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A review by sophiesapphire
The Night Ends with Fire by K.X. Song
5.0
The Ballad of Mulan and the Romance of the Three Kingdoms meet the likes of The Poppy War and Six Crimson Cranes in this first part of K.X. Song's upcoming duology: “The Night Ends with Fire” is a tale of magic, adventure, war, love, corruption, betrayal, oppression, freedom, feminism, wuxia (martial arts) - and do not forget dragons! This book really ought to spread like wildfire when it comes out because let me tell you: it is deserving of every praise it receives!
[Contains some spoilers.]
PLOT SUMMARY
In the lands of Tianjia, war between the Three Kingdoms of Anlai, Ximing and Leyuan is brewing. Told through the first-person narrative of 18-year-old Hai Meilin from Anlai (our Mulan in this tale), we find her father does not want to answer his summons to fight as he believes it won’t benefit him. In this version, he is abusive, has made the family destitute through his gambling and addiction to opium and is heavily relying on Meilin's dowry when she weds. Upon discovering her fiancé is also abusive, Meilin decides to enlist in the war in place of her father as a man under the alias Ren.
She is allocated to the Seventh Company where the leader is none other than the dashing Liu Sky (Shang equivalent), Seventh Prince of Anlai, who had saved her previously. As well as this, Meilin has brought with her a mysterious newly-acquired jade necklace that her late mother wore, unbeknownst that this is a spirit seal containing the Dragon, Qinglong (Mushu equivalent), providing her wisdom and the power (lixia) of water. Now, she has to conceal she is a woman and a spirit medium, for risking revealing her true identity would mean death! Women are not permitted to fight in wars, and the practice of black magic and spirit mediums as well as the worship of spirits have been banned.
But soon Meilin discovers she is not the only spirit medium, a man named Sima hellbent on revenge wields the power of a Phoenix through a scarlet seal. A thief steals the seal and breaks it but it comes back in pieces as it cannot be easily destroyed. Sima has found one piece on one shore; Meilin must find the other two pieces to stop him.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
What an incredible story to read! I could not put it down. Like Meilin’s greed being the driving force behind Qinglong’s powers, my own greed to read and know more propelled me quickly through this book. The pacing was ideal with plenty of description. A few times I laughed, a few times I gasped. The world-building was excellent: K.X. Song has a way of transporting you into this world and exploring aspects of both the spirit realm and reality, as well as providing historical information about the history of the Three Kingdoms.
Also, she very kindly provides us with a map which I always love as it helps me imagine things better!
Split into three parts, there were plenty of twists and turns: some I did not see coming others, probably a lot of them, were predictable but enjoyable to see .
Had this been a single book, I would have rated it a 4 for the ending because it felt anticlimactic and also rather sad after everything that Meilin has been through. Knowing that the story is to be continued, that there is a second book in the works made this even better. Otherwise, I would have screamed haha! I do prefer being able to read a book as a standalone rather than wait for its conclusion later but I am excited to see the direction this story goes. She’s best get her revenge because I am rooting for her.
RETELLING OR REINVENTING?
This story is primarily based on the legend of Mulan. As Song mentions in her author’s note, most of the Western culture is familiar with the story of Mulan through Disney’s film Mulan from 1998 (as well as its sequel Mulan 2 in 2004) and the live-action of the same name from 2020. That is certainly how I know of it, being brought up with Disney films all my life.
Now, I cannot say anything about the historical accuracy of this tale, so I understand if those who are from the culture do not find some of the tale appropriate. For me, this was a refreshing take on the story I do know.
You can certainly see that Song has based a lot of this tale on the live-action Mulan. There are plenty of scenes that harken back to this. To name a few: our heroine knows martial arts before she even enlists, she trains at night herself away from the men, the bathing sequence, the presence of a phoenix.
But there are many differences too. While I am aware some people did not finish even reading it because it felt too much like “Mulan fanfiction”, the point of a retelling is to tell a story again but it should have some unique qualities of its own. And unique qualities it did, especially past the halfway point, because even I at one point was beginning to think it was a little too similar.
