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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
Phoenix Extravagant is good but... somewhat boring. In the MoE books, there's always something new and *insane* happening. There's a calendar system and adhering to it lets you do magic! There are undead generals haunting you! Soylent green is made of people!
In PE, there's just less going on. Jebi is an artist; they paint stuff; eventually you meet the dragon which is on the cover. There are a few moments of interest, particularly when we learn about the automata and the way they make the pigments, but it's not the density of weirdness we get in the MoE series. Most of the story is character-driven, and the characters don't quite hold their own enough for me to be engaged in their arcs.
Also, this is very much a me problem but I'm frustrated by how little time is spent showing us how ubiquitous magic affects Jebi's world. They have luck charms, which there's no indication ever work. Their friend is a gumiho, but she lives in a city and doesn't seduce men to eat their livers (what does this mean for her diet? Who knows! She only exists for flavor). There's very little indication that magic changed the course of history at all.
On the other hand, I never noticed any pronoun problems or ambiguity. The story was perfectly clear and structurally sound, just not quite as much up my alley as the MoE trillogy.
In PE, there's just less going on. Jebi is an artist; they paint stuff; eventually you meet the dragon which is on the cover. There are a few moments of interest, particularly when we learn about the automata and the way they make the pigments, but it's not the density of weirdness we get in the MoE series. Most of the story is character-driven, and the characters don't quite hold their own enough for me to be engaged in their arcs.
Also, this is very much a me problem but I'm frustrated by how little time is spent showing us how ubiquitous magic affects Jebi's world. They have luck charms, which there's no indication ever work. Their friend is a gumiho, but she lives in a city and doesn't seduce men to eat their livers (what does this mean for her diet? Who knows! She only exists for flavor). There's very little indication that magic changed the course of history at all.
On the other hand, I never noticed any pronoun problems or ambiguity. The story was perfectly clear and structurally sound, just not quite as much up my alley as the MoE trillogy.
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
This one didn't do it for me, which was a real shame bc it seemed perfectly up my alley- nonbinary protagonist, art & how it's used for empire. And I loved Lee's Machineries of Empire trilogy. But as much as the worldbuilding was interesting, Jebi as a protagonist didn't grab me, and I didn't feel connected to them or really any of the other characters. Honestly, my favorite character was the dragon, and I wish there had been more focus on Araki and its relationship with Jebi rather than their romance with Vei, which didn't really feel earned. This is billed as a mecha novel, but the focus is much more on the factions inside this occupied territory than the core questions of mechs.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Oh boy, this sure was.. a book. I wanted to love this, I really did, but in the end the only resson I actually finished this was because it's rather short and because I had access to the audiobook.
The beautiful cover really did make me think I was going to love this, and on top of that the premise sounded great. A non-binary artist as the main character? Yes please! I'm both an artist and non-binary myself, and this kind of representation is rare, so I was really lookong forward to this.
Well, it wasn't what I expected. To be fair, the ideas are all wonderful and I do understand that this, at least from what I got, mimics a lot of other, older type of stories from the cultures this draws from and therefore has unusual elements and types of story telling that might be wonderful but just not for me.
However, there were some issues with this I personally just couldn't get over. The characters, for one, felt extremely flat and one dimensional. There was no consistency and combined with the author not really applying the "show don't tell" rule, I had a hard time connecting to any of the characters or even understand their motivations. Their values changed from page to page and they rarely showed any emotion even when terrible things were happening. The relationships between the characters felt just ad inconsistent, and the romantic subplot came out of nowhere and was incredibly rushed.
I also had an incredibly hard time following the plot, though I can't say for certain whether that was the book's fault or my own for not being able to focus on this for a large amount of time, due to its issues. The author would spend time describing the details leading up to an important plot point, which in itself then got only about two sentences of page-time before we went back to another thing.
I also felt like this could've done with some more edits, as several times I've noticed adjectives or adverbs being used twice either in the same sentence or in a paragraph and it was kind of frustrating.
Also, the ending was... out there.
I wouldn't want to discourage anyone from reading this since I have, admittedly, been having a not so great times when it comes to reading and might be overly harsh in my judgement, but it just wasn't for me.
The beautiful cover really did make me think I was going to love this, and on top of that the premise sounded great. A non-binary artist as the main character? Yes please! I'm both an artist and non-binary myself, and this kind of representation is rare, so I was really lookong forward to this.
Well, it wasn't what I expected. To be fair, the ideas are all wonderful and I do understand that this, at least from what I got, mimics a lot of other, older type of stories from the cultures this draws from and therefore has unusual elements and types of story telling that might be wonderful but just not for me.
However, there were some issues with this I personally just couldn't get over. The characters, for one, felt extremely flat and one dimensional. There was no consistency and combined with the author not really applying the "show don't tell" rule, I had a hard time connecting to any of the characters or even understand their motivations. Their values changed from page to page and they rarely showed any emotion even when terrible things were happening. The relationships between the characters felt just ad inconsistent, and the romantic subplot came out of nowhere and was incredibly rushed.
I also had an incredibly hard time following the plot, though I can't say for certain whether that was the book's fault or my own for not being able to focus on this for a large amount of time, due to its issues. The author would spend time describing the details leading up to an important plot point, which in itself then got only about two sentences of page-time before we went back to another thing.
I also felt like this could've done with some more edits, as several times I've noticed adjectives or adverbs being used twice either in the same sentence or in a paragraph and it was kind of frustrating.
Also, the ending was... out there.
I wouldn't want to discourage anyone from reading this since I have, admittedly, been having a not so great times when it comes to reading and might be overly harsh in my judgement, but it just wasn't for me.
I'm actually liking it more the further I read but it takes too much brain energy and I just can't give it since I'm reading 7 books including this so I'm gonna drop this for now and pick it up again in the future
I felt divided rating Phoenix Extravagant. Doing some background research about this book, I can see that Yoon Ha Lee incorporated elements of Korean history and culture into the worldbuilding. I also appreciate the diverse representation in the book (main character Jebi is nonbinary and goes with a gender neutral pronoun). I certainly think this book has a lot of potentials for a good fantasy novel: dragons, queer characters, and political intrigue - to name a few.
Despite the good ideas, I didn't feel very invested with Phoenix Extravagant. I think the writing falters from several areas: slightly muddled worldbuilding, a prose that didn't stand out, and finally lack of proper character arc. As this is narrated from Jebi's perspective, it was irritating that they - as a character, didn't really grow through the course of the novel (I didn't find Jebi likeable to start with, but the fact that they stay like this for the whole novel???? don't know what's going on).
So it's kind of disappointing that a book with so many promising ideas falls way short in its execution. Had Jebi got more character arc throughout this standalone, I'd certainly connect to the story more.
N.B. This novel contains following content warnings: illnesses, grief / loss of loved ones, death, violence, and weapons
(2.5 stars out of 5)
Despite the good ideas, I didn't feel very invested with Phoenix Extravagant. I think the writing falters from several areas: slightly muddled worldbuilding, a prose that didn't stand out, and finally lack of proper character arc. As this is narrated from Jebi's perspective, it was irritating that they - as a character, didn't really grow through the course of the novel (I didn't find Jebi likeable to start with, but the fact that they stay like this for the whole novel???? don't know what's going on).
So it's kind of disappointing that a book with so many promising ideas falls way short in its execution. Had Jebi got more character arc throughout this standalone, I'd certainly connect to the story more.
N.B. This novel contains following content warnings: illnesses, grief / loss of loved ones, death, violence, and weapons
(2.5 stars out of 5)
Excellent world building, compelling characters, and a pace that keeps you engaged from start to finish. My favorite fantasy in months
I've read & enjoyed a couple of this author's books and while the title of this one was kind of interesting, the cover wasn't at all attractive (to my eyes anyway). The description, as I've discussed with a few GR friends, do not sound particularly intriguing either. However, I started reading and was hooked within a 2-3 chapters. I stayed up late last night because I just couldn't stop until I realise I was going to be monstrously tired this morning & crabby with my kids (it's school holidays, help!). I just finished the last third of the book and am feeling very sleepy...
Nonetheless, I loved it. I found the writing to be engaging and the plot very well paced. I must admit while I liked the protagonist at the beginning, they were not flawless and it became very obvious in the latter half. This, of course, did not detract from my liking the book and protagonists do need to learn and develop. This protagonist indeed matured and became ever more likeable at the end. I loved the book but I do have a list of wishlist but most I cannot divulge due to spoilers but one would be an alternate perspective. While it's noted as standalone, there is definitely potential for sequels [the ending was left quite open!] and maybe, if it happens, some of my wishes will come true ;)
Now, let's see if I can make the synopsis a little bit more appealing:
All Gyen Jebi wants to do is paint. While they & their sister live under the rule of Razanei, their perspectives on how differ. Their sister is doing all she can to eke out a living for them both and spoiled them as much as they could in art supplies etc. She's lost her wife 10 years ago and still grieving. Jebi wants more. They planned to earn more but when their sister found out their plan and disagreed, they were thrown out of home.
In desperation, Jebi bows down to pressures to work as an artist at the Ministry of Armor. And so, he learns of the secrets of automatons and finds out a top secret research the Ministry is planning to unleash on their home: Arazi, a dragon automaton. They need help and the only possibility is their sister... as perspectives & priorities clash, will they be able to agree on a way forward for all?
Nonetheless, I loved it. I found the writing to be engaging and the plot very well paced. I must admit while I liked the protagonist at the beginning, they were not flawless and it became very obvious in the latter half. This, of course, did not detract from my liking the book and protagonists do need to learn and develop. This protagonist indeed matured and became ever more likeable at the end. I loved the book but I do have a list of wishlist but most I cannot divulge due to spoilers but one would be an alternate perspective. While it's noted as standalone, there is definitely potential for sequels [the ending was left quite open!] and maybe, if it happens, some of my wishes will come true ;)
Now, let's see if I can make the synopsis a little bit more appealing:
All Gyen Jebi wants to do is paint. While they & their sister live under the rule of Razanei, their perspectives on how differ. Their sister is doing all she can to eke out a living for them both and spoiled them as much as they could in art supplies etc. She's lost her wife 10 years ago and still grieving. Jebi wants more. They planned to earn more but when their sister found out their plan and disagreed, they were thrown out of home.
In desperation, Jebi bows down to pressures to work as an artist at the Ministry of Armor. And so, he learns of the secrets of automatons and finds out a top secret research the Ministry is planning to unleash on their home: Arazi, a dragon automaton. They need help and the only possibility is their sister... as perspectives & priorities clash, will they be able to agree on a way forward for all?
adventurous
reflective
relaxing
fast-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
I loved the first third so much! Seeing the slow unveiling of the world, enjoying Jebi’s perspective, hearing about art... the second two thirds were paced much more quickly and involved more action and tension. I would have preferred a slower paced novel. However, I loved the historical, Asian (Vietnamese) second world fantasy, the nonbinary and bisexual representation, and unique mythology and magic system. If there is a sequel, I will be reading it!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Blood
Minor: Death, Torture
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I was hoping for something much richer than this. The conceit--artists gets job using magical automaton-powering pigments made by destroying art, and thus joins resistance against occupying force--would have been great for a novella, but the novel-length story felt too small. It's one small event in a rebellion, and Lee's investigation of relationships and emotions felt too hollow to carry the lack of plot. There were so many other, more interesting sounding stories that I wanted to explore, like how Vei's parents met because her mother, a western-trained Hwaguk physician tried to poison her father, a captain of an invading army, and failed. Or the much more interesting follow-up tale, in which Jebi and Vei steal art to preserve it on the moon while on earth there's a three-way power struggle. Those seemed great. But this little piddling personal story 'how I joined the rebellion' with a little piddling skirmish serving as the book's climax, was too small.
Also, there were additions that felt like Lee was trying to enrich the world, but they just didn't really work for one reason or another. There was a character who was a fox-tailed magical being, but she only shows up once or twice. There were a few comments about how she and her clan, who are representatives of some older, more traditional magic, must adapt to the newer, automaton invader magic, which had promise, but then she disappears for most of the rest of the book. So we never got any proper investigation of the interplay between older, organic, fox-powered magic and newer, artistic, automaton magic.
The language, too, felt a bit off. There were multiple references to how characters address other characters in differing degrees of formality, the way European languages have t/v distinctions, and Japanese has all those formality registers encoded in speech. I imagine Korean does too (given that this is a pretty straightforward fantasy analogue to Japan's occupation of Korea in the first half of the 20th century). But the fact remains that English simply doesn't have that subtlety, so it can't be represented in actual dialogue, which meant Lee had to put it in speech tags. And it didn't work. It always felt awkward, like how the subtitles for Call My Agent tried to deal with the constant negotiations over tu/vous. I'm not saying it can't be done. Daniel Abraham's [book:The Long Price Quartet: The Complete Quartet|37534895] managed to make this sort of encoded formality in dialogue work brilliantly, but then in that book the formality was conveyed through co-speech gestures, which meant describing it sat much more comfortably in the dialogue tags. But in this book, whatever Lee did ended up feeling like an awkward translation of a linguistic structure that couldn't be properly rendered in English--which, of course, is what it was. But Lee was writing in English in the first place. We put up with translation-related awkwardness because we know we're reading a work in translation. Introducing that awkwardness into a book written in English is more frustrating.
Perhaps people who speak Korean or Japanese will disagree with me, and enjoy seeing that component of interpersonal interaction explicitly encoded in dialogue. Perhaps I'm just not the intended audience for this book. I thought [book:Machineries of Empire volumes 1-3|55620755] was much better.
Also, there were additions that felt like Lee was trying to enrich the world, but they just didn't really work for one reason or another. There was a character who was a fox-tailed magical being, but she only shows up once or twice. There were a few comments about how she and her clan, who are representatives of some older, more traditional magic, must adapt to the newer, automaton invader magic, which had promise, but then she disappears for most of the rest of the book. So we never got any proper investigation of the interplay between older, organic, fox-powered magic and newer, artistic, automaton magic.
The language, too, felt a bit off. There were multiple references to how characters address other characters in differing degrees of formality, the way European languages have t/v distinctions, and Japanese has all those formality registers encoded in speech. I imagine Korean does too (given that this is a pretty straightforward fantasy analogue to Japan's occupation of Korea in the first half of the 20th century). But the fact remains that English simply doesn't have that subtlety, so it can't be represented in actual dialogue, which meant Lee had to put it in speech tags. And it didn't work. It always felt awkward, like how the subtitles for Call My Agent tried to deal with the constant negotiations over tu/vous. I'm not saying it can't be done. Daniel Abraham's [book:The Long Price Quartet: The Complete Quartet|37534895] managed to make this sort of encoded formality in dialogue work brilliantly, but then in that book the formality was conveyed through co-speech gestures, which meant describing it sat much more comfortably in the dialogue tags. But in this book, whatever Lee did ended up feeling like an awkward translation of a linguistic structure that couldn't be properly rendered in English--which, of course, is what it was. But Lee was writing in English in the first place. We put up with translation-related awkwardness because we know we're reading a work in translation. Introducing that awkwardness into a book written in English is more frustrating.
Perhaps people who speak Korean or Japanese will disagree with me, and enjoy seeing that component of interpersonal interaction explicitly encoded in dialogue. Perhaps I'm just not the intended audience for this book. I thought [book:Machineries of Empire volumes 1-3|55620755] was much better.
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
fast-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
This book was so great for so many reasons. All the characters felt SO real and I can't say I ever expected to fall in love with a mechanical dragon, but here we are. This book explored the realities of war in a very real way while looking through a viewpoint not of a soldier, but an artist. The representation in here was also amazing and not a plot point, but just was. And that was amazing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Blood