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| Song of Silver, Flame Like Night by Amélie Wen Zhao |
Book title:
Song of Silver, Flame Like Night
Author:
Amélie Wen Zhao
Genre:
Young Adult fantasy
Published: January
3, 2023
459 pages
My rating:
4/5
“The Elantians destroyed everything that made the roots of our kingdom: our culture, our education, our families and principles. They wish to take us out on our knees, to subdue us so that we will never lift our heads again. But what they do not know is that, so long as we live on, we carry inside us all that they have destroyed. And that is our triumph, that is our rebellion.”
For years, the Hin kingdom has been occupied by the Elantians, a metal-magic wielding nation determined to destroy the Hin culture. Eighteen-year-old Lan entertains the occupiers by night and by day scavenges the remnants of the past for anything that might help her understand the mysterious mark her mother left her right before she died. She meets Zen, a practitioner of forbidden Hin magic, who saves her life and teaches her to use magic. Together, they hold the power to liberate their land – or to destroy it.
Song of Silver, Flame Like Night is the first book in the young adult fantasy duology Song of the Last Kingdom. I have to admit I’m not one hundred per cent sure how I feel about this book. I enjoyed the story and thought the description of colonialism and oppression was well-done, but at the same time there were a few things that stop me from giving it five stars. The first is the writing style. The text was slow to read, and especially the first half of the book was full of exposition that was done in a clumsy and info-dumpy manner.
The world building was intricate and detailed, and the qi-based magic system was, literally, magical. I did have a few issues with the world building, though. The Elantian magic system never felt as well-developed as the Hin system, which is probably due to the point-of-view characters not fully understanding how it works.
A bigger issue for me was the Hin culture and history. It’s clearly influenced by Chinese history, culture, and literature, and there were a lot of allusions and references that even I, who has a limited knowledge of Chinese history and culture, could pick up. And there must have been a lot of things that I missed! The world felt like an alternate universe China with added fantasy elements. I found that distracting, as I felt I was constantly juggling the real world and the story world. I guess I prefer my fantasy worlds one or two steps further removed from the real world. I’m sure that’s just my personal preference, though.
The third thing I felt iffy about was Lan’s character. She is a determined, feisty, and
sharp-tongued yet powerless girl who learns to use her powers. Nothing wrong
with that; I love strong female characters. The problem is that too many (specifically young adult) books have a female main character exactly like Lan. I can’t think of a single thing that would set her
apart from so many other young adult heroines, which is really unfortunate as I do enjoy characters like her. I just wish there had been something more
in Lan.
I don’t usually like morally gray characters, as moral grayness is often just an excuse for the characters to act like assholes. For Zen, however, it worked. I think it was because deep down, he was a likable character to whom horrible things had happened. I understood why he made the decisions he made, and his gradual descent to the dark side made sense. This book was a perfect example of a corruption arc done right. I do hope that in the second book in duology, he gets a redemption arc, though!
Despite my misgivings, I definitely want to continue with the series. I’m giving this book four stars, and I would recommend this to anyone who loves young adult fantasy. Maybe the things that bothered me won’t bother you.
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