Wind

Despite the cover art and the author's heritage "A Palace Near the Wind" really does not read like an Asian-inspired fantasy. It is more like an exposition on the dangers and horrors of neglecting the planet, mistreating animals, and being overly dependent on machinery. The world the author creates is fascinating but the plot suffers from neglect in the shadows of the extensive world building. It's a very dense and slow novella that could have benefited from being built out into a full length novel with a stronger plot and more in depth character development.