Marjorie Liu is one of my favorites. Her characters and worlds are beautiful and dark, sensual and mysterious. This is nothing short of gorgeous.

When I saw there was a new book by Marjorie Liu, I KNEW I had to get my hands on it! I'm a HUGE fan of her Monstress comic series, so I'm definitely in the target audience for her kind of storytelling. I was a little surprised to realize that The Tangleroot Palace was a collection of short stories and not a single story, but that just meant I got to sample more of her stories. What a wonderful collection of explorations here - from the expected fantasy fairytales to apocalyptic sci-fi adventures. As with any short story anthology, I liked some stories more than others. The titular piece was a longer chunk -- and saved for the very end -- and it was one of my favorites for sure. Although I almost wish it had gotten more attention, because I would have enjoyed reading this as a full-length novel (or novella). I think my favorite story in the whole book was The Briar and The Rose, because it was so full of the intrigue, secrets, and deep relationships I love to experience in books. One thing I really appreciate about this whole volume was the bit of commentary about each story from the author, giving you insight into the prompt for the story and how she approached that to create a very unique interpretation that was all her own. This was a really fun collection of stories I'd recommend to anyone who enjoys fantasy short stories!

This is a solid collection of short stories that range from post-apocalyptic urban fantasy, dark fairy tales, and near-future science fiction. As a fan of Monstress, I knew I had to pick this collection up, and wow I am so glad I did. Each story feels unique and gripping, and I quickly was immersed in each different setting. Definitely recommended if you enjoy short story collections, the eldritch artistry of Monstress, or you're in the mood for some darker SFF stories.

Summary:
This is a collection of short stories spanning 8 years by one of the creators of the hit Image comic “Monstress”. If you have read ‘Monstress’, you will be familiar with the overall darker tone of this book. There are 7 short stories in total: ‘Sympathy for the Bones’, ‘The Briar and the Rose’, ‘Call her Savage’, ‘The Last Dignity of Man’, ‘Where the Heart Lives’, ’After the Blood’, and ‘Tangleroot Palace’.

Positives:
+ I really enjoyed the intro at the beginning of the book and the subsequent explanations after each short story. The ones after the stories were particularly informative; telling you where they were anthologized and what the story meant to the author. It was also nice to read what the stories were based off of as well; it means I could try and see if i picked up on that inspiration, or the story was giving me the same feeling.
+ The stories all had wonderfully distinct voices and tones. I really enjoyed that they were all over the place in terms of time periods and genre. Each and every one felt very individual.

Negatives:
- I was sad that there wasn’t more to “Tangleroot Palace”.

Final Thoughts:
Post-apocalyptic beasties, enchanted forests, traveling troupes, and Hoodoo magic - so many neat and varied themes and ideas all under the cover of one book! This collection of short stories puts me in mind of the original ‘Grimm Fairy Tales’ or Edgar Allen Poe’s short stories - kinda dark, definitely twisty, not exactly happy endings but certainly leaves you pondering. Being a fan of the ‘Monstress’ comic series, I was not disappointed. My favorite short stories in the book had to probably be the fairy tale reimagining's (or the ones that seemed most like fairy tales); “Tangleroot Palace” and “The Briar and the Rose”. I am not the biggest fan of collected short stories, but I am interested in seeing if Marjorie Liu writes any other full length novels; many of the stories in the book would be an amazing snippet into a larger story/world.

Atmospheric, inventive, and very creepy, these short stories are great for anyone who enjoys fairy tales, but even more so, enjoys deconstructions of fairy tales. While the specific settings and stories are all unique, there is a clear writing style and in most, a strong and well-developed heroine. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of reading this set of stories!

This is my first foray into Liu’s work (Saga sits, frowningly, on my shelf unread) and while I can’t say I liked all the stories in this collection, the ideas presented and the worlds created were so incredibly unique and bizarre that I’m now very interested in her other works. I usually review anthologies as a whole because individually reviewing 10+ stories, some merely a couple pages, is difficult. The Tangleroot Palace only has seven stories, all of which nicely fleshed out and ‘full’, so I’ll review these independently.

