Unbound by John Shors

Unbound by John Shors – 443 pages

ARC from the author

Book Blurb:

The year is 1548, and the Chinese Empire faces an imminent Mongol invasion. All that prevents the violent end of a dynasty is the Great Wall. Yet even this famed fortification has weaknesses, and against his will, a talented Chinese craftsman is taken from his home and wife, so that he may labor alongside the wall’s defenders. Fan has been missing for a year when his wife, Meng, decides to do the impossible—to leave everyone and everything she knows in a daunting effort to find him. At a time when many women fear even stepping outside their homes, Meng disguises herself as a man and begins a perilous journey of deliverance. As two armies gather at the Great Wall, the fates of Fan and Meng collide with a Mongol horseman seeking redemption, a Chinese concubine fighting injustice, and a ruthless general determined to destroy them all.

My Review: 4.5 stars

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Unbound is my fourth John Shors novel and once again I was blown away with a story that offered history and romance. My favorite of his, Beneath A Marble Sky, will always remain one of my very favorite books and I encourage you to check that one out after you’ve read this one.

Whenever I’m able to both enjoy the story and learn something at the same time, I feel completely satisfied with the book. Of course I knew about The Great Wall of China, but I didn’t know why it was built and what it was keeping in or out. Before digging in I was worried this book would be a history lesson. However, I should’ve known better; Shors is a master storyteller while simultaneously bringing history to life. I’ve seen photos of people on the Great Wall and could never understand how travelers were walking on it. Since the majority of the book takes place at the Great Wall, readers will be able to grasp its massiveness and construction through a wider lens.

Throughout the novel there is a large focus on the many types of valuable relationships one can have, which will ultimately help us grow richer as human beings. The obvious one is love as the book blurb explains, but there are so many more that enable these characters to not only survive, but to thrive as well. Within the many subplots, themes of love, respect, honor, commitment and perseverance are abundant.

Quotes I liked:

I see your pain. You hide it well but hiding suffering from your mother is like trying to hide the sun from the sky.”

-How lucky I am that in the wall of my life my stone was placed next to yours. I’ll be beside you forever.”

-“Meng was just a lone woman. She had been born with a voice but told by society not to use it, born with eyes but told not to see. Yet her feet and resolve were unbound. And she would travel onward, coming to better know the world that she was a part of, the steps she needed to take to consider herself free.”