Chronicles of the Threlphax: Of Princes and Patriots by Laura Lee Dooley follows Chanchai, a sick orphan in nineteenth-century Siam who survives a falling star that leaves a tendrilled presence inside his body. Bangkok changes his path when Prisana’s orphan group teaches him how street children survive, while a Chinese fruit seller gives him shelter that leads to palace notice. 

King Chulalongkorn sends Chanchai to England so his education can serve Siam. As Chanchai returns under a royal name, he tries to keep faith with the country that claimed him, while suppressed memories of the night in the sugarcane field keep breaking through. Across Siam’s transformation into Thailand, his long life is linked to service as the being inside him draws closer to the surface.

Laura Lee Dooley’s Of Princes and Patriots is superb historical science fiction, especially once Chanchai goes into the Phuket restaurant years after Korea has altered his sense of self. Banyan Tree Bistro has an inviting rhythm through the computer café beside the beach, where ordinary work shows how much history still lives in Chanchai’s body. 

The pacing has elegance in the 2004 tsunami section, moving from a warning toward Chanchai’s rescue of Kartika through scenes that stay close to what his body can bear. The supernatural writing is at its finest when the threlphax presence answers danger before Chanchai understands the message inside his healing. Dooley makes this book a rewarding choice for readers who want Thai history merged with speculative mystery. 

~  Asher Syed for Readers’ Favorite