Due to some of the hype I’d heard about this #book, and the fact it’s a fairly short #novel I was keen to squeeze it in.

“Brutal and Beautiful”, “Devastating” and “Heartbreaking” were some of the words I’d heard. Maybe I’m a 🤖 but I didn’t get any of that.

Really interesting lore and world building, and it’s not a bad #book - just didn’t deliver the emotional hammer blow I was wanting and expecting.

A Palace Near the Wind by Ann Jiang
Publication Date: 15th April 2025

Thank you to Titan books, for this stunning ARC!

A Palace Near the Wind is a wonderful oriental adventure, reminiscent of Studio Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke and with elemental elements that may seem reminiscent to Avatar: The Last Airbender. It follows Liu Lufeng on her quest to marry and kill the Emperor, by travelling from her airborne homeland, to the mechanical and grounded environment of the Palace.

To begin with, I loved the world-building, and how the natural lands that Liu came from were so different to the mechanized and hostile environment of the Palace. This made Liu’s perspective of everything, from food and transport to shoes, really fascinating to read about. I particularly liked the big mechanical creatures that the people of the Palace traveled around in, too.

The plot was a little back and forth, giving answers without really giving them, while the main character walked aimlessly around like a video game character – in search of plot points. This slowed the pacing, and allowed the story to lose tension at key moments: especially just after Liu arrives at the Palace, and towards the climactic end point. However, the highlights were most definitely in the politics of the story and the numerous plot twists, which were masterfully done and provided this novella with necessary intrigue.

As for characters, Tin and Zinc ended up being my favorites, as characters caught and molded by the court. At times, the revelations as to who the characters were and what they knew were points of interest, but often these things were kept vague and left me questioning their relevance to the wider plot. This also took a toll on many of the characters, especially Liu. Liu was a weak protagonist, who gets lost amid so many other strong personalities and intriguing individuals in the narrative. Moreover, her motivations and thought processes weakened towards the end, leaving me to passively watch the plot through her eyes, rather than experience the story through her character.

This led to a rushed ending, where a lot happened at once, with some plot points making sense and others seemingly coming from nowhere. This, I believe, is because of how the novella tried to do a lot within a short amount of pages. The plot itself, let alone the character arcs, could have easily fit into a 500 book – giving everything more room to develop and breathe. Overall, whilst this is a fascinating novella and the start to what could be a compelling series, it falls short in its own attempts to achieve too much within a limited space.

I really enjoyed this one. Though it's short, it's filled with interesting and well developed characters, and has some great world building.
I really liked our main character and found the entire story overall, to be very engaging and fast paced.

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for giving me an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This novella had some really ideas with a fun world surrounding it. I don't always think it pulled off what it was going for, but I am excited to see where the story goes from here. If you are interested in a shorter read with some interesting magic, I would give this book a read.

An interesting concept, executed in quite a heavy handed way. I don’t think the short novella form lends itself to this story because it’s such ambitious world building and I felt like it needed much more time dedicated to how this world functions.

It reads very Nature Good Technology Bad in a way that kind of hits the reader over the head with it, I wish it was a bit more subtle in the delivery of the central themes. That being said I enjoyed the commentary on colonialism and the evils of consumerism/wealthy totalitarian oligarchy, and I’m excited for book two which will hopefully expand on everything much more!

Thank you to Titan Books and NetGalley for the ARC

This novella feels a lot like an allegory for uncontrolled industrialisation and its effects of nature; you have the entity called Engine and humans named Zinc (related to a corporation called Z INC) and Copper, whereas the nature-related people beyond Feng are named things like Geyser. The bulk of this installment involved Lufeng trying to uncover the truth behind the contractual agreement between the people of Feng and the Palace, while also plotting to kill the King of the Palace that she is meant to marry—only everything is not as it seems, and there may be a deeper plot between Feng and Engine that Lufeng has yet to uncover.

The writing is beautiful to read, but considering how little our narrator-protagonist knows about the larger plot, and all the things she needs to unlearn and relearn, the story itself only picked up much later in the book (say, around 70% in). It does end on a relatively hopeful and exciting note, so perhaps the second book will be when things get properly satisfying?

A Palace Near the Wind had the potential to be a captivating read, with an intriguing premise that immediately piqued my interest. Unfortunately, it didn’t live up to the expectations I had for one of my most anticipated books of 2025.

