This study guide was created using the following version of this book: Liu, Marjorie. The Tangleroot Palace. Tachyon. 2021.

The Tangleroot Palace is a collection of six short stories and one novella. In "Sympathy for the Bones," a young woman named Clora learns the ways of hoodoo from Ruth. Though they use hoodoo to take care of bad men in the town, Clora does not want to be attached to Ruth. Clora begins to use her hoodoo skills to kill Ruth and free her soul from Ruth.

"The Briar and the Rose" is a sapphic retelling of Sleeping Beauty. Carmela, a witch, has possessed Rose’s body because she craves beauty over power. Carmela uses Rose’s body to seduce powerful men as a courtesan. The Duelist is the bodyguard who falls in love with Rose and tries to help Rose regain her freedom. Together, they defeat the witch and rid Rose’s body of the possession so that they can live together in peace.

"The Light and the Fury" tells the story of Xīng MacNamara, a warrior looking to exact revenge on her former friend and lover Maude. The story is set in an alternate reality in which the Pacific Coast was settled by the Chinese before Columbus arrived in the Americas.

"The Last Dignity of Man" is a story about Alexander, a biotech entrepreneur with a Superman fetish and a penchant for presenting himself as Lex Luthor. Alexander’s company has engineered worms that consume biowaste. The government conducts an experiment on the worms and discovers that the worms have an insatiable appetite and continue to eat, cannibalizing themselves as the biowaste runs out. Alexander comes to understand his role in the experiment and the weight of being responsible for it.

"Where the Heart Lives" is the story of Lucy, a young girl who goes to help Miss Lindsay tend her house, farm, and local cemetery. Lucy falls in love with Barnabus, a mute man who was raised in a forest. Miss Lindsay confides in Lucy the secrets of the forest when Lucy is able to see a ghostly woman in the forest. The ghostly woman is the bride of Miss Lindsay’s brother Henry, who was abducted by the witch of the forest who was rejected by Henry.

"After the Blood" is a story set in a post-pandemic world where the cities have fallen and the majority of the population has succumbed to a deadly virus. In this new world, the Amish have gained power because of their skills of the old ways of farming and living. A fallout from the virus appears to a be a mutation that turns people into vampires.

"Tangleroot Palace" is a story about Sally, a princess who runs away after learning she is about to be sold in marriage to the Warlord. Sally goes to the Tangleroot Forest to gain insight on what she should do. On her way, Sally encounters Mickel and a troupe of actors. Sally and Mickel fall in love. When Sally goes into the Tangleroot forest, Sally must confront an evil queen who is trapped. The queen threatens to kill Mickel if Sally does not free the queen.