A soldier, a thief, a detective, and a detective from different backgrounds must band together against an enemy determined to destroy them all. Unexpected bonds and alliances are formed as the four fight for their lives and their peoples. The world Kreuger has built is a magical one where human can enchant metals and bond with animal companions and one that deftly holds a mirror to our world’s history of imperialism and oppression.
For fans of R.F. Kuang’s The Poppy War and Roshani Chockshi’s The Gilded Wolves.

This book was amazing! I loved characters and the magic system. Some from Sanbu and Shang can pact, or soul-bond, with an animal’s shade. The shade can live inside the person, but can create a deadlier version if needed for battle. It reminded me of an anime with how everything built up to the final fight scene. The relationships between the characters really made this story for me. Definitely a must read!

I received a copy through NetGalley for reveiw.

This one gets a 4.5/5 for me. The only reason I can't give it a five because of the 4 days I spend infuriatingly waiting for the story to pick up 40% into it. I came so close to putting it down.

I have a weird relationship with this book. Because it is so good. On and unbelievable level of good.
It switched off it at least 4 standard POV's. I think total there were six.
It also does a big jump in the beginning of years but doesn't initially explain anything until later, but when it does. oh.. hoo hoo. It takes off running.

The world is set up in a sort of fantasy/ modern version of Asia.
Each character is from one of the 4 major nations that have just ended a massive war. And these are its survivors. All trying to wrap up and work towards peace or to better their country for the future (or themselves.. cough Lee). Shadepacting (the act of breaking a fragment of your soul, to share with an animal partner) and in Tomoda metal pacting (the act of transferring once essence to power metal objects) are common place in this universe.

Out main characters are Tala an army Sargent from Sanbuna, Prince Jimuro from Tomoda, Princess Xiulan from Shang, and Lee a crafty thief from Jeongson.
They are complicated characters with heavy pasts and secrets. They have all been through a lot.
And there's a lot of prejudices, and hatred between then even though they have to mutually learn to work together.

I wish the early chapters had been easier to get rolling and get into. The writing style is meaty, and very descriptive, and each cultural way of acting, the formality does tend to get a bit in the way of getting into the story.

But I was super impressed by the end!

I loved this fantasy novel with its galloping pace and well-drawn characters. The setting is a thinly disguised Asia in the first half of the 20th century, with imperialist Tomoda (Japan) ruling over conquered Sanbu (the Phillipines), Shang (China), and Dahal (India). Soon, a coalition of rebels from Sanbu, Shang, and Dahal have defeated the Tomodaese empire. Different players disagree on what to do with the only surviving member of the Tomodaese Imperial family: Jimuro, the Iron Prince. The general leading Sanbu, who held Jimuro as a POW during the war, charges Sgt. Tala with returning him safely to Tomoda so that the newly liberated allied nations can negotiate a peace treaty with defeated Tomoda. But Jimuro’s ship is attacked, and suspects are plentiful. One princess from Shang, Xiulan, wants to capture him to impress her royal father. She enlists a clever Jeongsonese (Korean) thief, Lee, to help her. Xiulan’s older sister, the presumed heir to Shang’s throne, wants to assassinate Jimuro. A monstrous and powerful sorcerer is also in pursuit of Jimuro and Tala, and he slaughters anyone standing in his way. Tala struggles to keep the prince alive while dodging virtually everyone.

The systems of magic are fascinating. Some from Sanbu and Shang can pact, or soul-bond, with an animal’s shade (ghost). The shade mostly lives inside the human, but can manifest as a huge and deadly version of their species in battle. The Tomodaese can control any kind of metal, a magical power they can use for peace (powering a car by magic rather than an engine) or for war (perfect aim with bullets). Dahal has yet another type of magic. The magical battles are awesome.

The author has the knack of making us care about the fate of the characters. He brings the different cultures alive, from the cuisine to the way racial minorities are treated. The lesbian romance between Princess Xiulan and Lee is low key but fun. The relationship between prisoner Jimuro and guard Tala is more complicated; she has to remind herself constantly to obey her orders to deliver Jimuro safely and not give into her need for revenge against the Tomodaese empire that wiped out her family. I liked that there was a female to male transgender character. I also liked that we see that occupying Shangese soldiers treat Tomodaese civilians exactly the way occupying Tomodaese soldiers treated Sanbuese civilians. War brings out the best in no-one. Reading this novel was a joy. I highly recommend it.