The novella follows Feng, a Wind Walker—one of the unique races in this world who can command the wind and has tree-like features. Feng’s community faces an existential threat as industrialization encroaches upon their way of life. To combat this, Feng is married off to the King, a political maneuver meant to prevent the destruction of their people’s home. What follows is a journey into the heart of a palace filled with experiments and mysteries, and an escalating threat from the city’s corrupt rulers.

The world-building in A Palace Near the Wind is undoubtedly interesting, but it feels underdeveloped. The setting is presented in vivid detail, but the book spends so much time on the world itself that the plot and character development take a backseat. This results in a slow-paced narrative that leaves me struggling to connect with the characters or fully understand the stakes. I found myself trying to piece together the mechanics of this world—how the Wind Walkers fit in, how the society operates, and what the overall conflict is.

The first half of the book feels like a slow burn, with little happening in terms of plot. It's as though the world-building is the story, but there's only so much you can immerse yourself in before you start wanting more. By the time the actual conflict begins to unfold, it feels rushed, and the story wraps up in a mere twenty pages. The pacing is all over the place, and the abrupt conclusion did not allow for the themes or conflicts to fully resonate.

As much as I wanted to be swept away by the richness of this world, I found myself frustrated by the lack of depth in the plot and the characters. It’s a short book, but it felt like it took forever to read because of how slowly it unfolded. I can imagine that fans of the concept might still find enjoyment in it, but if you're someone who prefers a tighter plot and a more fleshed-out narrative, this one may fall short. In conclusion, while A Palace Near the Wind has a promising premise that ultimately feels like it never quite realizes its full potential.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A Palace Near the Wind is the fantasy novel for fans of Princess Mononoke or Fern Gully, a book with a strongly eco-centric motif that strives for complexity and nuance in its discussion of human imperialism and our relationship with the natural world. Jiang takes a bold position through her protagonist, offering up a unique perspective that presents the barbarism with which human "civilization" treats the natural world and its resources while also focusing on the relative cost and benefits of human civilization's "progress" through its pursuit of technology and creature comfort.

The book has a lot of twists and turns that complicate the main character's stance surrounding the gradual consumption of her home and the way her society has become pressured into complicity with imperial expansionist forces, but doesn't ever feel like it's condescending to its reader. Jiang uses a light touch in places throughout the book when Lufeng, the main character, reflects on her experiences outside her forest home, reframing the society we might most recognize in our modern era with fresh and inquisitive eyes--sort of like what Ursula K. Le Guin did with The Dispossessed. The result of that light touch is a reflection on our world's customs and mores, an alienation that can serve to open up reflection on how arbitrarily we accept change for "progress" without recognizing the real ecological and sociological impact those changes can have on the world outside our immediate human sphere. But it's not all light touch in this novella, as Jiang also trades nuance for more directly symbolic statements that help concretize the book's thematic interrogation of the complicated relationship between human civilization and the natural world and its particular ordering.

It should definitely be said that this does not feel like a complete story by any stretch, and the major themes the book wants to interrogate as regards imperialism and its destructive drive don't get nearly enough room to come to any concrete conclusion. This is the first book in a planned duology, but it definitely feels like there's more story than there is space here. How different threads and ideas will be resolved remains to be seen without the second half of the story in hand, but this opening chapter serves as a strong introduction to the duology's major concepts both narratively and symbolically.

As someone who has definitely enjoyed Jiang's work in the past, I think this one reads as the continued evolution of her particular voice and imagination for story--books that read with strong sentimentality and steadfast conviction--so if you're a fan of Jiang's previous work, this should be more of the same. But it's also rare to find a voice so sincere in its presentation of thematic ideas and conceits, which is definitely the book's major strength. Whether you come for the fantasy or for the sociopolitical criticism, I think there's enough of both in this first volume to really sell me on picking up the forthcoming response.

Disclosure Statement: I received an ARC of the novella from the author and publisher. My opinions are entirely my own and have not been influenced in any way by either party.

4.5 🌟

This book messed me up in the best way.

You know that feeling when a story slowly sinks its claws into you, and before you know it, you're completely consumed? That’s "A Palace Near the Wind". At first, I wasn’t sure what was going on—it’s a sci-fantasy world so rich and strange that it takes a minute to settle in. But once I did? I could not put it down.

