I have been such a fan of Andrea Tang’s books. Ever since Rebelwing I have come to associate Andrea Tang with science fiction worlds. With premises that engage our concepts of the future combined with action. Keep reading this blog post about the reasons to check out Kingdom of Without.
Summary
When Zhong Ning’er takes the job, she expects a smash-and-grab burglary she’s doing to make rent and help out a friend. What she doesn’t expect: a sad-eyed army boy who dreams of insurrection, a former rebel leader trapped inside a secret lab, a group of aspiring revolutionaries who are first collaborators, then compatriots, and then, perhaps, friends.
But this is Beijing, nearly a hundred and fifty years after General Yuan Shikai successfully declared himself emperor in 1915. His descendants rule the country from their seat in the imperial city, their gendarmerie—the Beiyang Army—run the streets, aided by cyborgs and the Brocade Guard. Walls have risen, dividing the city into districts called Rings—nominally only by geography, but in truth by class. Earthquakes devastate the northern farmlands, crops drown in the southern typhoons, and all over the country people are hooked on a drug they call Complacency.
As a Sixth Ring girl who watched previous uprisings crushed brutally by the court, Ning’er isn’t much of an optimist, and she’s certainly no revolutionary. But that might not be up to her—as the stakes get higher, the time for passivity is quickly running out, and she must decide if she wants to sit idly in her cynicism, or embrace the breathless, terrible possibility of hope.
Reasons to Read
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
- It’s Les Miserables inspired, but subtle in case you’re not wanting to read like five million pages. Where it counts in terms of class struggles, rebellion, and heroes who aren’t sure if they should be heroes it delivers
- Speaking of rebellion and heroes, we love a good heist and group crew dynamic. There’s secrets – who would want a good crew without ’em – but there’s also trust and wariness.
- I’ll read anything cyberpunk at the moment. The world of Kingdom of Without feels gritty whether it be these bars watering down drinks, or the checkpoints we have to sneak in, or even the tech in our houses that promptly let us know we’ve been evicted.
- The relationship between Ning’er and her father is one that got me not only in the ways it deals with drug addiction, but also how we so desperately want affection. How drug addiction changes a relationship, a person, and how the system exists to profit off of it.
- The class systems and how it eventually all shakes down is fabulous. Can’t speak about it too much because of spoilers, but this cyberpunk is dystopian with a capital D about the exploitation of the lower classes and their dependency on the drug, Complacency. Also what a good name!
Book links:
About the Author
Andrea Tang grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, and currently lives, writes, and works in the Washington, DC, area. She loves martial arts in general and Brazilian jiu-jitsu in particular and in her spare time enjoys learning new sports and checking out live theater. Andrea is the author of Rebelwing and its companion novel, Renegade Flight, as well as Kingdom of Without.
Author Links:
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18251208.Andrea_Tang
Website: https://andreatangwrites.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/atangwrites/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/atangwrites
Book Tour Schedule
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