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annaptobias's review
4.0
Really impressed by the Chinese mythology and folklore as well as the breathtaking action and fight scenes. Journey stories are usually hard to pull off well, but Silver Phoenix kept me captivated page after page, chapter after chapter.
readermeetsbook's review
4.0
I loved the main character and the setting of ancient China. The book resonates with me since my parents are from China and I like reading books about my parents' homeland. Cindy Pon's adventurous novel is definitely embedded with lots of interesting glimpses of ancient Chinese life and reminds me of the old Chinese movies that I used to watch with my parents. Looking forward to reading more of Cindy Pon's novels in the future.
kiperoo's review
4.0
While I'm not a huge fantasy fan, I am a huge fan of Asian adventure books (like the samurai Musashi) and Asian fantasy movies like Crouching Tiger etc. Silver Phoenix was along both of those lines for me and was a fast-paced story that was hard to put down. My absolute favorite part was the way Pon used sensory details to pull us into the story, especially with all the delicious-sounding food. I love the idea of an adventurous travel quest, and this did not disappoint. The parts that worked less for me were the real high-fantasy scenes, where completely off-the-wall action unfolded in front of me, but I'm sure that's because I'm not a big fantasy fan in general. Maybe the best part of all was the romance cliffhanger which had me thirsting for the sequel, Fury of the Phoenix, as soon as I finished.
ljstrain28's review
2.0
I actually skipped a lot of the middle section because I lost interest. I think the book was just too "young" for me. I think someone else could very easily like this book, so don't let my rating deter you.
emiliebookworld's review
Silver Phoenix was very much unlike everything else I tend to read. But as it turns out, that was a very good thing and I greatly enjoyed reading the book. As I’ve said previously, traditional fantasy doesn’t really tend to be my cup of tea, but every once in a while it’s always fun to branch out and read something different.
Ai Ling has always thought she was perfectly normal, that is until she starts being able to see into people’s minds and also connect with their spirits. When her father disappears during what is supposed to be a trip for work, Ai Ling decides that she needs to travel to the Palace in order to find him and bring him home. During her travels, Ai Ling meets Chen Yong, who is on a quest of his own trying to find out more about his past. Both feel a connection and together they join forces to defeat what is thrown at them during their journey. They will face demons who want nothing more but to kill them and lands more dangerous than the last. But will they be able to survive through it all?
Silver Phoenix is a journey in every sense of the word. The story revolves around Ai Ling’s journey from her village to the kingdom’s Palace in order to find and save her father. But that is only one of the journeys in the book. The story is also all about Ai Ling and Chen Yong’s journeys as individuals. During the course of the story, Ai Ling goes from being a girl scared of what’s out in the real world to a strong young woman who is not afraid to stand up and fight for what she believes in. Similarly, Chen Yong goes from being someone who doesn’t trust anyone to someone who opens himself up to others. These are the kinds of characters that I love reading about, characters that evolve and almost start to feel real.
The story was superbly written. I’m not particularly in to traditional fantasy but the way the book is written, I didn’t even realize that’s what I was reading. I was completely drawn in and was captivated the whole way through. The world in which the story takes place was incredibly well built. Even though I knew it was a fictional world, there were times when it felt completely real and I could easily picture the whole thing. Everything about this story was incredibly well written and everything felt completely real.
Silver Phoenix was an incredible story that was superbly written. It took me on a journey to a different time and place and I enjoyed every minute of it.
Ai Ling has always thought she was perfectly normal, that is until she starts being able to see into people’s minds and also connect with their spirits. When her father disappears during what is supposed to be a trip for work, Ai Ling decides that she needs to travel to the Palace in order to find him and bring him home. During her travels, Ai Ling meets Chen Yong, who is on a quest of his own trying to find out more about his past. Both feel a connection and together they join forces to defeat what is thrown at them during their journey. They will face demons who want nothing more but to kill them and lands more dangerous than the last. But will they be able to survive through it all?
