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I love when an author writes so well that you can be easily transported to the place where the story takes place. I really like that about Chloe Gong's writing. With her young adult books I loved the highly detailed setting of Shanghai in the 20s/30s. In immortal longings I found an equally detailed setting. I could imagine the place without any problem, I could feel myself walking the crowded streets of San-Er with the characters. releasing more than one novel per year by the age of 24 sure sounds impressive, but when you actually take a look at what she's been writing, impressive isn't a word you'd use to describe it. as someone who's read all of chloe's books released so far (and actually enjoyed her debut), this book was so numbingly boring and juvenile that i had to fight to finish it.
this cesspool of obscenities in the guise of a city, this living, breathing, heaving half of San-Er."Now let’s consider that the individuals involved in the act are both in bodies that do not belong to them, one who actually stole the body from a CHILD. I can suspend belief, and I can understand that this is how their society works, but the optics of it are so off-putting. Especially when you start to think real hard about the power dynamics of being someone who can jump vs. someone who can’t—when you are a part of the latter group, your body is wholly yours, the “vessel” you have full ownership over. It feels like a violation then, to be invaded and forced to yield to the whims of someone who can force their power over you. Gripping, bewildering, irresistible, Chloe Gong's Immortal Longings is a tour de force of Asian Futurism, a provocative examination of self and destiny that melds the ruthless sensuality of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with the visceral urgency of The Hunger Games. This book left me breathless!" There are several queer relationships within the novel. Describe them, and how sexuality and gender might be complicated by the ability to jump bodies. How are the characters’ identities tied to their qi? Former princess Calla Toulemi is hoping to enter this year’s competition, but not for the money. She’s been in hiding since she killed her parents five years ago, and her hunger for revenge against the city’s royalty is a blaze she can’t put out.
August knows exactly what he’s doing. Offer that brief distraction, and when Galipei’s attention is turned elsewhere, he decides on his next move. OH MY GOD I CANNOT PUT INTO WORDS HOW MUCH I LOVED THIS BOOK! this is one of my most anticipated reads of this year and it did NOT disappoint. chloe gong’s writing is so raw and full of talent as she captures you from the starting word all the way through to the last. The book opens before the games, when August discovers that Calla is alive. Do you think he suspected she was alive all along? How do you think Calla was able to stay hidden from the palace for all those years? This was the best book I’ve read this year. No question about it. not including some rereads, but still, this has made its way up on my all-time favourite books list. Even before I started it, I had no doubt that I would love it. It’s written by Chloe Gong. I’ve loved These Violent Delights. No way in hell I wouldn’t love this too, and I was right. speaking of the body jumping, it is possibly the worst thing about this book. at least the parts i read. our citizens of san er have the power to jump between bodies. how that works is that you are either born with the gene to jump or not. i should specify that it is a pretty common gene since it seems that everyone in this world can body jump. the issue this arises is that at any given moment, a character is occupying another’s body and there are no consequences. body jumping is so common you are just expected to accept it. numerous times we see a victim return to their bodies, dazed and confused, and automatically moving on. there is no exploration of the morality and ethical questions this poses.io9: What made you want to shift from YA to adult fantasy? Were there certain challenges that came with the genre shift? What do you think is the mission of the Temple Society? What kind of threat do they pose, and to whom? The games are described as “a thrill that anyone can participate in, a solution to a kingdom simmering with complaints.” How does this frame the relationship between the royal palace and the residents of San-Er? How do the people of San-Er seem to view the games? The monarchy? The games make jumping legal for the players, after all–they must answer for it by providing some sort of care. Collateral casualties who are gravely injured must be taken to the hospital free of cost; collateral casualties whose bodies are destroyed must be paid handsomely, and if their qi is killed alongside it, then their family members get money.”
Princess Calla Tuoleimi lurks in hiding. Five years ago, a massacre left her parents dead and the palace of Er empty . . . and she was the one who did it. Before King Kasa, her uncle, and his forces in San can catch her, she plans to finish the job and bring down the monarchy. Her reclusive uncle always greets the victor of the games, so if she wins, she gets her opportunity at last to kill him. Enter Anton Makusa, an exiled aristocrat. His childhood love has lain in a coma since they were both ousted from the palace, and he’s deep in debt trying to keep her alive. Thankfully, he’s one of the best jumpers in the kingdom, flitting from body to body at will. His last chance at saving her is entering the games and winning. As always, Gong’s writing is incredibly evocative. Her worldbuilding is incredibly vivid and rich. San-Er springs to life around you, until you can practically see the smoke and smell the scent of blood in the air. The balance of narrative perspectives is excellent, bringing together a variety of intriguing characters and giving us new insights into both past and present. As with Calla, Anton is given so much depth and complexity in his character. His perspective is one that I adored, filled with devious manipulation and desires. He almost callously ‘jumps’ from body to body with very little regard for those he has invaded. Gong says she’s more interested in playing with the themes of Shakespeare’s work than directly adapting it. She enjoys extracting the themes central to his storytelling, reworking them into entirely new contexts and seeing what shakes out.While Gong’s first book “These Violent Delights” is a retelling of “Romeo and Juliet” in 1920s Shanghai, Anton and Calla’s story draws its inspiration from Shakespeare’s tragedy “Antony and Cleopatra .”
New York Times bestselling author Chloe Gong’s adult epic fantasy debut, inspired by Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, is a fiery collision of power plays, spilled blood, and romance amidst a set of deadly games. The narrative point of view shifts between various characters in the novel, but certain ones are more central to the story than others. Whom would you consider the novel’s main character? Why? the plot wasn’t gripping enough either— if you’re gonna do a Hunger Games style plot but make it monarchical rather than set in a republic... make it different, somehow. subvert it, make some intriguing critical commentary. do something different! the story’s intent was very similar to the Hunger Games: the people living in squaller, the games their only hope, the royal family using the games as a source of entertainment. when something as epic as the Hunger Games has been done before, i think you should just leave that type of plot alone. it didn’t have the complexity i think Gong wanted here because there was just so much going on with so many different characters. trying to keep up was truly exhausting. everything was too surface level to be interesting.your father, my apologies, is vexed enough with the whole palace these days. If you go pissing him off, he’ll disown you in an instant.” the games in immortal longings, apart from it’s creation having no nuance at all, is stupid. our arena is (get this) SAN ER! there must be rules right? to distinguish between the candidates and civilians? well…. no. in fact, it’s even worse when you consider that the candidates can jump in the bodies of anyone, including innocent bystanders. the only way for the games to end is to kill the 87 other players, and you never know who’s who because there are no rules and regulations. That’s something Gong says was intentional. While building Sa-Er, she drew from the real-life Kowloon Walled City in British-held Hong Kong. It was once known as the most crowded place on Earth.
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