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Reviewed by Asher Syed for Readers' Favorite
Jasmine Kah Yan Loo’s Reigning Abyss follows Yan Ling, a former princess of the Yan Empire who has spent five years hidden in the mountains after escaping execution for bonding with Mo, a phoenix Emberkin. Ling now runs a sanctuary with Ye Han, another outlawed Weaver, where Dissonants can live openly despite imperial laws condemning people whose Emberkin take mythic forms. The residents learn Smokecraft, an art that draws power from the Smokeveil, as Ling tries to keep their mountain refuge hidden from the Empire. That changes when General Fang Jin Yang, Ling’s first love from her palace years, is sent to investigate sightings of mythic Emberkin. Jin’s search brings him to the life Ling built after leaving the palace, where discovery could expose everyone she has spent years protecting.
Jasmine Kah Yan Loo’s Reigning Abyss is an incredible fantasy, with a world whose sheer scale comes through in every way. Han is a wonderful character, showing patience with the sanctuary’s younger residents, such as quietly coaching Fen through a supply trip when the crowded town makes her nervous. That same imagination gives Smokecraft a life far beyond the Empire’s formal teaching, which Loo demonstrates naturally through Han’s development of Liltweaving, where his flute music calls demon-beasts from the mountain mist. The descriptions of the landscapes have a genuine sense of place, whether it's a river village surrounded by autumn woods or the Yan Capital glowing beneath mid-autumn lanterns. The narrative has a tremendous sense of scale at every turn. Readers drawn to found families caught inside imperial schemes should absolutely pick up Reigning Abyss. Very highly recommended.