What an amazing, richly detailed world the author has created. My only gripe (other than no one ever seemed to have to go to the bathroom, but that's a problem w/most stories innit?) is that evidently NO ONE in this world knocks on a door before opening. C'MON, MAN!!

This is a story of countries at war, humans who can bond with animal spirits that fight alongside them, LGB representation, family bonds and betrayal, and love.

I usually complain about the ending of novels. THIS ending was Mary Poppins: practically perfect in every way. Even the possible sequel setup was not annoying.

I loved this novel SO HARD. I can't wait for book #2!!!

Recommended for fans of fantasy (epic war fantasy, not dragons fantasy).

I’m not a girl who writes very well, but I’m in absolutely AWE of Steel Crow Saga! This story of four completely different people trying to survive a world full of politics, magic, and love made me laugh and cry so much! Paul Krueger wrote another favorite of mine, Last Call At The Nightshade Lounge, and I’m just as in love with Steel Crow Saga.

This book has much to commend it. It is set in a diverse universe with a very diverse set of characters--diverse ethnically, diverse in terms of sexual orientation, and diverse in terms of gender identity. The characters are generally likeable, interesting, and fairly well-developed. And the book has magic and animals. But, I felt that overall the universe was a bit confusing and not well-developed at the beginning of the book. I felt the same way about the magic too, the whole magic system left me a little confused.

I would also note that this book has a decent amount of bad language and romance. I felt that the bad language was pretty gratitious. So, I would place it on the older end of the young adult range.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was not a book that pulled me in immediately, it probably took me 3 times as long to get through the first 1/3 of the book as it did to finish the rest. That being said, once the world building/character introductions were made it really found its stride.

The magical system was interesting, though I did find it curious that most peoples had a different "branch" of magic but there were two distinct groups with the same style. I did not find it entirely off putting, but I would have preferred to avoid the romantic entanglements that popped up. Fortunately they were not major plot driving features for the most part.

The pacing was well done, and once the action started I found myself churning along through page after page. The characters were distinct, and the story was engaging.

Overall, not my top book of the year but absolutely enjoyable and worth checking out by anybody looking for their next read.

"This band of rogues and royals should all be enemies, but they unite for a common purpose: to defeat an unstoppable killer who defies the laws of magic. In this battle, they will forge unexpected bonds of friendship and love that will change their lives—and begin to change the world."

Stop what you are doing, put this on the top of your TBR!

[This review first appeared at https://fictionistmag.com/}

★★★★☆ // ★★★★★
(4.5 stars)

I got an ARC of Steel Crow Saga from BookCon this year. Though I hadn’t actually heard of SCS and it hadn’t been pitched to me for review (yet, at least), for some reason I still decided to read it first, and that was such a good decision.

Please don’t sleep on this book. Don’t think to yourself “huh, I haven’t heard much hype about this, it isn’t YA, I’m not sure what to make of this premise” and read something else instead. Read this book. Read it because it’s great and I’ll tell you why.

1. The Characters

Paul Kreuger manages to create characters who are believable, who make predictable-yet-unpredictable decisions, who deal with trauma and anger and sadness and betrayal and still move the story forward. I love the multiple POVs. I love the way he writes all of his characters, the way each one feels unique. They aren’t just pieces in different places on his storyboard; they are unique, individual characters who drive their stories in different ways. I love that I can tell who a character is just by their dialogue. I love that I have favorites. That means Kreuger has done a great job.

2. The Plot

It feels like the plot and the characters are equally important, as opposed to most extremely plot-driven fantasy novels. I love that. The plot does stand on its own, though, and I definitely said “oh, shit” once or twice. It kept me invested, to the point where I would read on my commute and refused to put the book down until I was sitting at my desk and signed into my computer. I read at lunch, while I ate. I couldn’t stop, and it was made even better by the fact that Steel Crow Saga is just long enough that you can really lose yourself in it. It’s the perfect length.

