WARNING! INEVITABLE SPOILERS BELOW!

Traversing by canoe through the Thin River Bends, all the way from the Wild Isle, we arrive back at indie author Leslee Sheu’s Kumagagi fantasy saga Part 3: Wife. As the title suggests, this section of the series brings the focus back onto Asta, Najat, and Jayan Gampoban in Shakti Lake City—with a richness and romantic tension as yet unseen in Kumasagi. Without a doubt, and for a number of reasons, Wife is the strongest instalment of saga thus far, by far.

In Wild Isle fashion, let us begin by praising Sheu’s improvement in regard to the stylistic quality of the prose, because from Kandargiri to Wife there is a very noticeable jump. That is not to say that the prior novels were poorly written; they weren’t. However, both Destin and Kandargiri were mostly discursion heavy. Similes, metaphors, allusions, and the like were used very sparsely, leaving a dryness to the vivid yet lengthy descriptions fleshing out the vast, life-like setting. Wife brings some welcome moisture to the meal. Long descriptions of landscapes, city streets, home interiors, and architecture (not to mention celestial skyfish) are made to read more engagingly by clever wordplay and comparisons. One example in particular still shines in mind: the ruby-red lake trembling during an earthquake being compared to a giant’s sloshing goblet of wine. This is a huge improvement, and though the figurative language lightens after the first third of the book, it bodes very well for all future sequels.

From prose, we shift gears to plot. Again, Wife is only an improvement on the prior novels. The classic love-triangle plot-type which features most heavily in Destin and even more so in Wife is classic for a reason—it establishes tension because no matter which way the conflict resolves, somebody is at risk of losing something at stake. Sheu captures this effect maximally by centering the narrative on Asta. Her secret feelings for Najat and her back-and-forth attempts at loving Jayan keep the reader engaged and interested in the other elements of the world so painstakingly developed. Furthermore, the readers are already invested in this part of the plot. It may even be advisable for some to skip Part 2 entirely (though there are set-ups in the second novel which are required reading to fully enjoy the pay-offs in Part 3).

Arguably more than the romantic, love-triangle plot-type, the central characters of Wife allow readers to really get invested in the story. The entire cast is much more fleshed out that before, most especially Asta and—very thankfully—Jayan. Special praise should go to Sheu’s characterization of Asta. In Wife, the lady Gampoban-Saati is a very three-dimensional character and shows dynamisms as well. Asta transforms from an unconfident introvert to an uncertain lover learning the world on (what is akin to) a honeymoon, to a self-directed individual struggling with complicated internal conflicts balancing what she wants in her life versus what others expect from her. She is likeable at times and realistically flawed at others (many men in long-term relationships will recognize Asta’s frustrating lack of communicating her wants and needs and then being angry or resentful for it later). It’s great, deeply human writing.

I wish I could say the same for Jayan. That is not to suggest his characterization is poor. It isn’t, not by a longshot. In fact, Jayan is also rounder than he’s ever been. Over the course of many scenes, he becomes a likeable if not also typically self-focused husband. However, there are a few moments in which Jayan is made to play the heel which detract from the drama because they make the characters’ morality more black and white. Jayan is shown to lie and manipulate unnecessarily when he has more genuine motives and means to hide from his fears and aversions. The highlight of this—spoiler ahead—comes at the end of the book when he chooses to threaten his former student Charu’s chances at becoming a boat crafter in order to secure said student as a supervisor for Asta during their trip to Sindhupat Island. Furthermore, he makes sure to take his own canoe, Swallowtail, along with the tandem boat Charu and Asta will be paddling in. The last scene even ends with him paddling far out ahead of his wife and former student. Frankly, this felt a bit forced, as though the plot needed Jayan to be cast as a villain, and because of the unnaturalness of this downward character development, I lost a bit of willingness to surrender narrative authority to Sheu.

The above criticism standing, I still very much enjoyed Kumasagi Part 3: Wife. It is the best in the series thus far, beating out the others in quality of prose, pacing of summary versus scene, the intrigue of the plot, and of characterization in general. I was gripped by the story throughout, and even side characters which I wasn’t interested in before I found to be likeable. I can say with sincerity that I am very much looking forward to discovering the mystic surprises and dangers of Part 4: Sindhupat.

If you’re new to the Kumasagi saga, click the link on the image above and get the whole series for yourself so that you’re ready to take a deep dive into Part: 4.