Chat with Ken Liu - author of The Grace of Kings | Interview

[@readbykyle3082]

This was so much fun. Thanks for having me on, Bookborn! Ken is such a fantastic speaker and it was so great to talk with him.

[@Bookborn]

You set it up so thank yourself 😂 I'm glad you included ME!

[@libraryofaviking]

I really need to read this series! Sounds right up my alley!

[@Bookborn]

DO IT. You won't regret it! It's amazing!

[@lewstherinteletubby50]

I love this interview. The way Ken explains his thought process is absolutely fascinating.

[@jakebishop7822]

Finally watching this I bet the Blossom Gang would find a way to bind a 700k word novel

[@Bookborn]

So true let's put them on the case

[@hayllaporto3312]

Ken Liu is so delightful. His giggles are absolutely contagious. Great interview guys ❤️

[@Bookborn]

Thanks Haylla ☺️

[@TallGuyReads]

Wow I don’t know how I missed this interview when it went live but this was fantastic!! Great discussion guys!

[@Ribshack2012]

Fantastic discussion! I'm halfway through Speaking Bones and I don't know if I'm ready for the end. Very impressed with Mr. Liu's writing and his descriptions, and it's no surprise to me that he speaks in the same way

[@maddy0119]

A great interview! Loved learning the origin story of this series. I think it's a fascinating study of humanity.

[@Bookborn]

Yes and I loved hearing more about his connection between Chinese history and the "America story".

[@esmayrosalyne]

Ahh I loved this interview, so happy for both you and Kyle that you got the opportunity to talk with Ken Liu!! The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories was one of my favourite things I read last year and The Dandelion Dynasty is top priority for this year, just waiting until it's a bit closer to the release of the final book (which is really testing my self-control, haha, I can't wait to get to it!!). Ken Liu is such a fascinating person, I loved hearing him speak! :)

[@Bookborn]

That's probably a good idea anyway since Ken himself would rather people read the last two back to back like a single book!

[@samahashitaka]

Absolutely love the Dandelion Dynasty! You both had great questions and thoughts on the series, and I appreciate the effort you put forth to have Ken on :)

[@Bookborn]

Yay, I always love hearing from other Dandelion fans!

[@frostburnwoof]

This was an awesome video. I love Ken Liu's stories, The Paper Menagerie is an incredible piece of art. It's so cool you got to talk to Ken. Can't wait what he writes next after the Dandelion Dynasty.

[@epiphoney]

I wish someone would do a Three Body Problem spoiler talk with Ken Liu. I finished watching the Chinese tv show.

[@darren2880]

Great interview

[@bobbytran3878]

I loved the interview! It would be really cool to hear you discuss speaking bones and the entire series open spoiler with Kyle or perhaps Ken in the future! I don’t see much videos that are open spoiler on wall of storms onward and also I haven’t encountered a podcast or interview where the author Ken talked about spoilers openly so I hope after the entire series is released, Ken will finally be allowed to talk about specific plot points and characters in depth!

[@Bookborn]

That's such a good idea. I just got Speaking Bones today and Kyle and I are going to read it. A full-spoiler live discussion could be really fun

[@BabsLongfellow]

Loved this interview!! Absolutely fantastic.

[@Bookborn]

Why thanks 💁‍♀

[@mattkean1128]

He was so nice! So looking forward to reading his books. Great interview 😃

[@Bookborn]

You can start with Paper Menagerie - it's shorter and a super quick read!

[@hanobi8710]

So I'm watching this late as usual, but I loved this interview! Thank you so much for bringing this to us, and to Ken Liu for sharing his time. I've been wanting to read this series for so long, but I've been waiting for it to be completed because I've been burned so often with unfinished fantasy series. This interview has me more excited than ever to pick it up now that the final book is about to hit the shelves.

[@Bookborn]

I’m hoping once the final one gets published in June that this series will get even more popular! I think a lot of people have been waiting for the same reason as you

[@afantasybabble6222]

Congrats! Fantastic interview. Finished The Grace of Kings last week and I really enjoyed gaining more insight behind the story. Makes me even more excited to continue the series

[@Bookborn]

Wall of Storms is my personal favorite so I'm hoping you like that one!

