Phoenix Extravagant
Phoenix Extravagant book cover

Phoenix Extravagant

Hardcover – October 20, 2020

Price
$19.50
Format
Hardcover
Pages
352
Publisher
Solaris
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-1781087947
Dimensions
6.25 x 1.2 x 9.25 inches
Weight
1.29 pounds

Description

"Powerful. Unforgettable. This is another amazing piece of work." -- Stephen Baxter"A fiercely original and enchanting new fantasy." -- Adrian Tchaikovsky"This is a story about the intersection between art and culture; it's about how art isn't frivolous but vital, especially in times of turmoil. A thought-provoking and very timely book." -- SciFiNow ― SciFiNow “An arresting tale of loyalty, identity, and the power of art... Lee’s masterful storytelling is sure to wow.” -- Publishers Weekly ― Publishers Weekly "A story of art, love, human connection, the power of creation, colonialism, and the roles we all have to play in fighting oppression." -- Paul Weimer“A powerful, deeply moving book that is a wonderful read, without question one of the best of the year.” -- Every Book a Doorway ― Every Book a Doorway "The emphasis on art and painting gives the writing a poetic quality, added to by the elements of magic and mythology, which shows the depth of Lee’s research with a deft hand." -- The Nerd Daily ― The Nerd Daily "An elegant, eloquent novel, tense and full of incident." -- Locus Magazine -- Liz Bourke ― Locus Magazine " Phoenix Extravagant is a book containing ruminations on imperialism, the function and sanctity of art, acculturation, and the morality of love. It also contains a bloody big and unexpectedly adorable mechanical dragon." -- Jonathan L. Howard"Axa0gloriously imaginative silkpunk fantasy." -- SFX ― SFX "A lovely fantasy that eschews epic sturm und drang for small-scale challenges, full of tenderness, brutality, and quotidian living." -- Paul di Filippo, Locus Magazine -- Paul di Filippo ― Locus Magazine "Yoon’s story-telling is mesmeric." -- Starburst Magazine -- Ed Fortune ― Starburst Magazine Named one of the best books of 2020 by Den of Geek. ― Den of Geek Yoon Ha Lee 's novel Ninefox Gambit came out from Solaris in 2016 to massive critical acclaim and was short-listed for the Arthur C. Clarke, Hugo and Nebula Awards. It won the Best First Novel Award in the Locus Awards and the Reddit Fantasy Award. His story collection Conservation of Shadows was released by Prime Books in 2013. He lives in Louisiana with his family and an extremely lazy cat, and has not yet been eaten by gators.

Features & Highlights

  • The new blockbuster original fantasy work from Nebula, Hugo and Clarke award nominated author Yoon Ha Lee!
  • Dragons. Art. Revolution.
  • 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…

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
30%
(127)
★★★★
25%
(106)
★★★
15%
(64)
★★
7%
(30)
23%
(97)

Most Helpful Reviews

✓ Verified Purchase

Loved it!

This was a great, genre-bending read! It's got the feel of Korean historical fiction, with some magical paints, and even automatons made of wood! Add in a non-binary MC and some subtle romance (including a great sex scene was both descriptive but left a lot to the imagination), and you have a hit!

From the get-go, I loved how much world building was threaded into Jebi's daily activities. Readers learn a lot about the setting in the first couple chapters, but in a way that doesn't feel like info-dumping.

Our MC isn't the only non-binary character in the book and it was refreshing that both non-binary and gay characters were just a common part of the world. They weren't some special anomaly (viewed negatively or positively) , they just existed. Can we get more of this please!? I can't speak to the non-binary rep personally, but to me, it seemed very well done.

Also, automatons! Not only are there ones shaped like humans (but creepy and faceless), but there's a DRAGON. How can you not love a robot dragon? Especially one that has a caring and inquisitive personality like Arazi. The magical elements come into play with the paints that are used to write the grammar (which I thought of kind of like computer coding) which controls the automatons. I found the way the paints were created to be very interesting too - and it linked to the history of the world created here, to weave more world-building right into the story.

Phoenix Extravagant is a strange mix of calm and meandering, yet exciting and somehow it really worked! If any of this sounds at all appealing to you, I definitely recommend this read.
9 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Not this author’s best work

I’m a big fan of Yoon Ha Lee but this book was so bad. Flat characters and a painfully lame love story. So disappointed.
1 people found this helpful