katewrites (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
katewrites) wrote2011-05-01 12:31 pm
katewrites) wrote2011-05-01 12:31 pm
Booklogging: Silver Phoenix by Cindy Pon
I bought Silver Phoenix a while ago because I heard it was good Chinese-based fantasy. It was Chinese based, and it was fantasy, but I don't know if I'd call it "good".
I guess that part of my issue with this book was the pacing. There was fabulous world building - the characters had different expectations/actions for emotions, and there was good detail on food and clothing, but the book itself seems to be a series of "and then this happens."
Ai Ling: I am a good Chinese daughter and my father has gone missing! I will leave home to find him.
Demons: So, yeah, we're here to kill you.
Ai Ling: Wow, my magic jade pendant is defeating you! That's cool.
Chen Yong: I am a mixed-race man who believes women should be in the kitchen. However, I feel drawn to you, so I'll protect you.
Ai Ling: That's cool. I feel drawn to you. Enough to spy on your innermost thoughts.
Chen Yong's hilarious younger brother: Yeah, hahaha. Wouldn't that be funny if Ai Ling was spying on your innermost thoughts, Chen Yong? That'd be like SPIRIT RAPE.
Ai Ling: Awkward!
Demons: So, yeah, we're here to kill you again! Randomly! 90% of the book is us attacking you, with no explanation.
Rather than creating rising action, tension, the book just seems to put Ai Ling into different situations so she could get cooler. Every action scene read like she's trying to beat this one demon to get points so that she can defeat the main bad guy (who isn't even introduced until 75% way through the book).
Even the love story is kind of tossed in. Both characters feel "connected" to each other and can't explain why, which had me saying, "NEITHER CAN I BECAUSE YOU HAVE NO CHEMISTRY."
I'd be interested to see if Pon manages to write a coherent plot in her next novel, but I won't be buying the book.
I guess that part of my issue with this book was the pacing. There was fabulous world building - the characters had different expectations/actions for emotions, and there was good detail on food and clothing, but the book itself seems to be a series of "and then this happens."
Ai Ling: I am a good Chinese daughter and my father has gone missing! I will leave home to find him.
Demons: So, yeah, we're here to kill you.
Ai Ling: Wow, my magic jade pendant is defeating you! That's cool.
Chen Yong: I am a mixed-race man who believes women should be in the kitchen. However, I feel drawn to you, so I'll protect you.
Ai Ling: That's cool. I feel drawn to you. Enough to spy on your innermost thoughts.
Chen Yong's hilarious younger brother: Yeah, hahaha. Wouldn't that be funny if Ai Ling was spying on your innermost thoughts, Chen Yong? That'd be like SPIRIT RAPE.
Ai Ling: Awkward!
Demons: So, yeah, we're here to kill you again! Randomly! 90% of the book is us attacking you, with no explanation.
Rather than creating rising action, tension, the book just seems to put Ai Ling into different situations so she could get cooler. Every action scene read like she's trying to beat this one demon to get points so that she can defeat the main bad guy (who isn't even introduced until 75% way through the book).
Even the love story is kind of tossed in. Both characters feel "connected" to each other and can't explain why, which had me saying, "NEITHER CAN I BECAUSE YOU HAVE NO CHEMISTRY."
I'd be interested to see if Pon manages to write a coherent plot in her next novel, but I won't be buying the book.