One should never write about a book before reaching at least the midpoint – how otherwise could we express our opinions in an informed, intelligent way?
But sometimes a little enthusiasm is OK, and so, while my e-reader tells me I am 4% into the book I am currently reading, I think I’ll give it a shout-out, because after forty-odd years spent reading, and reading imaginative fiction, I think I developed a certain instinct.
And this is a good book.

Of course I fell in love with the cover of K Arsenault Rivera’s The Tiger’s Daughter. I like that we are finally seeing some good, solid fantasy with Eastern themes and flavor – Oriental fantasies have always been around, and I like them a lot, but in the last few years we have seen authors bringing the game to a whole new level.
I wrote about K. Johansen’s Blackdog – which I liked very much – and The Tiger’s Daughter seems to walk the same caravan routes, if with a different structure, and a different sense of rhythm.

And really, 4% in, all I can say is I like the language very much, and the tone and rhythm of the writing. And this is an epistolary novel, in which everything’s finished and done, and we read about what happened in the letters between the two main characters.
I like that a lot.

On the down side, I must admit the Japanese-derived names cause me some trouble, because they carry – for me – a certain set of expectations. I read “O-Shizuka” and my mind takes off at a tangent, on a path that has nothing to do with this story.
But this is just me, and anyway, Japanese names are a lot better than some pseudo-Gaelic set of elven names.

The Tiger’s Daughter is beautifully written, and it is currently the Tor.com Book of the Month. Check out their website, and get a copy for free.