Phoenix Extravagant

By: Yoon Ha Lee

Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller

The new blockbuster original fantasy work from Nebula, Hugo, and Clarke award nominated author Yoon Ha Lee!

“An arresting tale of loyalty, identity, and the power of art... Lee’s masterful storytelling is sure to wow.” (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

Gyen Jebi isn’t a fighter or a subversive. They just want to paint. One day they’re jobless and desperate; the next, Jebi finds themself recruited by the Ministry of Armor to paint the mystical sigils that animate the occupying government’s automaton soldiers.

But when Jebi discovers the depths of the Razanei government’s horrifying crimes - and the awful source of the magical pigments they use - they find they can no longer stay out of politics.

What they can do is steal Arazi, the ministry’s mighty dragon automaton, and find a way to fight....

©2020 Yoon Ha Lee (P)2020 Recorded Books

I loved the dragon!

Jebi is an artist. Not a genius artist, mind you, but it is their life and they love painting. It's all they want to do. They certainly do not want to be involved in the growing rebellion. But then Jebi, desperate for a job, finds themselves recruited by the Ministry of Armor to paint the mystical sigils that animate the automaton soldiers used by the government to occupy their land.

It may not be a great job, but it is a job, and Jebi has no issue with it until they discover the depths of the crimes committed by the Razanei government. Jebi can no longer stay out of politics, but what can they really do?

Well, it turns out that they may be able to steal Arazi, the war dragon automaton which belongs to the ministry, as well as find a way to fight back.

I enjoyed this book for two main reasons. One was the dragon. I love dragons in fantasy novels, and Arazi was just as much fun to read about. I wish Arazi had been present for more of the book. The second was a main character who was just ordinary. Jebi wasn't a chosen one, nor were they a genius painter who was better than all other painters. Jebi was just a regular person who found themselves in a situation in which they were way out of their depth - which was also a bit of a running theme as Jebi was consistently reminded of that by other characters.

The world-building, which was largely inspired by Japanese-occupied Korea, was absolutely wonderful. It reminded me a lot of the Tensorate series by Neon Yang in the way that Yoon Ha Lee incorporated queerness into the society. It wasn't an afterthought in the way some worlds are (oh, yeah, and there are people who aren't cis-hetero too), but thoughtfully considered and incorporated into the very fabric of the world.

The only real complaint that I have about the book is that it seemed to take a bit to find its feet, as it were. The first 15%-20% or so seemed to kind of wander and made it hard to figure out what was going on and what the plot was. Once I got further into it, I understood why it began that way, but I worry that there will be readers who will get frustrated by that beginning and put the book down, never knowing what they're missing,

As a final note, I listened to the audiobook, which was narrated by Emily Woo Zeller. She did a fantastic job as the narrator. I have listened to several other audiobooks narrated by her, and I have several more in my listening queue just waiting for me to get to them. I you enjoy listening to audiobooks, I definitely recommend listening to this one. If you haven't yet explored the joys of audiobooks, give this one a try. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Oh so boring

The best thing about this book was the writing itself. I thought the sentences flowed really well. The style reminded me of J.F. Kuang's The Poppy War.

The story, however, didn't hold my interest. I didn't like the insta-love between the MC and their choice of partner. Given the story, I'm actually confused why there was a love interest at all. Take the relationship away, and you have the same exact story. Also, the characters weren't fleshed out well enough for my liking; it was hard caring what happened to any of them. The revolution was bland, and I'm curious why the automatons--the dragon included--didn't have bigger roles. Definitely not my cup a tea.

Wonderful read!

Loved it so much! great read with a unique storyline and vibrant character development!

wonderful idea and world, but poor execution

I was really happy to finally read a book with a nonbinary main, and the way they wrote them was really good! but the overall performance of the story seemed like it needed some editing. the writing style is really technical and some of the things that are written could just be left to interpretation. it felt robotic at times but also there are a few lines in this book that are written beautifully. it did get a little corny there at the end and I found the main characters love interest and the way its handled by their sister to be a bit of a stretch, but nonetheless the universe behind this story is amazing and I would love to see these concepts more in literature. idk maybe it'd be better if it wasn't an audiobook