Review: Silver Phoenix by Cindy Pon

[megwrites]

Title: Silver Phoenix (Kingdom of Xia #1)
Author: Cindy Pon (CindyPon.com; cindy_pon; @cindypon.)
Genre: YA/Historical Fantasy
Page Count: 338
Publisher: Greenwillow





Basic Plotline: Ai Ling is a young woman in the kingdom of Xia. She is supposed to be getting married, but so far has been cast aside by all potential suitors, for which she is secretly happy. When Ai Ling's father is summoned to the Emperor's palace and does not return after many weeks, an unscrupulous man comes to her house offering to forgive a debt he claims her father owes in exchange for her hand in marriage as another wife to give him the son he so badly wants. To spare herself this fate and rescue her father, she sets out on a perilous journey to the Emperor's distant palace, and along the road not only picks up two interesting traveling companions, the brothers Chen Yong and Li Rong, but encounters both perilous, otherworldly enemies and information about her life, her destiny, and the dangerous, vital task she must carry out to save all creation itself.

The Positives: This is one of those books that, when describing it to others, I have the urge to use lots of words with exclamation points. Immortals! Sword fights! Romance! Epic Food!

Pon has crafted an especially entertaining and exciting tale of adventure and romance in Silver Phoenix, setting her tale in a historical China called the Kingdom of Xia that is populated by magic, demons, spirits, immortals, ghosts, gods, and important destinies. I devoured this book very quickly, as Pon's easy, slyly beautiful prose helps to make for a readable story.

Extremely well paced (in fact, I might say this book could be a study in how to change speeds from lightning fast action to slower, more character-oriented plot points without jarring the reader) and extremely enjoyable to read, the adventure is gripping.

Pon's heroine, Ai Ling, is very likable and i appreciated that while she does pick up strength, knowledge, and companions along the way, she remains who she is. A brave but vulnerable young woman who is not made of stone or steel, but rather is a flesh and blood human being who still feels deeply and is shy about her feelings. I think too often we show female heroines who are hardened, cracking jokes while fighting supernatural forces as though for a woman to show fear or shyness when she genuinely feels them is a weakness, that women's emotions are their weak point when they wouldn't be for a male character. So I was glad to see that Ai Ling was allowed to come along with the insecurities and sensitivity that I think a lot of girls experience and still be the heroine. I liked that Ai Ling could be scared, overwhelmed, embarrassed, depressed, grieving and all the other things without it being a sign that she's weak or unworthy to be the heroine of this story.

The secondary characters, Li Rong and Chen Yong make for great companions. The polar nature of their personalities, with Li Rong being the joker and extrovert while Chen Yong is the responsible, older introvert keeps them interesting and does make the romantic overtures and undertones between them to Ai Ling compelling to the reader. The romance in this book is quite wonderful and wonderfully done. It strikes me as very believable as a romance between two young people who are strong in some ways but also still struggling to define things about themselves and their places in the world. The inevitable awkwardness and uncertainty that comes with these things is compassionately and credibly done without being overplayed or cloying.

Silver Phoenix is a very fun read, and there is a sense of humor and whimsy and even a sense of giddiness and eagerness through out it. The descriptions of the many meals that Ai Ling enjoys always brought a smile across my face (as well as making me slightly envious, because many of those meals sounded quite delicious). It's refreshing to see a heroine that eats and likes to eat and likes food and that's okay. In a world where so many YA novels and messages being sent out to girls involve body policing and food shame (proper heroines don't eat or don't like to, apparently) it was nice to see Ai Ling sitting down and openly, happily munching on favorite foods.


The Negatives: Some of the negatives I'm about to go through are probably things that are more due to the genre and type of story than an authorial misstep.

There is something of a "helpfulness" problem here in this tale, and when Chen Yong initially meets up with Ai Ling after pulling her out of the water, thus saving her from drowning, my credulity strained somewhat. Given what I know about travel in historical circumstances, for Ai Ling to set out alone on the road was an extremely dangerous thing, and while she does encounter spirits that try to attack her, I didn't quite get the sense that Ai Ling understood or that it was shown that regular human beings were just as likely to be the most dangerous thing she encountered.

That said, after that moment, and once Chen Yong and Ai Ling have a chance to talk, their interaction became intriguing enough to overcome those doubts, and I did get the sense that there was some justification for Chen Yong helping her - destiny and fate aside - because it is in his personality to be responsible and kind, and that this is something, once I knew him, I completely believed he would do because he is a good person.

I wasn't sure how I felt about the jade pendant that seemed to get Ai Ling out of a lot of scrapes that she couldn't have otherwise survived, even though its purpose was explained as was the way in which it came into Ai Ling's possession. There were times when I would have liked to have seen Ai Ling either creatively defeat her enemies using her knowledge and resourcefulness, and admittedly, she does get her kickass moments, but at times, the jade pendant seemed a bit convenient.

The revelations about Zheng Ye and his intentions came a bit too quickly, I felt, and too near the end. I didn't really develop any rapport with Zheng Ye (even as a villain) and so there was something of a hollowness in his defeat, it didn't feel as meaningful because he came later in the book. Whereas Ai Ling's reunion with her father meant a lot more because it was something that had been driving her since the book and I had gotten a sense of her father being a very kind man, thus I was more invested as a reader.


CoC Score: 10/10. Pon sets her story wonderfully in a very detailed, carefully constructed alt-historical China, and I think deals well with immersing readers coming from all walks of life in this universe without being untrue to it.

Gender Score: 10/10. Ai Ling is a wonderful heroine, and though this is a period in this world's history where women are under certain social restrictions, the female characters from the goddesses to Ai Ling's own mother are vivid, real, and have their own agency.

GLBT Score: 0/10. I give this a good faith zero, because given the story, I wouldn't expect for Ai Ling, unless she was herself GLBT-identifying to have a lot of contact with things like that or to experience it on her journey.

Ablism Score: 0/10. I didn't see any overt PWD or disability situations in this book, though I thought there was room in this book for them. Not a lot of background ablism, either, that I could detect, but I come from an able, privileged POV so another reader might see things differently.

Comments

[yifu]

I didn't quite get the sense that Ai Ling understood or that it was shown that regular human beings were just as likely to be the most dangerous thing she encountered.

In the scene where Chen Yong pulls her out of the water, I put it down to her being simply relieved that there's a human being, i.e. someone like her, nearby, as opposed to scary mysterious creatures. As for the rest of the journeys, yes, it is a bit convenient that she doesn't run into, say, a swarm of bandits while she's all on her own. I suppose it's because Pon wants to concentrate more on the supernatural beings as dangerous angle?

Zhong Ye is introduced a little late in the story, but OTOH, no one could have told Ai Ling about him at the beginning.