Sympathy for the Bones – 4/5

A creepy, Appalachian(?) inspired story about a young girl trained by her grandmother to kill people through voodoo dolls. I enjoyed the overall vibe and MC’s determination to free herself from this vicious cycle of grandmother indoctrinating granddaughter

The Briar and the Rose – 5/5

A sapphic sleeping beauty retelling, told from the perspective of the beefy sapphic duelist. Big sword lesbian/book lesbian vibes and overall very cute

Call Her Savage – 2.5/5

A ragged old superhero called to duty one last time, set in an alt-history backdrop where China has colonized the West Coast of America and losing a war to the Brits. There’s a lot of moving parts here and I can see what Liu is trying to do, but this is one of those, would work better as a novella or full length novel stories

The Last Dignity of Man – 5/5

SadGay™ wannabe Lex Luthor slowly learns to let go of his childhood comic book ideals and learn that he doesn’t need a Clark Kent to be happy. My favorite of the entire collection. CW for graphic descriptions of worms

Where the Heart Lives – 3/5

A Forest with a Secret story. The concept was interesting but I wasn’t really engaged with any of the characters

After the Blood – 2.5/5

There were a lot of moving parts and I didn’t understand what Liu was trying to do. Post-apocalyptic, people with superpowers hiding from those without, the Amish are involved in some form? Apparently this is a prequel to one of Liu’s other stories, which is probably why I didn’t understand it.

The Tangleroot Palace – 2/5

I think this is a very loose interpretation of a Beauty and the Beast retelling, where a young princess, forced to marry a feared Warlord runs away to a forest to do….stuff? Just didn’t like this story in general.

Overall, I rate this collection a 3.5/5. A lot of interesting concepts and I adored The Briar and the Rose and Where the Heart Lives but the rest of the collection was a miss for me.

Review to be posted on my blog 31 May 2021

A stunning collection of weird, fantastical, uplifting and thought-provoking short fiction from the author of Monstress. Not a graphic novel, please note, but absolutely worth a read if you like the authors work or short SFF fic in general.

Inventive and transportive, magical and haunting, The Tangleroot Palace is a collection of seven unique short stories written with Liu’s beautifully flowing prose. Each story is the perfect length to let you revel in the intriguing worlds she creates, yet leaves you wanting more as well. From hoodoo dolls to supervillains to vampires, every story is unique and captivating, many reading like fairy tales or twisting regular tropes into new shapes. Honestly, I think this is one of the strongest anthologies I’ve read yet, my overall rating for it sitting at 3.64 stars.

Sympathy for the Bones: I absolutely loved this one, so perfectly creepy and dark as it is. It’s written well, mystery sown in its words—not revealing too much yet affecting all the same. The story slowly unraveled around me as I took in the circumstances of the protagonist’s stolen life and the work she did. In essence, this is about freedom and taking your life into your own hands when it was destined for something else, and both the literal and metaphorical depictions of this through the use of hoodoo dolls was brilliant.

The Briar and the Rose: A twist on the tale of Sleeping Beauty, this was darker than I expected it to be, but I loved it. I adored the (sapphic) romance that formed, where the sheer power of hope and love they had for each other was so wonderful to see. The villain of the story, a body-stealing witch hungering for power, was absolutely terrifying but well-crafted. As the author wrote, this is a “tale about women, and the power of women, and how women save each other and themselves through sisterhood and love.”

Call Her Savage: First of all, I want a full novel set in this world immediately, because the alternate China-Britain politics of it are so fascinating and I so badly want to see them explored more. Second, this story was just so cool. It stars a soldier who was accidentally born superhuman and raised as a weapon her whole life, following her life after war brings her trauma and changes the way she views herself and morality. I don’t want to say much, but the way this explored betrayal really appealed to me and had me going a little feral.

The Last Dignity of Man: This story is kind of hilarious because this man is literally trying to be Lex Luthor while bioengineering giant worms. And honestly… that’s kind of why it didn’t fully work for me, because it’s absolutely wild and not all the parts clicked together. I really love the idea, someone who attempts to emulate a villain in hopes that a countering hero exists—and loves him—but it wasn’t executed as well as I wanted, especially with the giant waste-eating worms. But I think what is most compelling about this story is the feeling of loneliness that permeates it; it feels so real and tangible.

