Reviews with content warning for Gore - Phoenix Extravagant

The central theme of this book was colonisation, being an allusion, I believe, to Japan’s colonisation of Korea, and also Western colonisation. Lee specifically focusses on how colonisation leads to the destruction of indigenous art and therefore culture, empowering the colonisers and disempowering the colonised. In this book this is shown in a literal, direct way that really draws attention to the concept.

Lee also explores how different people navigate being colonised depending on personal circumstance and values. It was especially striking reading about Arazi, the dragon automaton, trying to reconcile their morals with real-life situations. Jebi, the MC, also undergoes character development in relation to this theme, beginning the book not really seeing the issue with Razanei occupation, and adding to and changing this opinion as the story progresses. (In terms of craft, I think this development could have flowed better.) And these are just two perspectives on the topic of a wide range that are presented by Lee.

Jebi was a great MC. They were funny and sort of played into the “reluctant hero” trope which is one that I enjoy. Their insights into art were so thoughtful and informative, too. Their relationship with their sister Bongsunga was so complex; I really appreciated the nuance there. With regards to their romance with Vei, I still don’t know how I feel given some background information. However, I totally got their romantic and sexual chemistry (although more work could have gone into the emotional side of things).

The plot was engaging with fairly good pacing, and I appreciated that it wasn’t trying to cover the entire revolution but only a part of it. It was grounded in some interesting world-building, with the interplay of fantasy and sci-fi elements emerging especially in how art and engineering combined to give shape to the automata. This particular concept was harrowing, and truly tied into the motif of the power of art, a motif which I loved. I generally loved the detail given regarding the art and artistic practice of Jebi’s world.

I will end on a quote I found quite thought-provoking:

“’If standing on principle means that you lose the people those principles are meant to protect,’ it said, ‘what’s the point?’”

Rep: Korean nonbinary MC, Japanese/Korean queer LI, Korean sapphic SC, Japanese SC who is a cane user, polyamorous throuple side relationship (nonbinary Korean SC, queer Korean SC, queer Japanese SC who is a crutch user), queer nonbinary SC, Korean and Japanese minor characters of different abilities and orientations

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laurareads87's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Thoroughly enjoyed this. The world-building -- political dynamics, magical pigments & painting, automatons given personality characteristics and capacities with magical masks -- was impeccable, and the plot exciting without feeling hurried. I adore the representation in this story: a non-binary protagonist and an array of relationships depicted. The ending felt slightly rushed, and I do wish there were going to be more stories in this world. This is not complex in the ways that Lee's <i>Machineries of Empire</i> books are, but it's a satisfying read. The dragon is not as central as some of the book descriptions make it out to be, so those most excited for a dragon story might feel a bit disappointed, but I really liked this novel.

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radtastical's review

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adventurous hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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aardwyrm's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The magic system is stellar, the worldbuilding is lovely (and brutal), and you get to make a dragon friend, which improves any book a thousandfold. Lots of political intrigue, a paucity of right choices, and horrible consequences, avoids giving pat answers to hard questions.

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brnineworms's review

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I was surprised to learn Phoenix Extravagant wasn’t Yoon Ha Lee’s debut novel – many of its shortcomings are typical of new writers, such as repetitive phrasing and telling rather than showing. It’s a shame, really, because it had potential. A book about a nonbinary artist in a dystopian world of sigil-powered automata is a fantastic pitch, but the execution is so-so.

An issue throughout is the emotionality lacking depth or simply not landing. I partially blame the protagonist, Jebi, who is pretty apathetic for the most part. If they don’t care about anything, why should I? But I think the problem runs deeper than that, because even moments which elated or terrified or shocked Jebi fell flat for me. Take

their relationship with Vei

for example. There is no chemistry between them and the whole affair comes out of nowhere. I am told that they are in love but I’m not made to feel it.

In many ways, Jebi simply isn’t protagonist material. They’re an asshole and they don’t have the charisma to make up for it. Characters as unpleasant as they are are best confined to short stories and novellas, I feel – that way you don’t have to endure them for too long. Jebi is also frustratingly passive. On the rare occasions that they do take action, it always backfires thanks to their glaring incompetence. I know their lack of agency is a reflection of the oppressive system they find themself trapped within, but the way they kept blurting out secrets or wandering off and immediately getting captured was even more annoying and less compelling than their head-down resignation to the status quo.

The story ends with a message that not everyone is a fighter and the world needs artists just as much as it needs revolutionaries. It’s a nice idea, but Jebi still could have become a better person or helped out in a more substantial way than fucking off to the moon. It feels like whatever character arc they might have had got snapped back to where they were at the start, caring only about themself and their art and distancing themself from political issues as much as possible. Vei is also there, I guess.

There are more plot holes and inconsistencies than I can count. For example, the financial struggles of Jebi and their sister Bongsunga are sometimes front-and-centre and sometimes completely forgotten about in scenarios where it really should have affected the outcome. I was often left feeling like I was going crazy. To say nothing of the scenes that happen out of nowhere as though the author suddenly remembered they’re important to the plot. I already mentioned the awkward romance, but I also want to talk about

the torture scene, which seems to exist purely to justify the later killing of Hafanden. It doesn’t really serve any purpose besides presenting Hafanden as an irredeemable villain. Were it not for that one scene, would he have deserved execution?

It’s an interesting question which the story doesn’t seem to want to grapple with.

Which brings me to Arazi...

Arazi is a magical mechanical dragon designed to be used as a weapon, but subtle sabotage in its creation caused it to be a staunch pacifist. That is, until the final act. During an ambush, Arazi kills Hafanden in order to save Jebi’s life. An act of justified violence, maybe, but violence nonetheless, and lethal violence at that. Arazi was a bit bummed out but it didn’t have time to sit with the implications of what it had done. Its defining trait – its pacifism and its refusal to kill – had just been tested and ultimately contradicted, and with nowhere near the gravity a moment like that deserves.

Throughout the book, Arazi puts forward intriguing philosophical questions that get pushed aside to be dealt with later. And, of course, they’re never followed up on. I'm not expecting the author to construct an exhaustive thesis on the nature of the soul and the self, but some exploration of these concepts in the story would be nice. Arazi and the other automata are constantly sidelined despite the book being about them.

There are so many issues I could pick apart but I think I’ll stop here. Between the flat characters, the lack of follow-through on interesting concepts, and the inconsistencies throughout, Phoenix Extravagant is hard to recommend. That said, it’s largely inoffensive. I appreciate what the author was going for, at least, even if it feels half-baked. I don’t think it’s bad but I’m glad I’m done with it.

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talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

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adventurous tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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morganphoenix's review

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adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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madarauchiha's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜 my about / byf / CW info carrd: uchiha-madara 💜 💙 💚 💛 🧡 ❤️

I loved this book so fucking much!! I'm trying not to spoil it here. I loved everyone's characterization in this. I had been a little tired of dystopias and civil wars and rebelling against semi faceless governments. This plot was tweaked enough that it was refreshing and interesting to engage with. At times the plot felt a little convenient but not enough to be irritating.

content warnings:
medium NSFW scenarios, gore, murder, violence, emetophobia / vomit, massacre, mass murder, genocide, ethnic cleansing,

major: colonization, wars, imprisonment, imprisonment, heights, outer space, poison, manipulation, emotional abuse, violence, torture, gore, violence, spiders?,

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