Silver Phoenix is a journey in every sense of the word. The story revolves around Ai Ling’s journey from her village to the kingdom’s Palace in order to find and save her father. But that is only one of the journeys in the book. The story is also all about Ai Ling and Chen Yong’s journeys as individuals. During the course of the story, Ai Ling goes from being a girl scared of what’s out in the real world to a strong young woman who is not afraid to stand up and fight for what she believes in. Similarly, Chen Yong goes from being someone who doesn’t trust anyone to someone who opens himself up to others. These are the kinds of characters that I love reading about, characters that evolve and almost start to feel real.
The story was superbly written. I’m not particularly in to traditional fantasy but the way the book is written, I didn’t even realize that’s what I was reading. I was completely drawn in and was captivated the whole way through. The world in which the story takes place was incredibly well built. Even though I knew it was a fictional world, there were times when it felt completely real and I could easily picture the whole thing. Everything about this story was incredibly well written and everything felt completely real.
Silver Phoenix was an incredible story that was superbly written. It took me on a journey to a different time and place and I enjoyed every minute of it.
scribesprite's review
3.0
This book was difficult for me to rate. I had such high hopes for this book so I'm glad that the journey with Ai Ling was good, but there were a few things that bothered me.
Ai Ling has always tried to do what was right even if she didn't always like it. So she surprises herself as she embarks on a journey to run away from a betrothal and search for her father who hasn’t returned in months. Not long after, Ai Ling meets Chen Yong. He is the love interest as the blurb suggests but don't expect any professing of love; thought that was good and refreshing. On a side note why do all of the chacaters have to say Ai Ling is pretty? At one point or another they pretty much all do, though I guess she doesn't dwell too much on her beauty.
The journey itself was all I could want: magic and fighting, all that good stuff. They travel by numerous means and find interesting beings. But I just can't shake the parts that bothered me. This book had a few moments that I might go as far as to say are disturbing. In content about sex, it didn't go that far but one part in particular made me cringe. It bothers me. I'm not permanently scarred for life, but I still don't like it. I should say that it's not put in a particularly good light and I know why it was put in but did I really have to know the details?
I know there is a sequel in the works and I might read it. I'm kind of on the fence.
Ai Ling has always tried to do what was right even if she didn't always like it. So she surprises herself as she embarks on a journey to run away from a betrothal and search for her father who hasn’t returned in months. Not long after, Ai Ling meets Chen Yong. He is the love interest as the blurb suggests but don't expect any professing of love; thought that was good and refreshing. On a side note why do all of the chacaters have to say Ai Ling is pretty? At one point or another they pretty much all do, though I guess she doesn't dwell too much on her beauty.
The journey itself was all I could want: magic and fighting, all that good stuff. They travel by numerous means and find interesting beings. But I just can't shake the parts that bothered me. This book had a few moments that I might go as far as to say are disturbing. In content about sex, it didn't go that far but one part in particular made me cringe. It bothers me. I'm not permanently scarred for life, but I still don't like it. I should say that it's not put in a particularly good light and I know why it was put in but did I really have to know the details?
I know there is a sequel in the works and I might read it. I'm kind of on the fence.
clevergirl_moneke's review
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
kblincoln's review
3.0
All readers come to a book with a mixed set of baggage. And I think my own personal baggage probably colored my reading of this book in some ways.
I am an avid devourer of fantasy set in Asian locales. Having followed the author, Cindy Pon's, posts on the Vera Kay agent boards, I wanted to fall in love with Silver Phoenix.
And while I did enjoy the descriptions of food, the Chinese monsters and the "idea" of the heroine, Ai Ling, in the end I couldn't get into the characters very much.