Where the Heart Lives: I loved so much of what was going on in this story—particularly the setting (an immortal woman in the form of a forest who takes people) and the themes (finding love and family when you have never been familiar with what those are). This truly reads like a fairy tale, with that whimsical whirlwind adventure feel to it. However, something about it was a bit eh for me and the story didn’t hit me as hard as the others did.

After the Blood: I don’t have much to say about this one, because I didn’t really care about anything that happened. This story is about humans who became vampires after a virus took out 80% of the world’s population. I honestly was confused throughout the story, and the only part that interested me was what happened at the end.

The Tangleroot Palace: The titular novella of this collection, and my favorite, this takes the typical tale of a princess running away from home and an unwanted arranged marriage, and transforms it into a fascinating, magical story about illusions and agency. This was a story that slowly grew on me more and more as I kept reading, not fully invested at first but completely in love by the end. In the beginning, I was a little off-put by the romance and how insta-lovey it was, but then the end came and I became absolutely enamored by it, particularly with how I thought it subverted a typical trope. The setting, a magical forest ruled by an imprisoned woman, also grew in its intrigue over the course of the story. This story just has such a fascinating exploration of illusions and truth and how the lines can be blurred to work for or against someone, as well as a feminist twist to the usual choiceless princess who cannot save herself, and it was the perfect choice to end the anthology.

If it wasn’t already clear, it was truly a joy to read this collection of short stories. Liu’s lush settings allows her to play with so many interesting themes and tropes, and I think that is why this is the first collection where I’ve loved almost every single story. If you want fresh, fairytale-like takes on fantasy with powerful magic and women, told through gorgeous writing and set in enthralling worlds, you will find everything you’re looking for within these pages.

Hints of McKillip in this often feminist, character-focused collection of stories. I'd read the first Monstress book some time ago and it wasn't really my cup of tea, so I'm glad to find that this was much more type of thing. Highlight was definitely the title novella, The Tangleroot Palace, but none of the stories really disappointed me.

They have lots of strong female characters, beautiful prose (not flowery or anything, just... imaginative, I suppose). The stories are often inspired by fairytales and, for some reason, frequently set near or around forests.

Most of them are bite-sized explorations of love, storytelling, magic and independence. Solid debut!

I'm only familiar with Monstress in passing, but Black Widow: The Name of the Rose is one of my favorite comic runs, so I jumped on the chance to read this anthology by Marjorie Liu. This is a wonderful collection of stories ranging the gamut of speculative fiction genres - it includes everything from alternative history to fairy tale retellings to post-apocalyptic zombie vampires. My personal favorite stories were "Sympathy for the Bones", a story set in Appalachia involving folk magic and slow revenge in a bid for freedom, and "The Last Dignity of Man", about a socially awkward billionaire involved in biological engineering gone wrong. Liu's prose shines when she writes about the otherworldly, especially in her fae-based/inspired stories; her sense of setting is impeccable. Highly recommended.

A highly intriguing and gorgeously rendered collection of short fiction, all themed around concepts of owning oneself and claiming one's place in the world, particularly as a woman.

What a collection of horror, fantastical stories! It's my very first time reading Majorie Liu's work and her writing style is just lyrical and full of magical things. My favorites are Sympathy for the Bones and also The Briar and The Rose.

"Love is powerful, replied the storytellers. Love is divine. That is the answer to every tale we tell. What sleeps can always be awakened with love."

I received an e-ARC copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. The Tangleroot Palace will be available on June 15th, 2021.

I've been introduced to Marjorie Liu's work because of Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening, and I have been eager to see her written work after that. And oh boy, this short story anthology held on to the promise of what I've seen from her so far, and delivered in great heights.

This short story collection held a wide range of genres, ranging from fantasy, horror, science fiction, and post-apocalyptic times, but all the stories have a central surrounding theme to them that I loved to see depicted. While most of them aren't connected with one another, some similarities were there that it was almost uncanny at how they aren't connected (supposedly). I also loved the notes she had included in the end of each novella about its origin and creative writing process.