3, The Setting & Worldbuilding

This is really the only part that didn’t immediately charm me, but it wasn’t a lasting issue. I love that Kreuger takes different Asian cultures and uses them for each different country/culture represented in Steel Crow Saga. One is obviously Japanese, another is obviously Korean, and so on. They use the same languages, too — there are Korean and Japanese words in Steel Crow Saga, the most obvious of which are references to food or clothing, which was a bit jarring. The countries have different names, though, and different histories. This threw me for a loop at the beginning; it was so obviously an exact copy of a specific culture that I had to kind of reprogram my brain’s expectations — this is a fantasy book, after all, so I just wasn’t expecting such direct pulls from real life. But I also love shows like Avatar: The Last Airbender which are also (slightly less direct) pulls from specific Asian cultures, and have seen countless fantasies “inspired” by different aspects of Asian cultures that (rightfully) get flack because they blend multiple cultures together and further the myth that Asian cultures are interchangeable, which they absolutely are not. They vary widely and each deserve respect. In this way, I think it’s great that Kreuger differentiates these cultures and makes sure the reader gets a sense of the individuality of each of them. By the end, the direct pulls from the real world didn’t bother me as much, and I still absolutely adored the characters, plot, and “pacting” magic. The worldbuilding was fleshed out and felt purposeful. Also worth noting that I am not Asian, and thus my opinion here should absolutely be taken with a grain of salt.

4. The Rest

I think of Steel Crow Saga as kind of a mix between The Legend of Korra (for the uninitiated, LoK is the sequel series to Avatar: The Last Airbender), Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi, and something very unique. In a Tweet, Kreuger mentioned he was going for the same YA crossover space as A Darker Shade of Magic by VE Schwab, which is also an adult fantasy but gained a huge amount of popularity with YA readers. I think he’s done extremely well, and I hope the numbers prove that when the book releases. It was a lovely ride, and I’m kind of annoyed that I got to experience it so early, because that means I’ll have to wait even longer for more. It officially releases September 24, 2019.

Overall, I highly recommend Steel Crow Saga, and I’m glad I had the privilege of creating the very first meme of the series. Here’s to many more — and thank you, Mr. Keruger, for sharing this story with us.

OMG WHAT DID I JUST READ???

If you’re looking through these reviews wondering whether you should pick up & read this book, here’s your sign: FUCK YES PICK IT UP AND READ IT!!!

I just finished reading it 2 seconds ago and came RIGHT to review it while I still have tears in my eyes from the ending, so if my thoughts are completely jumbled please forgive me!!

So let me break it down for you, try to make this understandable because there are a LOT of moving parts in this story. We are dealing with 5 ASIAN INSPIRED nations/races:

1. Tomoda - METAL PACTING, any metal or steel moves, bends, warms & cools, at their will. Metal control is their “superpower”

2. Shang and Sanbuna - both separate nations with separate cultures, but both ANIMAL PACT. They pair with an animal and then the animal is like a cross over between a companion & slave. The animal is at the person’s will, but also still keeps its individual personality if that makes sense.

3. Dahal - INTERNAL PACTING, makes them faster and better fighters and healers. Very merchant based country. We don’t get too much of them in this novel, but I have a strong feeling we will see a lot more of them later on in the series.

4. Jeongson -the minority, the underdogs. They can technically animal pact but their people were stripped of that privilege. They are sort of the scapegoat for the other countries, it seems everyone kinda hates them for no reason other than racism.

The Tomodese hate Shang & Sanbuna because they believe animal pacting is slavery and evil (which I honestly kind of see their point, even though the animal pacters we meet aren’t inherently evil, there is something very dark about a living thing being at your will). So the Tomodese invade Shang & Sanbuna and try to squash their culture and heritages while stealing all of their metal resources. They win the first wars and occupy for a little while, but then a revolution comes and Shang & Sanbuna free themselves of Tomoda. And that’s about where the story starts, the negotiations between the nations after those two wars.

Alright so then where do the characters fit into this setting?

Tala and Mang -Sanbunas, both animal pacters. Brother & sister. This isn’t a spoiler bc you find out within the first 10% of the story: but Mang dies and Tala, in order to save him, does something very bad and pacts with him as if he was an animal (so now he’s more or less at her will). Tala is a respected Sanbuna soldier & Sergeant and HATES the Tomodanese, but is ironically sent on a mission to deliver the Tomoda Iron King, Jimuro, safely back to Tomoda for peace negotiations between their nations.

I personally loved the two of them.

<i>“At the end of the world, there would be the cockroaches, and there would be Tala, their fearsome warrior-queen.”</I>

Tala was a favorite, she is a warrior at heart, she loves the fight and she lives FOR the fight. She blurs the lines between good & bad, her hate for Tomoda and love of violence often blurs her vision, but throughout the novel we can see that she’s genuinely trying her best not to be a force of evil. You grow to really like her despite the shades of grey she shows morally, and she was just a fascinating and REAL character to follow.

Jimuro - prince of Tomoda, next in line as the Iron King. His ruling family gets murdered, he’s the last royal bloodline member of Tomoda, and he gets captured by Sanbuna after the revolution. He’s put on a ship under Tala’s command to return home for negotiations for peace.

