#ml wang

[awesomenikie]

An amazing day to be a part of M.L Wang’s newsletter.

[teartra]

I WANT MORE

[teartra]

ML WANG IS GIVING FREE BOOK ABOUT SAPPHIC MARTIAL ART PRIDE MONTH IS SO BACK

[arianwyn-art]

book 5 of 2026: The Sword of Kaigen by M. L. Wang

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Okay, contrary to popular belief, (or maybe alongside it?) I really liked this one. I didn’t have super high hopes, because I’ve DNFed one of M. L. Wang’s books before. Maybe it was that the worldbuilding reminded me of ATLA, or that the emotional depth reminded me of Babel and the Poppy Wars, but it was a good read. Devastating, for sure. I really felt the acute loss of characters and the bitterness and frustration with the world. I think I would definitely describe this as not quite a traditional fantasy—it has all the workings of a fantasy that mirrors the real world, but it’s less an “action” fantasy (although there is a sick/sickening 150 page battle scene that I LOVED) and more of a painful reflection of love, loss, and purpose. Again, I found it mirroring some of Babel’s fundamental themes which I really loved. I also loved the characters—Misaki, of course, Robin, little Izumo and Nagasa, but very unexpectedly, Takeru as well, and I think that speaks for the writing because we are very clearly not supposed to like Takeru at first but he really grew on me.

full review below

Now for the few things I didn’t like. I think the main one was the reliance on the actual Japanese language. Obviously Takayubi is modeled after feudal Japan, with the names, items, etc. But the random inserts of Japanese—phrases, even whole sentences typed in romanji, were a little weird to me. The other problem I had was with the world building, in that I get how flipping every racial hierarchy is a very interesting idea, but it didn’t feel like it was approached with enough subtlety. It felt a little like, what if the Japanese Empire wasn’t evil and it was the oppressive Koreans and barbaric Chinese instead? What if the white people were oppressed and enslaved? Imo if you’re going to write a story like that, it’s better to make the fantasy countries a little more distanced from the real life countries. And the last little thing I disliked was the scene at the very end, when Misaki learns her former male classmate has married a man and has a very strong, not overwhelmingly positive reaction. I mean, she’s accepting, but it’s very, “why would he throw his life and inheritance away??? I could never do that!!!” girl we know, you didn’t grow a spine until 500 pages in. idk the scene felt very odd and out of place. I mean, it was 2019, not the 1900s, please!

But, maybe because the crux of our story is in traditional Takayubi, I was able to look past a lot of that. I liked the POV switching a lot as well, but wish we got more of past Misaki and honestly even Takeru. Overall I tore through this monster of a book!

[lagoonamoona]

This was my mid year check point of my beloved reads of 2025.

And they also ended up being in my top 10 reads of the year! Last year I had a deep focus was on committing to reading new authors as well as new genres.

The last empire was my first Sanderson book.

Eleanor O’Connell Was my first western.

The sword of Kaigen was my first M.L. Wang. 

And they where all FIVE star reads

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[lobster-tales]

Books Read in 2026

Blood Over Bright Haven by M. L. Wang

“I’m starting to understand how ridiculous it is to demand civility when the world is so disgustingly uncivil.”

[littlecakeclub]

I think this might be one of the most frustrating reading experiences I’ve had in years.

As some of you know, The Sword of Kaigen was my absolute favorite book of 2025 and probably my favorite fantasy standalone of all time. So I went into Blood Over Bright Haven with complete trust.

And somehow… it ended up giving me one of my worst reading slumps in years, which is honestly wild to say.

Because here’s the thing: this book does so many things right.

The opening chapter? One of the best I’ve ever read. Truly. I was instantly pulled into Thornhill’s world and the fate of his people. M.L. Wang is incredibly good at building racial systems that don’t exactly mirror ours, but still echo it perfectly. She constantly reminds us that race is a social construct, one that could have been built differently.

The worldbuilding is fascinating, the magic system is genuinely interesting, and most importantly, it actually serves the story. It’s not just there to look cool. It actively supports the book’s critique of colonialism, genocide, and systemic violence. There’s a real political sharpness here that I genuinely admire.

And yet. I couldn’t finish the novel and DNFed at 90%.

My issue isn’t that the book fails to critique oppression. On the contrary, it does, quite clearly. If anything, it sets up a really strong critique of white feminism and even gestures toward intersectionality.

My issue is that, in the end, it doesn’t escape the very narrative it’s criticizing.

Sciona, a privileged woman, realizes her complicity in a deeply violent system. And that arc could have been powerful. I genuinely wanted to see her be humbled, to step back, to witness rather than lead.

Instead, she remains at the center.

Even in the resolution, even in the collapse of the system, even in death, the story refuses to decenter her.

The Kwen resist. Thornhill fights. Their struggle is real, present, and meaningful. But the narrative still frames change through her awakening, her actions, her sacrifice.

And that, as an antiracist activist, didn’t sit right with me. It felt like the book reproduced the same hierarchy it was trying to dismantle: the privileged as the moral and narrative center, even in stories about their own oppression.

I often see this with “ally” narratives: this need to depict the privileged character as morally superior, or as some kind of exception. And honestly, that’s not the point. The point of being an ally is not to be better, more aware, or more “ethical” than others. It’s to step back and let the people directly affected decide how they want to resist, survive, and revolutionize their own world. By turning Sciona into this morally elevated figure, the novel falls into a form of white exceptionalism, where her awareness becomes more important than the agency of the Kwen themselves. And that, to me, weakens the very critique the book is trying to make.

I think that’s what made it so frustrating. Because this was so close to being a perfect book for me. I loved Thornhill. I loved Alba. I was deeply invested in the world, the magic, the politics. I wanted to love this.

But at some point, reading Sciona’s arc just became exhausting. And instead of pushing through, I just… stopped. So yes, I DNFed it.

And it’s such a strange feeling to say that the author who gave me my best read of 2025 also gave me one of my biggest reading slumps in years.

But it is what it is.

I still deeply respect M.L. Wang’s writing. When she hits, she really hits. And I’ll absolutely read her again. Just… maybe with a bit more caution when it comes to the politics.

[querade]

so fucking funny