Lufeng is a Wind Walker, part of a people deeply connected to nature, with bark-like skin and the ability to harness the wind. She and her sisters are being traded as brides to the human King, a desperate attempt to slow down the destruction of their land. The palace she arrives at is made of bone (yes, bone. it’s as creepy as it sounds. And things only get weirder from there), and nothing about it feels right. The more time she spends there, the more she realizes she’s trapped in something much bigger and more sinister than she ever imagined.

The story is eerie, gripping, and honestly, kind of devastating. Jiang paints a world where nature is being consumed by industry, where people are forced to either assimilate or be destroyed. The way the book describes eating meat? Genuinely unsettling. And that ending?? Just when everything starts clicking into place, it ends. I nearly threw my Kindle across the room.

This is one of those books that lingers in your mind, making you question the cost of “progress” and what survival really means. The only downside? It’s a novella, and I need more. Bring on the sequel—I'm not ready to leave this world yet.

#APalaceNeartheWind #NetGalley.

I'm not sure how I feel about this one.

I didn't really like this novella until like the last couple of pages. I almost have up on it a couple of times. It's a very confusing read. This would have been better served as a full length novel, fully fleshed out with proper worldbuilding. A novella shouldn't end on a cliffhanger either. Like, just write a whole book?

The premise of the novella is good. I like the idea of it. The idea of tree people clashing with humans and "progress", but then it's weird that these tree people, with bark for skin are able to change their appearance so dramatically that they resemble humans so much that until they bleed sap, other tree people can't tell that they are also tree people? And this never really gets explained. There's just so much missing information that could have been executed better as a full length book.

2.5 stars because I did like the ending, even if there was a cliffhanger.

It was a very interesting short story. There is a very strong Asian influence in the writing, which makes the writing feel a little different than some other fantasy stories. The end makes it seems as if there will be a sequel.

4.25 ⭐️

I need more. I want more!

The dedication was “For Mother Nature and all her unwilling sacrifices” and Ai Jiang did just that.

A Palace Near the Wind is a short novella. The eldest princess of the Wind, Liu Lufeng, has an arranged marriage contract. In hopes that it will stop the colonizing humans from taking over her enriched and beautiful land.

Lufeng plans to kill her betrothed on the night of her marriage ceremony in hopes of keeping her family and people safe. Until she start to learn the truth about her sacrificial marriage and the origins of her people.

“I wanted to reclaim the choice that was taken from us all and ensure my brother could choose when and where he might make his home.”

This is was such a gripping story, I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. Humans just suck and we take all the joy out of everything we touch. Lufeng is just trying to save her culture, land, and her people. This story is not just about how humans have destroyed the earth, but about hope, overcoming the odds, and taking back what belongs to YOU.

Ai Jiang uses fantastic imagery to bring her story to life. I can vividly imagine this fantasy world and all the magic that comes with it. I am certainly now a big fan and HOPING for the next installment.

A Palace Near the Wind by Ai Jiang had an interesting concept but sadly fell a little flat. I loved Jiang's novella, Linghun, and was excited about another book. However, this one felt like it needed to be a longer novel. The world-building is terrific, but I wish Jiang had focused on the characters as it is a novella. I am hoping the second book in this duology will be able to do just that now that the world has been established.

I loved the world building in this book so much. The world felt so rich and there was a sense of discovery and wonder, and it was just PERFECT.

The central themes of this book are environmental destruction, colonialism and the pitfalls of industrialization. At times that hit really, really hard. There were a few scenes (especially during the wedding) where I really had to swallow. That was so well done.

Unfortunately the world building is also kind of what makes this book fall apart. The author was obviously just as in love with this world as the readers would be, but this is a novella. So much time was spent on the world building, there was none left for a meaningful attachment to the characters. I had no real grasp or affection for any of them. There was also little space for the actual plot. Most of it only unfolded in the last third of it, so the whole pacing felt really off.

Regardless, I think I am going to pick up the sequels to this book simply because I think there is so much potential in this world and I have hope that the next books in the series will perhaps concentrate more on the character growth and plot development.

Thank you to NetGalley and Titan for a digital copy of this arc.


I went into this story expecting a magical fantasy world rich with character. The book is quite short, coming up to 192 pages which is not usually a complaint of mine as I do find novellas can pack a punch but this one failed at that which is a huge shame.

I did find the world building to be rather beautiful and unique, as we have a woodland world with people who have bark like skin and other tree like attributes, yet we are then torn away from that and placed in a claustrophobic palace that was very hard to picture aside from the bedroom and the dining hall. The side characters were strong, I enjoyed seeing how they are affected by the world and the people in charge as we got to see some reality there, as I found Lufeng to be bland and self centred.

