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A review by yuna
Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee
adventurous
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A lot to like here. The way politics is handled is layered, and though Hwaguk is the most sympathetic there's no simplistic good and evil here. The magic is interesting without getting too lost in its own details, and I liked the mechanic of destroying art to make magic pigment. Was hoping we'd see a bit more exploration of agency in the automata beyond Arazi though, especially since Jebi wonders about it on a few occasions.
But ugh. Jebi. How can someone so competent also be so utterly lacking in common sense? When it helps make conflict in the plot I guess. I like a lot of what their character represented: they care about art and history, they care about other people's feelings and well-being, they care about protecting someone's agency even if that's an automaton dragon. They're not particularly special--it wasn't clear to me if their manipulation of the pigments was specifically their talent or something in theory any artist could've done--they're a good artist but it didn't seem like the artist equivalent to Vei's dualist prime. But they're not a super fighter or a genius or anything like that. In many ways they're average and somewhat relatable because they're not always on their game in every situation. And I liked that they represent the view of one who doesn't have fervent feelings either way about the war and Hwaguk's being occupied by Razan. Like, it affects them yes because hello colonized state, but also not? They're not gungho about the rebels or getting cozy with the overlords...they're just trying to make money to pay the bills.
All good things! But OMG could they be annoying at times. So many "oops I shouldn't have said/done that" or "oops, I should've remembered/thought of that first." And their ineptitude got played for laughs a bit too much for my taste. I liked the complexities of their relationship with Vei, but I didn't feel much of the romance. Too often I was like...why does Vei like them? She's awesome, and Jebi is kind of...their memory sucks if it provides conflict for the plot.
But ugh. Jebi. How can someone so competent also be so utterly lacking in common sense? When it helps make conflict in the plot I guess. I like a lot of what their character represented: they care about art and history, they care about other people's feelings and well-being, they care about protecting someone's agency even if that's an automaton dragon. They're not particularly special--it wasn't clear to me if their manipulation of the pigments was specifically their talent or something in theory any artist could've done--they're a good artist but it didn't seem like the artist equivalent to Vei's dualist prime. But they're not a super fighter or a genius or anything like that. In many ways they're average and somewhat relatable because they're not always on their game in every situation. And I liked that they represent the view of one who doesn't have fervent feelings either way about the war and Hwaguk's being occupied by Razan. Like, it affects them yes because hello colonized state, but also not? They're not gungho about the rebels or getting cozy with the overlords...they're just trying to make money to pay the bills.
All good things! But OMG could they be annoying at times. So many "oops I shouldn't have said/done that" or "oops, I should've remembered/thought of that first." And their ineptitude got played for laughs a bit too much for my taste. I liked the complexities of their relationship with Vei, but I didn't feel much of the romance. Too often I was like...why does Vei like them? She's awesome, and Jebi is kind of...their memory sucks if it provides conflict for the plot.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Torture, and Violence