Author: Ai Jiang
Publisher: Titan Books
Price: $22.99 USD (Paperback) 
Date Available: April 28th, 2026 

A River From the Sky, the second installment of Ai Jiang’s Natural Engines duology released last month. The first book, A Palace Near the Wind, follows the princess Liu Lufeng as she is brided to a human king to prevent her people, the Feng, from having their homeland conquered by humans. 

In the wake of the events of the first book, Lufeng has been transformed, and flees the castle in an attempt to prevent the war that may end her culture and humanity. Fleeing from the Palace and crashing into the waters below its steep walls, Lufeng and her siblings reach Gear, a massive island of waterwheels, where their sister Sangshu waits for them. En route, Lufeng’s siblings are taken by the revels, where they learn of the havoc that the alchemist Zinc has inflicted upon the populace. The story switches perspectives between Lufeng and Sangshu as their paths converge and diverge, and the fate of the world lies in their hands. 

Worldbuilding 

This remains the biggest strength of the Natural Engines duology. The various types of alchemical and natural abilities that the characters have are very interesting to explore, ranging from the Suncores that the protagonist enters the story with, risking wounding others with their heat and slowly burning themselves up from the inside, to the free and unfettered Windwalkers. The geography of the story was also fun to see, with many pseudo-steam punk locations like Gear, a massive island of water wheels, and Engine, a massive metal machine inhabited by humans that are referred to as cogs.

The book is kind enough to provide a glossary toward the beginning, to help the reader understand all the elements of the worldbuilding. It is worth noting that the story has a lot of worldbuilding to keep track of compared to its small size.

Plot

The plot of the story feels well-paced, with the main concerns about the story being of course stopping both the rebels from going overboard in their rebellion, and preventing the alchemist Zinc from succeeding in his schemes. Both of these are enough to sustain the story, and they especially get interesting toward the end of the book as they start to collide. 

Some of the middle sections of the story feel quite plodding, with characters simply journeying and melancholically reflecting on the past. That may appeal to some readers, but it made an otherwise short novel feel slow. Contrasting that, the ending of this book was exciting and fitting for the duology, resolving a lot of core questions with regard to cyclic apocalypse and the collisions of various characters’ schemes.

Characters

Given that Lufeng was the only voice in the original book, I was much more interested in her perspective than Sangshu. Afflicted with a set of abilities and conditions so alien to her heritage, and seeing the other victims of Zinc’s experiments, it was interesting to watch her try to handle the guilt that she felt for the other members of the palace and grappling with her own part that she played in it. She is also faced with the dilemma that her world and people find themselves in, how to bring peace and escape the cyclic apocalypses that faced her world. And on top of those concerns, she still had her siblings to worry about. 

I was less interested in Sangshu’s perspective. It didn’t feel distinct enough from the Lufeng we knew from the original book. As I read the story, I had trouble discerning the two narrating characters, Lufeng and Sangshu, as they both speak with similar tones of voice. 

Final Score (3/5)

A Palace Near the Wind is a fitting, but not particularly remarkable conclusion to the Natural Engines duology. While the protagonists lack the charm and intimacy that they had in the first book, the story largely makes up for it with evocative worldbuilding and a plot that sharply accelerates toward the end of the story. 

What did you think of this story? Was it a fitting conclusion to the Natural Engines duology? Did it leave you wanting for more? Let us know in the comments or on the Boss Rush Discord.

Featured Image Credit: Titan Books