Jimuro is the most important piece of the game board in this story.

<i>“‘You’re the most valuable beating heart on this shitheap of an island,’ Lee said. ‘I could take you to any street corner in the country, start the bidding at ten thousand masu, and someone would offer me twenty.’”</I>

Jimuro has the BIGGEST FUCKING CHARACTER ARC EVER!! When I first started reading this story I HATED HIM, I thought he was an annoying little shit. But his character grows SO damn much that by the end of the book he was genuinely one of my favorite characters and rulers of all time. I love that at the beginning of the book he constantly throws himself in dangerous situations and you’re led to believe that it’s because he thinks his royal ass is invisible, but you later learn that there’s just so much more to him:

<i>“I thought a dead hero would be worth more to the people of Tomoda than a living fool. I thought the world would be better off without me.”</I>

He truly cares about his people, he’s truly open minded; and i loved his vulnerability and how hard he tries to overcome his fears, his past, and his losses to be the ruler that he dreams of being.

<i>“I never even got to say goodbye to my family, and now I have to carry on their legacy all by myself. And if I fail, my whole country pays the price for it. What if I can’t be the Steel Lord they need? What if everyone at these peace talks is just setting me up to fail?”</I>

Xiulan: princess of Shang, animal pacter. She wants her sister’s throne, so she sets out on a personal mission to capture the Iron King Jimuro to deliver to her father so that she gets bumped up the line of succession.

I identified most with Xiulan of all the characters, she’s the one I hold closest to my heart. Not only because she absolutely loathes mushrooms as I do, but because I truly relate to her. She reads a lot, and she dreams of going out and being like the characters in her books, which is how she becomes entangled in the book. She’s very hard on herself, she sets very high expectations for herself and often curses & degrades herself when things just don’t go her way. She talks a LOT... me too Xiulan. She always plans out how conversations might go, (I call them “scripts”) like one talks to themselves in the shower and plans out arguments, same.

I just love her. She’s the least well equipped of all the characters, not particularly strong or powerful, but she keeps her wits about her the entire book and claws through every problem she faces.

<i>“This was merely something else to be overcome, just as she’d clawed through everything else in her way.”</I>

I also like that Xiulan is not inherently a GOOD person, but tries her hardest to be.

<i>“Xiulan had already worked so hard to undo her prejudices just by taking the woman on as her partner, and this choice had rewarded her in all the best ways. She refused to regress now.”</I>

I really related to this as well, I sometimes have my own prejudices & not so nice thinking, but I try my hardest to undo them. It feels good to read of someone fighting like I am to be a force of good, despite everything.

Lee - Jeongsonese, thief & criminal. She gets tangled up with Xiulan, in which the two of them embark on the journey to capture Iron King Jimuro from Tala & Mang.

Lee was very entertaining, though she was my least favorite character of the bunch. I didn’t NOT like her, she was funny and witty and brought good diversity in the story. She’s Jeongsonese, part of the oppressed nation I’ve mentioned, and everybody treats her like shit.

<i>“‘Jeongsonese? I thought you people killed all those dogfuckers.’”</I>

But, she doesn’t use this as self pity, she uses it to her advantage. She’s very dynamic and is constantly fighting the part of herself that is telling her to just run away from the problems at hand and hide, but she always ends up staying to help Xiulan (who, bless Xiulan’s heart, refuses to back down). I love that she felt real, not everybody is keen on fighting and being in the middle of things, but her loyalty abides all else.


This is really like an Asian Game of Thrones, but with hella lot more magical aspects to it. You get these characters, all different races and countries and powers, all with motives and goals, and their storylines interweave PERFECTLY and EPICLY.

I loved the writing style as well!! I always think of myself too picky when it comes to writing style because I love metaphors and imagery, but in a careful balance. Stories with TOO many details jumble my brain; and that’s why I enjoy metaphors & comparisons, not only because they’re beautiful but they make descriptions short and to the point.

<i>“And while Xiulan bobbed and bounced like the lid on a boiling pot of rice, Ruomei moved through the world with the calculated grace of a surgeon’s knife parting flesh.”</I>

There is such BEAUTIFUL imagery throughout this story, such thorough descriptions it feels as if you’re rolling in the grass of Tomoda. Each character has their distinct thoughts and views on the world that you always know which point of view you’re in.