1. "Sympathy of Bones" - a story about witches, dark magic, and a lot of voodoo! (3.5 stars)

2. "Briar and Rose" - a very twisted Sleeping Beauty retelling, and possibly my most favorite story! (5 stars)

3. "Call Her Savage" - an alternate history story wherein China and Britain are at war with each other, and genetic manipulation comes into play. (3.5 stars)

4. 'The Last Dignity of Man" - an anti-hero (villian-like?) story featuring a bright and young mad scientist who has a fascination for comic book heroes, and a multi-billion corporation with a top secret government project. (4 stars)

5. "Where the Heart Lives" - a story of a young woman finding herself working for a strange family in an equally strange yet magical forest but full of unknown creatures. (3 stars)

6. "After the Blood" - a post-apocalyptic story featuring a deadly virus pandemic and Amish vampires! (4 stars)

7. "Tangleroot Palace" - a classic princess story of her father marrying her off to a ruthless warlord of another kingdom, and escapes to seek out her own path. Another favorite of mine, and I really wish this has a more extended story! (5 stars)

Over-all, this collection has been one thrilling and compelling read, and I am still wishing that these stories would get explored more in the future. I am highly recommending this anthology for everyone, because it is so worth it!

"New York Times bestseller and Hugo, British Fantasy, Romantic Times, and Eisner award-winning author of the graphic novel Monstress, Marjorie Liu leads you deep into the heart of the tangled woods. In her long-awaited debut collection of dark, lush, and spellbinding short fiction, you will find unexpected detours, dangerous magic, and even more dangerous women.

Briar, bodyguard for a body-stealing sorceress, discovers her love for Rose, whose true soul emerges only once a week. An apprentice witch seeks her freedom through betrayal, the bones of the innocent, and a meticulously plotted spell. In a world powered by crystal skulls, a warrior returns to save China from invasion by her jealous ex. A princess runs away from an arranged marriage, finding family in a strange troupe of traveling actors at the border of the kingdom's deep, dark woods. Concluding with a gorgeous full-length novella, Marjorie Liu's first short fiction collection is an unflinching sojourn into her thorny tales of love, revenge, and new beginnings."

If you have no idea who Marjorie Liu is I'm no longer talking to you until you've read this book and ALL of Monstress to date.

I went into this expecting a graphic novel, because this is how it had been presented to me, as a collection of short stories in a graphic novel format. Which is why I was so disappointed that it was simply a regular collection of short stories.

I love Marjorie Liu's other work called Monstress, which is a graphic novel series, thus when I saw this on netgalley I knew I had to try to get my hands on this. The cover is gorgeous and has the same art as her other series, which is one of my favorite. These stories had what I love in her work which is amazing world building.

TW: it is super gore and has some topics and scenes that could be preferable for some people to avoid this collection. some are implied such as rape.

It is an horror, fantasy, gory LGBT+ collection, the depictions are graphic in some instances and I loved how, in such a short a mount of pages, she managed to put so much without it feeling like it was going too fast. While some of the stories are better than others, in my opinion, they are all at least a 3 stars and some are nearly a 5 stars.

They touch way, love, what we would give and be willing to do to be free and how trauma and events can change us. You will find in there all sorts of main characters, including a villain and a vampire. This was a nice collection that left me wanting full novels, her writing is captivating.

Overall I really enjoyed my time reading the stories one by one, in between books. If you love gore, fantasy, horror and amazing worldbuilding and characters this is for you !

3.75/5 stars.

Bookarina.

Although I've had Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening on my Kindle forever and have had X-Men: Dark Mirror on my TBR, this is actually the first book I've read by Marjorie M. Liu.

While the ideas were all very interesting and the tales dark and lovely, this was a bit hit or miss for me. I think the short story format just wasn't working for me, but that doesn't mean others won't absolutely love this.

None of the stories were bad, but the only one that really pulled me in and kept me engaged until the end was The Last Dignity of Man. I absolutely could have read a full-length novel of that one; I loved it. The rest were okay-good, not great.

I will certainly dip into some of Liu's other work in the future. I can't help but feel that maybe I would have enjoyed these stories more had I already been introduced to the author's style. Alas, it wasn't meant to be.

(I received an advanced copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.)

