The Tiger's Daughter

By: K Arsenault Rivera

Narrated by: Caroline McLaughlin

Even gods can be slain.

The Hokkaran Empire has conquered every land within their bold reach - but failed to notice a lurking darkness festering within the people. Now their border walls begin to crumble, and villages fall to demons swarming out of the forests.

Away on the silver steppes, the remaining tribes of nomadic Qorin retreat and protect their own, having bartered a treaty with the empire, exchanging inheritance through the dynasties. It is up to two young warriors, raised together across borders since their prophesied birth, to save the world from the encroaching demons.

This is the story of an infamous Qorin warrior, Barsalayaa Shefali, a spoiled divine warrior empress, O Shizuka, and a power that can reach through time and space to save a land from a truly insidious evil.

A crack in the wall heralds the end...two goddesses arm themselves....

K Arsenault Rivera's The Tiger's Daughter is an adventure for the ages.

©2017 K Arsenault Rivera (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"A love letter to my favorite kind of fantasy - rich, expansive, and grounded in human truth.... Simply exquisite." (V. E. Schwab, New York Times best-selling author of the Shades of Magic series)

Great story

Loved this story and how it’s woven together. Features f/f romance. Can’t wait to get my hands on books 2&3

<3

I love this story. It's like an old epic and a love letter all at the same time.

Warrior Women

What did you love best about The Tiger's Daughter?

The steps of Mongolia and the Hidden City of China make a fresh setting for a Fantasy Novel.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Tiger's Daughter?

Just the burgeoning love story was new and different.

Which scene was your favorite?

The big fight scene at the end. Also the scenes where the flowers move are the best.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

If i didn't have a life I most definitely would.

Any additional comments?

It felt like it was in hybrid-second person, which i loved but, at times on the Audio it made hard to determine whose perspective this was written in.

Fantastic

I savored this book over two months and desperately need more. Initially I didn't like the format of letters being exchanged and even thought the voice acting was so-so, but wow did I change my tune less than halfway through. This is truly a unique and immersive world and I can't recommend buying this book enough. Do it!

Writing format that didn't work for this book

2.5/5
The best thing about this book is its narrator, Caroline McLaughlin. I found her voice very easy to listen to in an otherwise pretty boring book.

It always surprises me how someone can take a sound, exciting idea and flush it down the drain with the execution. The promise of this plot sounded amazing. Two lesbian warrior queens destined to fall in love and fight demons with their special magical powers in a vaguely Asian fantasy background.

The reality is there is very little actual plot development or demon fighting or anything. Instead, the plot consists of Shefali's love letters to Shizika in which she reminisces about what actually happened to them both in a flowery prose. A lot of it happened in her head, I might add. And she felt the need to write about it.

As a consequence, what the characters know and don't feel the need to explain is not spelled to us, and a lot of possibly fascinating details and nuances are lost.

There is a whole backstory of their mothers, legendary warriors larger than life, whom are barely mentioned. There are complexities of Shizika's position as a heir to the throne to her evil uncle emperor, and the tension between them is explored on the shallowest level. There is an issue of Shefali's contamination and her early ability to speak to demons which is never explored. At last, there are magical powers both girls are born with, and author's lack of enthusiasm in using them.

At last, the heroines themselves are not likeable. Shizika is distant, angry and has a huge chip on her shoulder. Shefali is introverted and awkward with a puppy adoration she carries for her best friend, which I found slightly annoying.

There was just so much unused potential and missed world-building opportunities, folks, that I ended up being disappointed and annoyed instead of enjoying The Tiger's Daughter. In all honesty, not recommended.

Incredible

A journey immersive from the start. The ending had my heart pounding in suspense and left me with the feeling of triumph and pride for it's characters.

high quality qpoc fantasy

this was incredibly rich and such a beautifully written story. interesting harcaters yes very romance but also so femme forward, queer, powerful and so much incredible world building. I look forward to reading the rest of the trilogy. loved the narrator!

Expansive slow burn epic

I really enjoyed this one. I felt the voice performance suited the style of storytelling. A story told through a letter, I know the pacing would bother some. However I'm very fond of how it's told. I'm excited to get my hands on the other 2 books in this series.

You would think the reader would...

Why doesn't Caroline McLaughlin pronounce any of the names right? You would think if you were about to read a 14 hour book, you would bother to discuss the pronunciation of the Japanese-based names. "Its-key" for "Its-zuki" is terrible. This is a straight up example of lack of ethnic representation, sensitivity, and respect. I am enjoying the book for the quality of the writing, but the audible version is quite disappointing.

Loved this story!

Fantastic story, full of action, depth and romance. I almost didn’t get a chance to find this out however, because I found the narrator so monotonous that I couldn’t concentrate on the story. The only thing she did well was the voice of the demons, which her voice seemed suited for. Barely any change in pitch for different characters or events. I can’t wait to read the book and will most likely skip the next two in the series on audio if it’s the same narrator. Loved the story!