[@4FlatTires]

Watched for the KZbin algorithm.... 100k here we come!😎 Good author was a score!

[@hunterghobadi1269]

Congratulations, he is an author very much in demand right now.

[@Bookborn]

And I hope he gets bigger! His writing deserves it!

[@jimave]

That was a great interview! I now appreciate the novels so much more. I need to read his short stories next.

[@Bookborn]

Yes, it made me appreciate them more too, even though I already loved them! You can't go wrong with the Paper Menagerie and other stories. They were so good.

[@gavinrbeckett]

Such a great interview, and has inspired me to get the Dandelion Dynasty! Most of all though I love that the Great British Bake Off featured in your discussion 😂

[@Bookborn]

It's such a good series! Long but worth it. Nothing is better than the GBBO...but I only watched the original seasons. Once Mary and the original commentators were gone I just couldn't stomach it 😂

[@gavinrbeckett]

@@Bookborn ah come on, I first came across your videos when discussing Wheel of Time 😂 and I recommended the Malazan Empire series to you… I can handle long series 😁 in fact, I need a new one 🤣

[@zan8152]

oh my gosh what an utterly *fantastic* interview, thank you for bringing this to us!!

[@Bookborn]

Ken Liu is such a cool and intelligent guy! I'm grateful he chatted with us!

[@snakemtt]

Started The Dandelion Dynasty because of your videos. Thanks for that, great interview 😀

[@Bookborn]

I hope you enjoy it!

[@PonderingsOfPete]

binging these interviews and spoiler discussions now. Still reeling from the ending but I'm fine

[@Bookborn]

"I'm fine" he says while crying

[@PonderingsOfPete]

@@Bookborn casually sobbing at the kitchen table for all those we lost.

[@secretsauceofstorycraft]

OMG! this was awesome! You guys asked great questions. This is what I wanted to know!! He translated Three body Problem, I want to know more Thanks for doing this.

[@Bookborn]

Thanks for watching!

[@justinjeffries1554]

Got through half the interview - picked up the book. Such a well spoken and thoughtful author.

[@Bookborn]

I hope you enjoy it! So glad to introduce someone else to this great author.

[@James-oi7mz]

This series is next on my list. Great interview.

[@Bookborn]

I hope you enjoy it! It's the perfect time to start now that the last one is coming in June.

[@chadatchison145]

That was amazing! I just finished The Veiled Throne and I'm so happy that you got to interview Ken Liu. I didn't get that grimdark feel you and Kyle were talking about in The Wall of Storms, but I might not be remembering the book very well, I'll keep it in the back of my mind when I read it again.

[@Bookborn]

I think it's because we were just really depressed by some of the things that happened in it LOL

[@chadatchison145]

@@Bookborn I totally get that for sure lol.

[@readbykyle3082]

Bookborn is backpedalling but she's also less schooled in grimdark 😂 I read a lot of grimdark and I maintain Wall of Storms contains all the major elements of a grimdark book but done in a less gratituous way than many others. I would agree with Ken though that the series *itself* is more hopeful, but I don't think grimdark books can't have any hope. But the moral greyness of the characters, the horrific things that happen on page, the commentaries on the nature of power and corruption all strike me as being central grimdark elements. It's totally fine if you didn't get the same feel, though! It's why I asked Ken about it 😁

[@chadatchison145]

@@readbykyle3082 I'm not well versed in grimdark either but I see your point.

[@readbykyle3082]

@@chadatchison145 haha yeah, ultimately grimdark is just vague enough to be up to the reader, I think. The real grimdark is the friends we made along the way! 😂

[@jtmplmbr4465]

Great interview! Best booktuber on KZbin!

[@CharMeezy21]

This was so amazing! Ken seems like an amazing person and I am enjoying his work a lot. I am nervous that I am now reading The Veiled Throne and am going to be left with a cliff hanger. But will I pause in finishing it? Absolutely not 😂. Spoilers up through book 2 below: When Ken was discussing engineering all I could think about was the convos between Zomi and Luan and how excited she was when she figured out you can use small machines to make large machines.