The cover for The Tangleroot Palace immediately caught my eye- Sana Takeda is a wonderful artist- and when I saw that Marjorie Liu was the author, I knew I wanted to read this book. I haven't read as much Monstress as I'd like, but I've read enough to want more by Liu.

This collection of stories is a quick read, with the titular story, a novella, at the end. All the stories seemed to deal with loneliness, in some fashion- often loneliness alleviated by love, but not always. I'm not sure whether this was intentional, but it added a cohesiveness to the collection that I think worked. I would also like to thank Liu for the older protagonists in some of the stories- I love reading about older women, especially in fantasy. Another thing I really liked about the collection was her notes at the end of each story about why she wrote each one, and how she often side-stepped whatever the prompt was for those stories written for prompts.

"The Briar and the Rose" was a lovely take on the Sleeping Beauty story. I loved Briar (hot older lady!) and Rose's curse was really interesting and well done. The ending hinted at their future together in such a delightful way, too.

"Where the Heart Is" was also lovely. I'm a sucker for characters finding homes for themselves, and all the relationships were just so good. The idea of pining for a person so long they become an idea is also one that really interests me, and I would have loved to read more about Maude and Henry's time together.

The stand-out story, to me, was 'The Last Dignity of Man.' I've been a comics fan since high school, and so I loved that element of it, but the heart of the story- a man who is desperately lonely, who wants to be a super-villain but also tries to be good- broke my own heart. I want to wallpaper my house with copies of this story.

"The Tangleroot Palace" novella was charming, and really nailed a lot of standard fairy tale tropes. It didn't really turn any on their head, but that's more than fine- sometimes you just want a good fairy tale, and this delivered. Sally and Mickel were a cute couple, and I loved their ending.

All the stories in this collection were good, but the above were the ones I liked most. I'd love to read more from Liu (and I really should catch up on Monstress).

Each setting is unique and different. At the end of every short story, Marjorie M. Liu would insert a short note to explain what inspired her to write it which I thought was a really nice touch.

As it’s a collection, at every start of a new story, there’s a sense of confusion and disorientation for the first few pages. Despite that, Marjorie M. Liu’s immersive writing immediately snapped my attention and I just found myself back into the flow of reading each story.

☠︎ SYMPATHY FOR THE BONES

Clora’s under the teachings of Old Ruth, a hoodoo woman, who takes requests of those who are desperate. The crafting of hoodoo stitchwork requires bones and magic. In Sympathy for the Bones, it’s about the things people do for freedom without considering the cost they will be paying.

☠︎ THE BRIAR AND THE ROSE

Hired by her mistress, the duelist knows all her wicked ways and who she truly is. Rose and Briar could only meet on Sundays when the mistress slept, and through that time, they fell in love. There’s a whimsical, fairytale-esque vibe to The Briar and the Rose.

☠︎ CALL HER SAVAGE

As war rages between the Chinese and the British, Xīng McNamara returned to the battlefield reluctantly. The story develops as the reader finds out about the relationship between Xīng and Maude that left a 10-year gap. Furthermore, there’s great description of the war and incorporates steampunk into it.

☠︎ THE LAST DIGNITY OF MAN

RanTech is manipulating these worms that grow to huge sizes as they continue consuming sludges and toxins. Alexander, the CEO, questions the morality of it. However, there’s this question of is he a villain or the hero of the story? Regardless, this man’s story is saddening.

☠︎ WHERE THE HEART LIVES

This might be my favourite out of all the short stories. It has a combination of human connections and magical elements that created a perfect setting. The woods near their house is mysterious, magical and a dangerous place to enter.

☠︎ AFTER THE BLOOD

Post-apocalyptic setting after a plague that decimated the world and left only 20% of humanity behind. Features three characters who aren’t accepted by the people around them. This was a very quick read but Marjorie M. Liu still did a great job in the setting and the characters.

☠︎ TANGLEROOT PALACE

To quell any potential invasion by the barbarians, the king decides to let the notorious Warlord marry his daughter, Sally. Wanting another option that will prevent her horrible wedding-to-be and keep the peace, the only place she can get an alternative is in Tangleroot and that’s where Sally will venture to.