Song has created a whole new dynamic through the inclusion of forbidden magic and the Cardinal Spirits with their seals. Cardinal Spirits are the four spirits representing and controlling the time of day, seasons, elements and directions. These are:
Women were yin—weak and fickle, governed by their flighty emotions. Men were yang—rational, calm, and unyielding. We were told as children that women could not lead, fight, or govern, for they were too easily swayed, prone to hysteria and fitfulness. But I had proven them wrong.
[Contains some spoilers.]
PLOT SUMMARY
In the lands of Tianjia, war between the Three Kingdoms of Anlai, Ximing and Leyuan is brewing. Told through the first-person narrative of 18-year-old Hai Meilin from Anlai (our Mulan in this tale), we find her father does not want to answer his summons to fight as he believes it won’t benefit him. In this version, he is abusive, has made the family destitute through his gambling and addiction to opium and is heavily relying on Meilin's dowry when she weds. Upon discovering her fiancé is also abusive, Meilin decides to enlist in the war in place of her father as a man under the alias Ren.
She is allocated to the Seventh Company where the leader is none other than the dashing Liu Sky (Shang equivalent), Seventh Prince of Anlai, who had saved her previously. As well as this, Meilin has brought with her a mysterious newly-acquired jade necklace that her late mother wore, unbeknownst that this is a spirit seal containing the Dragon, Qinglong (Mushu equivalent), providing her wisdom and the power (lixia) of water. Now, she has to conceal she is a woman and a spirit medium, for risking revealing her true identity would mean death! Women are not permitted to fight in wars, and the practice of black magic and spirit mediums as well as the worship of spirits have been banned.
But soon Meilin discovers she is not the only spirit medium, a man named Sima hellbent on revenge wields the power of a Phoenix through a scarlet seal. A thief steals the seal and breaks it but it comes back in pieces as it cannot be easily destroyed. Sima has found one piece on one shore; Meilin must find the other two pieces to stop him.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
What an incredible story to read! I could not put it down. Like Meilin’s greed being the driving force behind Qinglong’s powers, my own greed to read and know more propelled me quickly through this book. The pacing was ideal with plenty of description. A few times I laughed, a few times I gasped. The world-building was excellent: K.X. Song has a way of transporting you into this world and exploring aspects of both the spirit realm and reality, as well as providing historical information about the history of the Three Kingdoms.
Also, she very kindly provides us with a map which I always love as it helps me imagine things better!
Split into three parts, there were plenty of twists and turns: some I did not see coming
Spoiler
like the mother’s murderSpoiler
– that iron is a weakness to all lixia not just the Phoenix’s, that Sky’s father is the one who murdered Sima’s wife and child, that Lei was not to be trusted and was that thief she sawHad this been a single book, I would have rated it a 4 for the ending because it felt anticlimactic and also rather sad after everything that Meilin has been through. Knowing that the story is to be continued, that there is a second book in the works made this even better. Otherwise, I would have screamed haha! I do prefer being able to read a book as a standalone rather than wait for its conclusion later but I am excited to see the direction this story goes. She’s best get her revenge because I am rooting for her.
RETELLING OR REINVENTING?
This story is primarily based on the legend of Mulan. As Song mentions in her author’s note, most of the Western culture is familiar with the story of Mulan through Disney’s film Mulan from 1998 (as well as its sequel Mulan 2 in 2004) and the live-action of the same name from 2020. That is certainly how I know of it, being brought up with Disney films all my life.
Now, I cannot say anything about the historical accuracy of this tale, so I understand if those who are from the culture do not find some of the tale appropriate. For me, this was a refreshing take on the story I do know.
You can certainly see that Song has based a lot of this tale on the live-action Mulan. There are plenty of scenes that harken back to this. To name a few: our heroine knows martial arts before she even enlists, she trains at night herself away from the men, the bathing sequence, the presence of a phoenix.
But there are many differences too. While I am aware some people did not finish even reading it because it felt too much like “Mulan fanfiction”, the point of a retelling is to tell a story again but it should have some unique qualities of its own. And unique qualities it did, especially past the halfway point, because even I at one point was beginning to think it was a little too similar.
Song has created a whole new dynamic through the inclusion of forbidden magic and the Cardinal Spirits with their seals. Cardinal Spirits are the four spirits representing and controlling the time of day, seasons, elements and directions. These are: