Reviews

Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee

ddillon154's review

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4.0

I was hesitant to commit to this one, as there has been a swelling of fantasy stories set in the tense history of Japanese colonialism. I wasn't sure how this book would stand out from all the others I've read, but oh was I wrong to worry.

littlepepperguy's review

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The narrator was a bit too monotone for me to feel engaged with the audiobook. 

And straight up the beginning is just boring idk it was a bit too long for me to wait to be interested. 

tshepiso's review against another edition

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2.5

I really wanted to like Phoenix Extravagant. Not only is Yoon Ha Lee's Machineries of the Empire series one of my favourites the premise alone of this book was fascinating. The tagline says it all, "Dragons. Art. Revolution." I was excited to see Lee's exploration of colonization and an artist's place in revolution with mecha dragons to boot. Unfortunately it didn't quite deliver.  

But let's start with the positives. The crowning jewel of Phoenix Extravagant was its worldbuilding. Lee is clearly inspired my early 20th century Korean history. The way this setting blends with magical and steampunk elements was fun to see explored. Silkpunk fantasy is one of my favourite sub genres and the way its utilized here was so well executed. The art and calligraphy based magic system of this world is fascinating.

Unfortunately I deeply struggled with Phoenix Extravagant's protagonist. The book is told from the perspective of Jebi a 26 year old artists who's deeply uninvested in the colonial politics of their country but gets wrapped up in the work of the military and eventually the rebellion. Jebi's ignorance and lack of care about the colonial project being waged on their country made it hard to like them as a protagonist. They were frequently shown to be deeply ignorant of the world in a way that made them feel much younger than their stated age. While on paper I can appreciate the concept of a character learning about the injustice around them and figuring our their place in it, this version of that story arc oscillated between boring and frustrating because of Jebi's reticence to involve themselves in the political realities of their world. 

This is unfortunate because I found many of the side characters really gripping. From Bongsunga Jebi's militant revolutionary older sister, to Vei, Jebi's love interest, a duelist working for the ministry with split loyalties and even Araki the automaton dragon at the centre of it all caught between a personal belief in pacifism and the realities of the suffering bought by colonialist forces. I found their relationships to the revolution and perspective on the occupation so fascinating which only highlighted more how dull I found Jebi in contrast.

I do respect some of the themes Lee was attempting to explore in this story. Jebi brings their perspective as an artist to all that they do throughout the novel. We contemplate the philosophy of art the place of artists and their work in wider culture and the process of cultural genocide. But ultimately I found Jebi's general passivity made them an uninteresting character to explore these themes through. 

This book's structure and pacing also made it an uneven read. The first half of the book is pretty slow paced. We get the minute details of Jebi's time in the ministry and this section of the book lack any real intrigue . Eventually the plot picks up especially after the introduction to Araki at around the 40% mark but the back half of the novel consequently felt rushed. We speed through the second half of the book and imo rush through a lot of the relationship development fo Jebi and Vei and Jebi and Araki making some of the emotional beats of the third act fall flat. 

Ultimately while I respect a lot of what Yoon Ha Lee was doing in Phoenix Extravagant I found the lens we saw the story through and its plotting and pacing overall to be a let down.

venti's review

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emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

i liked it! ending was… something, though 

adsthebest's review

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adventurous emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

First half of the story had me intrigued but I felt like it fell off during the second half. The route the author went with the story just wasn't for me :( 

meemzter's review

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5.0

This is Emily reporting LIVE that there is a new standalone fantasy novel by actual King™: Yoon Ha Lee set in a thinly veiled Japanese-Occupied Korea with magic and dragons. We are living in a golden age.

Phoenix Extravagant is... fun. It's so much fun. It is full of intrigue! It is about art and revolution! It is about love and adventure! It has a dragon on a cover! What could be more fun?!

Not to dismiss the very heavy themes of colonization and oppression and war - this book takes them all quite seriously - but in general this book acknowledges these horrors, but does not linger in them. It shines a light on tragedy, but lives in hope.

Jebi is a wonderful protagonist! They are sweet, funny, relatable, and of course - heroic. They are accompanied by a memorable cast of characters, with relationships that will make you swoon and cry and ache and smile.

I pre-ordered this book with no idea what the plot was about (yeah me and Yoon Ha Lee are on that level) so it was a delightful surprise to read a story set in Korea (oh I mean Hwaguk) with such a rich portrait of Korean (Hwagugin) culture. There is a ton of Korean language up in here, so if you have Korean 101 in your back pocket, you will definitely nerd out!

For anyone who knows Lee's work, it should come as no surprise that this book features casual queerness and a non-binary protagonist, but if you didn't know... now you know.

If you have tried Ninefox Gambit and found it utterly impenetrable, never fear. This is easily Lee's most accessible work yet. In fact I would say that this book isn't a difficult read like... at all.

For some reason this book reminds me of Provenance by Ann Leckie. Why, you ask? I have no idea. They could not be more different. But there it is. I love both of these whimsical standalones and their soft protagonists.

SpoilerThe one thing I am sitting here confused about is the ending. It really seemed like it was setting Vei and Jebi up for a Happily Ever After and then we see the truth, that WWII is ending and an American occupation is coming. However, I think I struggled to understand the message. Is this an indictment of Jebi and Vei leaving? A reminder that there is no happily ever after when war and occupation are involved? Or merely an answer to the question of what comes next? I think I like the ending, in that it is making me sit here and contemplate the purpose of the entire novel, but it definitely left me with so many questions.


I had a great time. Yoon Ha Lee, thank you for writing books.

mikeiswhere's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

A really interesting and mysterious first and second act, with an intriguing concept and a mystery which drags you in. It really feels as though it falls off a cliff in the final act though, and like it's two stories cobbled together, the second one being much worse.

joelteon's review

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5.0

How many platitudes can I shout about this wonderful book? Too many to count.
I think that I have found, if not one of my top ten books ever, certainly my favourite book of the year. I was sold after 50 pages and it only got better and better.
The blurb does a great job detailing the plot of the first half of the book, but it is in the prose and the characters that make this book something special.
I was drawn in by that incredible cover and kept enthralled by the world that Yoon Ha Lee has created. I read this book in two sittings in less than a day because I only put it down when I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer at no fault of the book.
I just know that I am going to run out and borrow every book from the library written by Yoon Ha Lee. I just wish there was a sequel to look forward to because wow does it end with a bang.

aatiii's review

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3.0

For a book with a dragon, quite dull.

In fact the dragon is incidental to a story about colonialism—like the dessert after dinner. The romance felt forced.

trash_candra's review

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3.0

The book was definitely fun, but the world-building just wasn't good enough to support the moving parts of the story. The political tension was well done and destroying art to fuel magic was thematically appropriate, but the magic system and technology were not up to the same standard. I honestly can't say much about the magic system besides "it's done through using differently colored pigments from crushing art." because it felt like it just happened. There was a Chekov's gun get-introduced-and-used-later aspect to it but it didn't seem to have limits or rules that governed it.

There were also multiple times where I was confused whether something was literal or not because fantastic elements were just sprinkled into the world and didn't get any explanation and didn't ever feel like they were actually a part of a living, breathing world and were just like accessories to spruce up the setting.