I’m truly fangirling over this because even though you have so many moving parts in the story, you still have AMAZING characters and writing! They are all unique, all flawed, all distinct, and I loved/hated all of them. You really get to see this new world from a bunch of different eyes: the oppressed Jeongsonese, the self righteous Shangs, the rebel Sanbunas, the power hungry Tomodanese. It was sooooOooOo epic from start to finish!!!!

Highly recommend, CANNOT EFFING WAIT FOR THE SEQUEL!!!!

Actual rating: 4.5 stars

Steel Crow Saga feels like Pokemon for big kids - magical realism where people shadepact with the souls of creatures, who they can later summon for help. It is a super fun story of adventure, intrigue, and tiny bits of romance set in gorgeous, sprawling world. There are complex political rivalries, and each nation has an awesome unique culture and international relations.

The story follows four main characters across this broad world. Xiulan is a Shang princess turned detective, a bookworm who’s taking a step out into the real world and finds herself over her head. Lee is a hilarious thief who starts the story on death row, and manipulates and woos her way across the continent. Tala is a complex, haunted, sweet bodyguard/ soldier who struggles with what loyalty and duty actually mean. Jimuro is the Iron Prince of Tomoda, set on justice and peace but worried that his mother’s crown may be a little too large for him to carry.

There are great questions of moral ambiguity - is it ok to bind your soul to another creature if you can give it orders? Is it ok to sort of maybe fall for somebody if your countries are rivals and you are working for very different goals? What does it mean to be worthy of a throne? Mixed with some great humor, some adorable (and not overwhelming) romantic subplots, this story checked all my boxes. Great characters. Great relationships. Great world. Great story.

I loved reading this book, and I will definitely pick up all of the next ones in the series (and I’m hoping it’s a long series, because there is tons of room for more stories in this world!).

My only complaint - the world is enormous and complex, and I loved it, but the story Paul Krueger set up is so huge it took a while for the different threads to come together. The first half of the book is woven together somewhat slowly, whereas once those pieces are in place, the second half moves a lot more quickly.

It's hard for me to find the right words to explain how great Steel Crow Saga is -- I can describe it, certainly, but no description will be able to encompass the book's multi-layered emotional punch, or Krueger's remarkable ability to simultaneously tell both huge and tiny stories. His world is one made up of brown people, part of cultures with connections to what we think of as those in Asia, India, and the Middle East; this alone is refreshing and notable, given how few fantasy books are willing (even now) to not center white, western culture. Similarly, none of the cultures see heterosexuality as compulsory -- the causal dropping of phrases like "his husband" into historical tales is still incredibly powerful. Not only are the cultures clearly differentiated by things like dress, traditions, and language, but they also have totally different types of magic, differences which, in many cases, lead to profound racism in a world full of colonialism, war, and hate. Our main characters are all from different cultures and, in the space of less than a week, are forced to learn to deal with one another (at first in pairs and then in larger or mixed groups), and to address their own prejudices, assumptions, and mistakes.

What's most impressive about all this, however, might just be the way Krueger is able to make his story feel deeply relevant without hitting the reader over the head with it, and without sacrificing any of the world he's created. Without this grace, the story would be far less powerful but, as it is, there are times when it's almost overwhelming (in a good way).

TL;DR HOLY CRAP IT'S SO GOOD YOU GUYS.

[a month before publication, the above review will go up in place of the placeholder review at the below link]

This effing book broke me in half and made me soar!!



Just when I’m down about reading, I find a freaking gem! This book is like nothing I have ever read before and it gave me all of the feels!!



I love every single one of these characters immensely!

What reeled me in from the summary was the animal stuff. I mean those who know me could have figured that one out! But there is so much more to this story and it ripped my heart out.



The book is about family, war, vengeance, bonding with animals and things, heartbreak and a bit of comedy thrown in for good measure.

Bottom line, I loved it so very much!!

*Thank you to Netgalley and the Pub for a digital copy of this wonderful book.*

I must totter off now and pre-order my physical copy!

Happy Reading!

Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾

An utter delight! Thank you, Paul Krueger for writing this book. Intimate characterization paired with vivid description make for a thrilling read. I love reading about characters with names and faces like mine. Thank you!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with the ARC. I was very excited about getting started on this one as the premise interested me. I wasn't disappointed either! I thought the plot, characters, writing style, everything in this book was exactly what I was looking for at this time. My first Paul Krueger book but it won't be my last!

Steel Crow Saga by Paul Krueger, an interesting read. Soul bonds are forged between animals and people making for a strong companion who can help, but not everyone is allowed to do this. When war threatens to break out between the nations, people on all sides seek a way to stop it.