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A review by azrah786
Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee
2.5
**I was provided with an ARC through the publisher in exchange for an honest review*
CW: violence, interrogation/torture, death, themes of colonialism, cultural erasure
Inspired by the annexation of Korea by Japan, Phoenix Extravagan takes place in Hwaguk, a country colonised by the Empire of Razan. We follow Jebi an apolitical and unemployed artist who has been trying to do their best to get by, even if it involves appeasing to the Razanei mannerisms and way of life. However, a fall out with their sister – whose wife was killed in the war leading up to the occupation – gets them kicked out of the house. And so they don’t have much of choice when they’re cornered by a Razanei government minster and coerced into accepting the role of a Ministry of Armour artist.
The department is involved in animating the government’s automatons through magical pigments and glyphs – and Jebi’s position has them working with the Ministry’s giant dragon war machine. However, upon uncovering more and more of the ministry’s secrets along with the truth about what happened to their predecessor, Jebi finds that they can no longer remain uninvolved with the political situation around them.
As a lover of fantasy and world history, when the two come together in fiction I love that additional learning opportunity that arises. This is a story of rebellion and the various effects of colonialism however, this particular narrative is unique in that it puts a large focus on what this means when it comes to art.
The book has a slow start but I did get caught up in the intrigue. The magic system revolving around the animation of the automatons in equal parts fascinated and horrified me, Arazi the dragon in particular came along and stoles my heart. The protagonist isn’t your usual “hero type” or the most likable and though I sympathised with their situation - I feel like this is where I had problems with the book.
3 months later and I can’t pin point exactly what it was that meant I didn’t enjoy this one until the end but all I can say is there was a point in the book where Jebi started to feel like a side character. This made the narration and everything that was occurring feel very subdued and I started to get a little bored. I genuinely don’t even remember how the book ended now and I find it a shame because I really loved various other elements of this book.
So sadly this was not everything I expected my first Yoon Ha Lee read to be, though I am definitely interested in checking out his other work.
Final Rating – 2.5 Stars
CW: violence, interrogation/torture, death, themes of colonialism, cultural erasure
Inspired by the annexation of Korea by Japan, Phoenix Extravagan takes place in Hwaguk, a country colonised by the Empire of Razan. We follow Jebi an apolitical and unemployed artist who has been trying to do their best to get by, even if it involves appeasing to the Razanei mannerisms and way of life. However, a fall out with their sister – whose wife was killed in the war leading up to the occupation – gets them kicked out of the house. And so they don’t have much of choice when they’re cornered by a Razanei government minster and coerced into accepting the role of a Ministry of Armour artist.
The department is involved in animating the government’s automatons through magical pigments and glyphs – and Jebi’s position has them working with the Ministry’s giant dragon war machine. However, upon uncovering more and more of the ministry’s secrets along with the truth about what happened to their predecessor, Jebi finds that they can no longer remain uninvolved with the political situation around them.
As a lover of fantasy and world history, when the two come together in fiction I love that additional learning opportunity that arises. This is a story of rebellion and the various effects of colonialism however, this particular narrative is unique in that it puts a large focus on what this means when it comes to art.
The book has a slow start but I did get caught up in the intrigue. The magic system revolving around the animation of the automatons in equal parts fascinated and horrified me, Arazi the dragon in particular came along and stoles my heart. The protagonist isn’t your usual “hero type” or the most likable and though I sympathised with their situation - I feel like this is where I had problems with the book.
3 months later and I can’t pin point exactly what it was that meant I didn’t enjoy this one until the end but all I can say is there was a point in the book where Jebi started to feel like a side character. This made the narration and everything that was occurring feel very subdued and I started to get a little bored. I genuinely don’t even remember how the book ended now and I find it a shame because I really loved various other elements of this book.
So sadly this was not everything I expected my first Yoon Ha Lee read to be, though I am definitely interested in checking out his other work.
Final Rating – 2.5 Stars
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Torture, and Death