Silver Phoenix by Cindy Pon

[description from Cindy's site]

On the day of her first betrothal meeting–and rejection–Ai Ling discovers a power welling deep within her. She can reach into other people’s spirits, hear their thoughts, see their dreams…and that’s just the beginning.

Ai Ling has been marked by the immortals; her destiny lies in the emperor’s palace, where a terrible evil has lived, stealing souls, for centuries. She must conquer this enemy and rescue her captive father, while mythical demons track her every step. and then she meets Chen Yong, a young man with a quest of his own, whose fate is intertwined with hers. Here is a heart-stopping, breathtaking tale for fans of action, fantasy, and romance–of anything with the making of legend.

Review:

If you think you've read something about this book on my blog before, it's because you have. This is the blood that had the blood on it. You might think that the blood would be warning that the book would cause my physical pain or something, but that is incorrect. Because this is a bloody good book.*

Usually I'm not a fan of these kind of epic-fantasy books, but I really enjoyed this one. Although I didn't always quite understand what Ai Ling's powers were and what all the different creatures were, I was mesmerized by the magic involved. The creatures and powers involved added a bit of uniqueness to the plot, since 1) I've never read many Chinese-type fantasy books like this and 2) never encountered powers and creatures like the demons and such. I never read many fantasy books anyway, but I digress. The descriptions of Ai Ling's feelings when she uses her spirit-reaching power and the sometimes creepy descriptions of the creatures also helped bring Ai Ling's world alive.

My main problem is something that the lovely Yan pointed out in her review: the book is like an RPG. Meaning, it goes talk to person-action-food-repeat until you reach Big Powerful person. I'm not saying that this is especially bad, because the people Ai Ling talked to all had interesting stories to share, the food was described so vividly that it made me hungry, and the action was all exciting. The format just got a little old after a while, because it was a bit easier to predict the gist of what would happen.

I wish Ai Ling and Chen Yong were developed a little more, as it sometimes felt like I knew the supporting characters more than I knew them. I often find character development a problem in fantasy novels, but that doesn't mean I'm done complaining about it.

And I also agree with Yan about wishing Silver Phoenix- Ai Ling in a past life, dun dun dun- was explained more. Sometimes I wonder why I bother reviewing some things since other people- Yan- steal all my thoughts. But then I remember that I have other things to say too.

Silver Phoenix is a action-packed novel, whose minor faults will be overlooked because everyone will be too busy squeeing about the book's beautiful writing.

8/10

*Unfortunately, I cannot take credit for this joke. It was all Cindy.

Silver Phoenix will be released in hardcover TOMORROW so be sure to run to the bookstore and buy it. And a huge congratulations on your release, Cindy! I hope you do something festive to celebrate.