[@Bookborn]

Luan and Zomi are two of my favorite people so it was fun to see Liu talk about how excited he also gets about the engineering principles.

[@CharMeezy21]

@@Bookborn yes, it was great to see that same excitement on and off the page!

[@pjalexander_author]

Great job with this interview!!

[@Bookborn]

Thanks for watching!

[@Florfilm]

Awesome interview. Ken Liu is so much like me. I felt so understood.

[@Bookborn]

He had so many good things to say!

[@jacknixon2812]

what a smart dude, understood half of it, but damn were those good points

[@zachryder3150]

*CONGRATULATIONS!*

[@MacScarfield]

My personal favorite character in the «Dandelion Dynasty», has to be Cogo Yelu: The Man who always two steps ahead of everyone and did the morally right thing virtually every time. Plus he founded Daran IKEA! 😂 Due to my History degree and knowing Jia’s aversion to the Army and her deep botanic knowledge, I fairly quickly understood that Jia planned to use the weapon she used. My only question was to which scale, something that definitely colors my perception of her: An amazing character, but with clear blindsight of the horrific consequences her actions for “the greater good”…

[@Bookborn]

Daran Ikea 🤣🤣 but Cogo Yelu is the GOAT, I totally agree he's amazing.

[@MacScarfield]

@@Bookborn As for the historical, Jia’s project reminded me of horrific experiments done by the Imperial Japan’s Unit 731 and those attempted with Project Coast by Apartheid South Africa. The Lyucu Purge of Xana on the other hand, brought to my mind the Devastation of the Conquistadors, the Mongol Destruction of Baghdad, the Chinese Communist Culture Revolution and the Khmer Rouge’s Killing Fields of Cambodia.

[@JARHuygebaert]

Fantastic interview with a brilliant author. Who will be next on Bookborn? :)

[@safinan8008]

Wow!! What are great video with an author!! Happy reading to you!! 🎥🎬

[@Bookborn]

Thanks for watching!

[@billyalarie929]

I’m only just now getting to this but “I don’t want you to be cold” 😭😭😭😭😭

[@Justadude1997]

its funny he didnt realize it was grimdark and I'm in the 100 pages "yeah this is good intentions, horrible society and warring. pretty grimdark"

[@Bookborn]

YES lol! Like so many super grim things happen. I get what he's saying though - some people feel like grimdark has to be hopeless characters/no hope at all, whereas I usually feel grimdark is just a really dark society, even if there's hope. (It's sort of why I still feel like Sword of Kaigen is grimdark even though there is hope)

[@Justadude1997]

@@Bookborn Sword of kaigen is the most realistic effort of grimdark, cuz its literally now, and shows how far they have to go. Didn't know it was prequel for the longest time

[@alananimus9145]

This sounds awesome and I have to check it out. It's kinda gross how most fantasy seems to glorify monarchy.

[@Bookborn]

Does fantasy glorify monarchy? Or is it just either a) fun to write about or b) often expected because we view "the past" as having a lot of monarchies?

[@alananimus9145]

@@Bookborn there's both a glorification and obsession with monarchy. The benevolent autocrat, or the malevolent autocrat who just needs to be replaced with a benevolent autocrat. There is also the lazy writing factor. The vast majority of feudal systems in fantasy are highly vertical which is ahistorical. Peasants live in 3 bedroom houses with plumbing. The Nobel lord ensures his people are fed and protects them or just needs to be replaced. It wouldn't bother me as much if the feudal systems were more complex or reflected historical reality, or if they pulled from pre-feudal systems.

[@snfd-i1i]

Ken lii just read youe paper menegerie . Shame on u bro the way u behave towards ur mother

[@kardsufur2966]

ken liu really isn't as smart as he thinks he is. he's more of a tedious ideologue reusing the same old tired liberal ideas

[@hoominbeeing]

Like what?

[@weilunkang]

@kard sufur Jealous much ?