I guess I'm searching for non-western fantasy that takes the exotic locale/mythology and puts characters in that setting that feel real and with whom you become truly invested in. Maybe a de-exoticising, if you will. (and Kristin Cashore achieves that with Graceling, as well as Shannon Hale in Book of a Thousand Days, where the main characters feel and speak like real teenagers and we are emotionally bound to them not because of what they do, but who they are)
Instead of de-exoticising Chinese mythology, I felt that Ai Ling moved through her world showing us a catalog of cool, weird things. "Look! a three-breasted life sucker" and "oh, now there's a zombie monster made of dead corpses". Without an emotional tie to Ai Ling and her reactions to these monsters imprinting on her personality and sense of self, I felt distanced from the world.
The half-foreigner Chen Yong and the heroine Ai Ling could be so very wonderful, but I felt the book spent too much time telling us their actions (and describing the scenery they were moving through) and not enough about their inner thoughts. I had no sense of who Ai Ling was before this book starts, what gave her the courage and personality to leave home in a society where women are kept sequestered and the bravery to fight monsters and an attempted rape.
There were some hints of emotional complexity in Ai Ling's story, but I felt they weren't utilized to the fullest. When she makes a bad decision and uses her blessed knife in a selfish way that could horrify Chen Yong, there is no actual fallout from the action despite the knife turning black. She doesn't have to deal with Chen Yong's horror or with a consequence of needing the knife and having it fail her later on.
When she fends off the rape, which is the climactic scene against the big bad, I felt it touched on a mine of emotional turmoil in having Ai Ling feel pity for the bad guy, but again, this wasn't really developed enough for me.
So while I felt the book had alot of stuff going for it, my own agenda in reading non-western fantasy wasn't fulfilled.
Food Designation Rating: Inari Sushi (sweetened rice in fried tofu pockets) because from the outside it looks delicious and mysterious, and the first one is an interesting texture and taste, but when you bite into the second one, you realize the flavor just isn't that complex.
I am an avid devourer of fantasy set in Asian locales. Having followed the author, Cindy Pon's, posts on the Vera Kay agent boards, I wanted to fall in love with Silver Phoenix.
And while I did enjoy the descriptions of food, the Chinese monsters and the "idea" of the heroine, Ai Ling, in the end I couldn't get into the characters very much.
I guess I'm searching for non-western fantasy that takes the exotic locale/mythology and puts characters in that setting that feel real and with whom you become truly invested in. Maybe a de-exoticising, if you will. (and Kristin Cashore achieves that with Graceling, as well as Shannon Hale in Book of a Thousand Days, where the main characters feel and speak like real teenagers and we are emotionally bound to them not because of what they do, but who they are)
Instead of de-exoticising Chinese mythology, I felt that Ai Ling moved through her world showing us a catalog of cool, weird things. "Look! a three-breasted life sucker" and "oh, now there's a zombie monster made of dead corpses". Without an emotional tie to Ai Ling and her reactions to these monsters imprinting on her personality and sense of self, I felt distanced from the world.
The half-foreigner Chen Yong and the heroine Ai Ling could be so very wonderful, but I felt the book spent too much time telling us their actions (and describing the scenery they were moving through) and not enough about their inner thoughts. I had no sense of who Ai Ling was before this book starts, what gave her the courage and personality to leave home in a society where women are kept sequestered and the bravery to fight monsters and an attempted rape.
There were some hints of emotional complexity in Ai Ling's story, but I felt they weren't utilized to the fullest. When she makes a bad decision and uses her blessed knife in a selfish way that could horrify Chen Yong, there is no actual fallout from the action despite the knife turning black. She doesn't have to deal with Chen Yong's horror or with a consequence of needing the knife and having it fail her later on.
When she fends off the rape, which is the climactic scene against the big bad, I felt it touched on a mine of emotional turmoil in having Ai Ling feel pity for the bad guy, but again, this wasn't really developed enough for me.
So while I felt the book had alot of stuff going for it, my own agenda in reading non-western fantasy wasn't fulfilled.
Food Designation Rating: Inari Sushi (sweetened rice in fried tofu pockets) because from the outside it looks delicious and mysterious, and the first one is an interesting texture and taste, but when you bite into the second one, you realize the flavor just isn't that complex.