Fury of the Phoenix
By Cindy Pon
Publication date: March 29, 2011
My review:
In this sequel to Silver Phoenix, Ai Ling sneaks aboard a ship to follow Chen Yong as he looks for his birth father. Ai Ling believes that Chen Yong's life is in danger but he seems less than pleased to find her along for the journey. They pretend to be brother and sister while onboard ship and Ai Ling struggles to hide her feelings for Chen Yong who treats her as just a friend. As they travel, they face dangerous obstacles and Ai Ling is also disturbed to find that she is recalling memories that are not her own. She must figure out the truth before it is too late.
Fury of the Phoenix is told from the perspective of Ai Ling in the present and Zhong Ye in the past. This gives it a slightly different pacing from Silver Phoenix, which was more action packed with one danger following another. While there is still plenty of adventure here, the slower pace allows us to observe Ai Ling's struggles with past decisions, her worries over Chen Yong's safety and their relationship, and the worries she has over her own new abilities and memories. We also see Zhong Ye and Silver Phoenix in a new light as we discover their story through Zhong Ye's eyes. It gave his character more depth and helped me understand the events in Silver Phoenix more.
The one thing that disappointed me a little was the conclusion of the journey. It was all too easy for Chen Yong to find his father and he seemed to quick to forgive his abandonment. There is a great amount of detail about Xia and we are given a full picture of Ai Ling's world but the same cannot be said for Jiang Dao, the homeland of Chen Yong's father. I also didn't care for the two new characters introduced at that point. Thankfully, Ai Ling and Zhong Ye's story became the main focus again and I enjoyed the conclusion of their story. Overall I thought this was an excellent sequel. Ai Ling is a fantastic heroine and I will miss reading about her. I would suggest this series to fans of the Eon series by Alison Goodman.
Readalikes: Eon by Alison Goodman, Gateway by Sharon Shinn, Wild Orchid by Cameron Dokey, the Glass series by Maria V. Snyder, Zoe Marriott
*Enter to win a copy of Silver Phoenix or Fury of the Phoenix in my 1st Blogoversary Giveaway. Deadline: February 21, 2011*
Note: I read and reviewed an ARC of this book as part of a tour, courtesy of Star Book Tours
I can't wait to try this :) Great review!
ReplyDeleteI have to get Silver Phoenix it has been on my wish list forever, and strangely enough I got the sequel at a conference I went to. Great review. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI really can't wait for this one! I read Silver Phoenix last year, and it was probably one of my favorite reads of 2010. I've also never read the Eon series by Allison Goodman, but I'll have to give them a shot since you recommended it as a read-a-like. Thanks!
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