Chat with Ken Liu - author of The Grace of Kings | Interview

Hey nerds! I was so excited to get to sit down and interview Ken Liu and have a conversation about his stories - particularly The Paper Menagerie and The Dandelion Dynasty. As two of Liu's book made my top 10 this year, this is an author I've pretty much put on my "buy anything he writes" list. If you already love his books are haven't read any yet, this is a great conversation to get to know how and why he writes.

Kyle's Instagram:   / read_by_kyle  

Buy Ken's books:
The Grace of Kings (Dandelion Dynasty 1): https://www.amazon.com/Grace-Kings-Da...
The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories: https://www.amazon.com/Paper-Menageri...
The Hidden Girl and Other Stories: https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Girl-Ot...

Chapters:
00:00 - Spoiler warning
00:14 - Welcome and introductions
01:57 - How do you approach writing short stories vs long fiction?
07:15 - Themes in Liu’s work
08:22 - How Dandelion Dynasty began
22:21 - Connections to the Shu Han Dynasty
23:30 - What’s your process on fitting together different narratives?*
29:40 - Which character is the hardest to write?
30:24 - Let’s talk about Jia*
32:56 - Is Dandelion Dynasty grimdark?/ a discussion on “labels”
41:49 - The theme of parenthood*
50:16 - Technology, Engineering and the Dandelion Dynasty
57:52 - Cooking shows
1:00:00 - Liu’s translations
1:02:53 - I say a sort of spoiler here*
1:03:00 - Ending

Socials:
Instagram:   / bookborn.reviews  
Amazon wishlist: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls...