What comes to mind when you hear of a Chosen One trope? For me, I often think of a main character who was unaware of their “chosen” status, coming into their own and developing into their role as a hero. In fact, I can think of several books that follow that story trajectory. In The Art of Prophecy by Wesley Chu, our chosen one has understood that he’s the chosen one the Prophecy foretold from the very beginning, but in spite of state-of-the-art martial training from the (supposedly) best masters, our hero, Jian, finds himself woefully unprepared for the challenges life presents him.
The premise of this book is really great– we have Taishi, an aging master who is no-nonsense and has no time for the theatrics that Jian throws her way. What begins as a master-student dynamic quickly shifts into a much broader adventure that encompasses two main factions and Taishi and Jian have to maneuver a world in which being the Chosen One is not always easy, but dangerous.
I liked how this book puts a spin on the Chosen One trope– without going into too much detail, the book asks a question: “What if the Prophecy foretelling the Chosen One is… wrong?” And leave Jian to deal with the fallout of that. The writing has humor and comedic relief and helps set the tone of a fun fantasy that doesn’t take itself too seriously even when the stakes are high. It reads much like an action movie and I liked how the narrative prose flowed easily so while this is a long book, it felt like a quick read to me.
As the first book in a series, there is significant set up and introduction to several characters, especially in the second act. That offsets the pacing a bit, but given the purpose of context-building and character development, it made sense to me. The overall plotline wasn’t overly surprising given several familiar tropes along the way, but that didn’t detract from my enjoyment. Sometimes, an entertaining book doesn’t have to be completely new and surprising, but rather fun and familiar elements with different characters that bring an entertaining twist on what’s already established in a reader’s mind.
All in all, this was an entertaining book. It didn’t blow my mind with surprising plot twists or revolutionary thought, but rather its charm and its characters carried the plot forward and I’m definitely interested in reading more.
A big thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Del Rey for a copy of this eARC!
Final Rating:
Be sure to check out The Art of Prophecy. It is out August 9th, 2022!
Cover image: Photo on Unsplash
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