Synopsis:
Once in a faraway kingdom there was a man prophesied to be the chosen one, who would defeat a great villain, the Eternal Khan, and save the kingdom.
But then the Eternal Khan died . . . and the prophecy was broken.
For Jian, the fated hero, this could have been a moment to succumb to despair. But instead, he chose to create his own destiny. He studied under Taishi, his curmudgeonly but beloved mentor, to become a great warrior.
With war on the horizon—and rumors of the Khan’s return brewing—a band of unlikely allies are also on their own missions. There’s Sali, a gruff warrior who is also forging a path different from the one her culture created for her, and Qisami, an assassin whose cold heart might actually be made of gold. And Taishi has gathered a band of other elderly grandmasters to help Jian live up to his destiny.
Because some heroes aren’t simply born legends—they choose to become legendary. And great heroes do not stand alone but are stronger together.
Review:
The Art of Legend is the finale of Wesley Chu’s War Arts Trilogy and he brings all the pieces together for an unforgettable finish to his epic series. Chu makes some bold choices that sometimes work, but sometimes feel off in the finale to his epic fantasy trilogy.
When Chu released The Art of Prophecy three years ago, the concept was tantalizing — what happens when the prophecy about your entire life turns out to be wrong? Wen Jian had essentially been raised to be the master war artist that would one day take on and defeat the Eternal Khan. But Jian is a petulant brat and the Khan finds himself dead at the hands of a nobody. Chu’s first book smartly took on the “screwed up prophecy” with Master Ling Taishi taking Jian under her wing, seeing something in him that no one else sees.
Now, I loved the first two books in Chu’s War Arts series, but looking back I was expecting a bigger payoff than what we got in the finale of his series. For the most part, The Art of Legend is well-written, but…it just lacked that oomph…that something special you look for in the epic finale to a fantasy series. I enjoyed a lot of it, but in the end, while I wanted to find one of my top books of 2025, I just couldn’t put it up there.
By the time we start this installment, Jian and Taishi have a healthy group of friends helping them out, but as always the story alternates and weaves between Jian, Taishi, the Viperstrike Saliminde, and the assassin Qisami. In many ways the series really benefited from seeing all the sides of the conflict and putting a human face on our heroes, villains, and anti-heroes throughout. But, it really lends a messiness to the whole ordeal. I think Chu made some choices throughout the series and this book that just didn’t quite work like maybe he wanted. By turning the prophecy on its head in the first book, he set up the books to subvert the main plot point throughout. Even at the end of the trilogy, we get a great fight scene…until he just takes a hard left. At times subverting the expectations really works, but other times it feels weird and hollow. I appreciate authors making bold swings and choices, but they didn’t always work for me.
In some ways, it feels like this series should be four books instead of three and we have to move the chess pieces about a little earlier than intended at times and certain plot points don’t work quite as well. But, I applaud Chu for his series and I think I’d like to re-read it down the road with fresh eyes and with more of the knowledge about the ending.
I do think Chu does some great work subverting the genre and putting his characters in interesting scenarios throughout the series. If you’ve read the first two books in the War Arts series, I recommend The Art of Legend.
Thank you to Del Rey for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
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