Tales of the Celestial Kingdom by Sue Lynn Tan is a short story anthology set in the world of Daughter of the Moon Goddess and Heart of the Sun Warrior. This book bridges the gaps in the Celestial Kingdom fantasy series and provides some much-needed context. The book consists of 9 short stories broken down in Dusk, Twilight, Dawn sections written from perspectives of different characters in the tale.

Hi, welcome back to another fantasy fiction book review. The reviews have been rapid this month and you can expect the same for the rest of the year. Do let me know what you like about the reviews or if there are specific books or genres you would like to see more often (No, I will not read non-fiction). About this book, have you ever absoluted hated a book series only to go back and read the concluding short story anthology and fall in love with it? Because that is exactly what happened to me with this book. The character I hated was finally out of the picture and things were looking up. It is really unfortunate that the author is set on not writing another book in the series to take the talefurther. So let’s get into it!

Title: Tales of the Celestial Kingdom
Author: Su Lynn Tan
Read: Audiobook – Libby
ISBN: 9780063326699
Published: Harper Voyager, 6 February 2024
Page Count: 153

Check out the Celestial Kingdom duology review here.

What is the Plot of ‘Tales of the Celestial Kingdom’?

Sue Lynn Tan goes back to The Celestial Kingdom series with this anthology and starts at the very beginning. The first short story is set just before Houyi leaves Chang’e behind to fight the sun birds. Chang’e is pregnant with Xingyin and certain to lose both her and the baby’s life in the complicated birth. The readers are extremely familiar with this story as it forms the foundation of the duology, but this time, the story is told from Chang’e and Houyi’s perspective. Their lives and dynamics are highlighted as both the characters go through challenges to take life-altering decisions.
The clear anti-war sentiment is pertinent to these short stories. This is reflected beyond Houyi and Chang’e as Shuxiao’s story highlights the hypocrisy of the lords of the realm as they go all out to save themselves without any gratitude for being saved. With the final story of Shuxiao and Wenzhi reuniting, the tale finally finds the well-deserved conclusion.

My Verdict: Is ‘Tales of the Celestial Kingdom’ Worth Reading?

It is very difficult to review a short story anthology without revealing much. So in one sentence, I would say this book is definitely worth it if you have dragged yourself through the duology. The readers needed this closure to the series–both from the conclusion aspect as well as the new character perspectives it provides.
Wenzhi is humanised, Liwei is villainised further and Shuxiao is given more emotional depth. Chang’e is given a voice, Houyi is seen from his own perspective for the first time and Shuxiao’s story shows how soldiers on either side of the line are just people, immortal people in this case, but people nonetheless.
I was disappointed in the Celestial Kingdom duology, this is no secret. But I was strangely nostalgic after reading this book. In that sense, this book serves its addition to the series well. I definitely liked this book better than the duology specially since Liwei’s shenanigans were muted here.
My biggest complain with the duology was Liwei’s self-righteousness in the face of making every wrong decision and the author killing off the other main love interest just before the ending in a grand gesture of love. I felt the pacing was off for the whole love story angle and the pay off was not enough for either Liwei’s crimes against Shuxiao and Shuxiao’s reward for her sacrifices.
This is why the characters came across flat to me–whoever was supposed to be the good guy, was the good guy till the end no matter what they did and the same could be said about the bad guy as well. This book rectifies some of that, gives the characters some more dimension and makes them read like actual people. So I would definitely recommend this read for readers of the Celestial Kingdom series and if you enjoy reading short stories that purposefully add to the main body of work, this will be an interesting read.

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