While it has a little predictability and the romance is the total opposite of a slow burn, this short story has it all: magic, a sleeping queen, a witch, and a traveling troupe. This full-length novella had me wishing for more.

A fairytale anthology collection with various retellings and more. Absolutely mesmerizing storytelling. Seven different stories, all filled with magic, adventure, and even a little bit of romance. I would have to say my favorite stories were The Briar and the Rose ( a sleeping beauty retelling) and The Last Dignity of Man ( another take on Lex Luther x Superman). It was an unexpected collection but each story was such a great read, on top of that at the end of each story is a note about why the author wrote it and some other notes, and it just adds such a lovely touch. I would highly recommend this read for anyone interested in fairytales, folklore, or just looking for a great short story!

*Thanks Netgalley and Tachyon Publications for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

holy lordy i don't even know what to say. this was definitely a rollercoaster. all these stories were filled with horror, magic and best of all, powerful women aspects and i adored it and will be pre-ordering this. i rated each individual story and then found the average to rate the book in total but lets talk about them individually.

↝sympathy for the bones: ★★★☆☆

“it certainly was not for god that i was a conspirator to murder”

tw: death, murder, dismembering, bones and collection of them, blood

this was all types of creepy. from a weird old lady controlling a child and dictating her everymove to her collection of random hands for no apparent reason until the end, honestly, i was confused from the very beginning. while this was definitely not my favorite story, it was a strong beginning.

↝the briar and the rose: ★★★★✬

“i will try my best to dream. i will look for a way to be free”

tw: rape, blood, death, miscarriage

this one is a retelling of sleeping beauty, way more darker than the original one for sure. the characters in this one were immensely detailed and created. i loved the two main characters and honestly, this one hurt me. the haunting version of sleeping beauty was better than the original one, i would adore a full length novel on this one for sure.


↝call her savage: ★★★★★

“there were gods in the sea, but xing had never prayed to them, nor to any holy spirit since she had buried the tin star”

tw: war, drowning, death, poison, bullets

this was definitely one of my favorites, and i require a full novel at this instance. the characters in this short story felt so real and i just wanted more about them. It follows Xing, who has to deal with losses and betrayals and truly depicts the trauma and changes in morality a war could cause a person to endure. just give me more on this story please.


↝the last dignity of man: ★★☆☆☆

“they’re growing faster than we anticipated, mr. lutheran. we’ll need bigger cages soon”

tw: gore, blood, death, mention of drunk driving

i would call this one a weaker short story. while the writing style was great, the whole plotline lacked a bit. its about a mad scientist of some sort? who wants to be loved? or something? i am not too sure in all honesty, it was extremely forgetful.


↝where the heart lives: ★★★✬☆

“she understood now, what could drive a women to abandon all”

tw: kidnapping, mention of death

this story, although not my favorite, definitely deserves a good mention. it focused on romance a lot more than a few of the other ones, but it was a romance about yourself, and learning about your self-worth, in a creepy way. it was more of a fairytale vibe, but i truly enjoyed it.


↝after the blood: ★★★★☆

“i didn’t have time to grab my coat. only shoes and the shotgun”

tw: blood, cutting, guns, pandemic

yes. yes. yes. yes. all the love for this one. there were cats mentioned in every page and i loved it. it spoke about monsters that live and a woman with secrets and a very interesting man. also, this was all during a pandemic, so relatable (not really but whatever). honestly, it could have been a five star, but i genuinely felt this could have worked better as a novel than as a short story. it lacks more details.
↝tangleroot palace: ★★★★★

“only the right kind of fool is ever going to want you”

tw: blood, arranged marriage and death

that quote is relatable. anyways, this was a fantastic novella to end with. while predictable, i have to give it its props for being a story about a powerful woman, who is stuck in an arranged marriage with a warlord ( poor poor her). and of course, as all women do who refuse to marry, she looks into a forest for a possible escape. a forest. like where there are trees. and that is it. but it made sense in the book. all in all, this was such a good novella and i seek more

overall opinions:

i consider this to be one of the best anthologies i have read. ever. i normally hate short stories, i feel like something is always missing, but this made it work for the most part. i absolutely recommend this to everyone. i adored it and want to reread it now.

brb, going to preorder my own copy