Title: Sound the Gong (Kingdom of Three #2)
Author: Joan He
Genres: Fantasy, Historical
Pages: 368
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Copy: Purchased
Availability: Available now
Summary: All her life, Zephyr has tried to rise above her humble origins as a no-name orphan. Now she is a god in a warrior’s body, and never has she felt more powerless. Her lordess Xin Ren holds the Westlands, but her position is tenuous. In the north, the empress remains under Miasma’s thumb. In the south, the alliance with Cicada is in pieces.
Fate also seems to have a different winner in mind for the three kingdoms, but Zephyr has no intentions of respecting it. She will pay any price to see Ren succeed—and she will make her enemies pay, especially one dark-haired, dark-eyed Crow. What she’ll do when she finds out the truth—that he worked for the South all along…
Only the heavens know.
Review: [An extensive list of content warnings for Sound the Gong can be found here.]
Sound the Gong is a direct continuation of Strike the Zither, and that strongly affects its structure. This book is paced like the second half of a much longer story rather than as a more traditional sequel, so while the book has its own self-contained plots arcs, it also concludes many plots that were started in the first book. Author Joan He recommends rereading Strike the Zither before reading Sound the Gong, and I heartily second this. Sound the Gong does almost no recap, so if you (foolishly, like me) try to go in without at least reviewing the recap of Strike the Zither, you could be lost quickly. I attempted going in cold and ultimately ended up rereading Strike the Zither instead (which was a lot of fun).
Zephyr continues to be a compelling narrator in her determination to help Ren be victorious in her war, no matter the cost. Zephyr’s strategist mindset is cold and ruthless, and her pangs of conscience don’t often win out against the prospect of victory. Her godhood gives her an edge in some respects, but it also means she can repeatedly suffer in horrible ways. In a note at the start of the book, Joan He wrote, “The reality of war, conversely, remains relevant to this day and is therefore preserved wherever necessitated by the story.” As one of the chief strategists, Zephyr shoulders a significant responsibility for what happened during the war and to the world that was built after it. Her character arc is fascinating, and I loved the ride, even when I was distressed by what she was doing.
In my review of the first book, I noted that there wasn’t much time to develop Zephyr and Crow’s rivalry/relationship; this second book remedied my concerns on that front (in a way that I was not at all expecting but very much enjoyed). Once again, their battle of wits was as cutthroat as it was compelling, and I appreciated that the narrative did not try to sugarcoat the terrible effects their stratagems had on the world in general and directly on each other. I loved where this story took the two of them, and the book’s coda was a wonderful way to explore the effects of their relationship on the world.
In addition to Zephyr and Crow, the wider cast had their moments to shine. I particularly enjoyed the deeper explorations of Ren, Cloud, and Cicada in Sound the Gong and how Zephyr’s views of them changed over the course of the book. Ren and Cloud challenged Zephyr’s view of herself and them, and of the role of a strategist Itself, and the book was all the better for it. I do wish we had gotten more of November, but that is a minor complaint weighed against all the fantastic character development from everyone else.
Recommendation: Get it now if you’re in the mood for a sweeping war novel. Sound the Gong is a strong conclusion to Strike the Zither, providing payoff for Zither’s many setups and exploring what it means to be desperate to win, no matter the cost. Zephyr and Crow’s complicated relationship plays out in unexpected but interesting ways, and Zephyr’s choices and character development are handled masterfully. This duology Is one I will definitely be revisiting.
Extras: Exclusive Interview: Joan He On Sound The Gong
Read an excerpt of Strike the Zither on the publisher’s website