Unfortunately those are the only pros (if you can call them that). I found the story itself would drag yet also rushed at the end, which is kind of understandable for a short story but I feel like many other authors have executed this better. The technology elements were jarring as I’ll admit I didn’t realise that this was going to be sci-fi, and it would have been fine if it was well executed but it left me more confused about the world building and how everything should look. It also ends quite abruptly so when I got to the final page and tapped to read more I was confused by what happened, as I wouldn’t really call that a cliffhanger it just ended!

My least favourite parts were the reveals. I didn’t expect the King to be Lufeng’s father nor did I like it, it was confusing especially with how he was treating her and being overall a dick, so I didn’t have any sympathy or care at all. Then you have Zinc and Copper. Like, they look similar and are also called Zinc and Copper, it’s quite obvious they’re related.

Overall, a very disappointing read and I won’t be picking up the sequel as I have zero interest in it.

✨ ARC Review ✨
A Palace Near the Wind by Ai Jiang

2.5 ⭐️ (rounded to 3 on GR)

This novella had a very unique and whimsical science-fantasy premise. I really liked the premise of the world-building, but it was very dense, and for a short novella it was hard to fully understand. Even a full-length novel would have had a hard time fully fleshing out the story. The pacing was quite slow and I had a hard time staying engaged the entire time.

Liu Lufeng is a girl from a race of tree-people, who is forced into a marriage contract with the king of the humans in exchange for her people’s safety. Throughout the story Liu is forced to relearn everything she believes about her society, and changing her world-view.

The book itself was very beautifully written, and I believe with a fully fleshed out novel it could have been great!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC! I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

'Though I'd see my reflection in the waters of Feng, I'd never see such a still image of me, unaltered by the distortion of natural waters and the colours it took on from its surroundings.'

This sci-fi novella has incredibly beautiful writing and the author is fantastic in describing such grotesque scenes. I thought the ambiance was wonderfully done and the plot keeps up the suspense all throughout, even though it manages to feel a bit repetitive. The characters feel quite flat which is a bit expected from a tale this short, which is, in my opinion, it's biggest problem.

I think this novella is quite original and if you like a more poetic kind of writing style it will be right up your alley.

A Palace in the wind is a speculative fiction novel that, unfortunately doesn't deliver on its promising concept. I was fascinated by the juxtaposition of the environmental destruction and the human colonisers, however the world building and character development was premature and I didn't buy into either. The narrative and dialogue feels disjointed and I found it hard to fill in the gaps. I didn't finish the book. Stopped at approx 20%.

With a beautiful cover, I read this novella in 2 hours. However, the ending is a cliff hanger for the second part of the duology so be warned.

The story is told from our heroines perspective. She's a tree person and likes the status quo. Then she's married off to the king whose land of bones and fur and meat and walking contraptions is encroaching on theirs. As with a number of other reviewers, this could do with being a novel so that there's more space/time for world building. As the novella continues, we're introduced to an ever greater cast of characters that we only really get to glance briefly at them before the plot moves on. But we need to care about these characters for the novella to work - as such, it doesn't completely work currently.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Absolutely intriguing fantastical concept, beautiful writing and complex ideas for themes. Those are the 2 stars. It just falls apart on execution from there.

Nothing happens, when this is a story carried on the promise of defiance and even revolt. We learn of the tree people, who borrow the wind and live in harmony with nature, and the conquerors they're forced to establish business relationships with through marriage. It is a fascinating premise for sure, but again, nothing happens.

This could have easily been a character-focused story. I would have loved that. But not these two-dimensional characters. The only two things you know about the main character, Lufeng, is that 1) she values her people's traditions and way of life, and 2) she wants to kill her husband-to-be to free her family and people. That's it. You don't even properly explore how being at the palace is changing and influencing her beyond the fact that meat is tasty. And everyone else is reduced to a character trait, role or ability. The supposed plot twists don't even hit because there is nothing to grab onto for me to care.

So, if you're into all vibes, no plot, this can absolutely be for you. Like I said, the worldbuilding itself is very unique. Just ignore the people comparing this to Princess Mononoke and T. Kingfisher, because you'll be very disappointed.
Sadly, I don't feel like reading book 2.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Ai Jiang, and Titan Books for the chance to read and review this book.