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A review by sarahannkateri
Fox and Phoenix by Beth Bernobich
3.0
Strange things are happening in the land of the Seventy Kingdoms. The magic flux that runs through the land is disappearing, there are whispers of courtly plots and machinations, and the King of Long City is dying of a suspicious disease. Sixteen-year-old Kai is no stranger to adventure...Last year he and his friends helped Princess Lian find her heart's desire, winning her friendship in the process. When a ghost dragon tells Kai he must travel to the Phoenix Empire to tell Lian about her father's sickness and bring her home, it's up to Kai and his friend Yun to once again save the day.
I looked at other reviews of this, and I am so glad I'm not the only one who was like "what the heck is going on? is this a sequel?" Apparently, although this is the first novel set in this world, it's a sequel to a short story the author published online. Although Bernobich tries to include the backstory in this book, I still had a hard time figuring out what was going on, and if I wasn't reading this for a requirement, I would have stopped reading somewhere in the first chapter.
The book does get better once the exposition is out of the way, but I never grew to love it. The character of Kai is immature and often annoying, and I never really understood why he and other characters were reacting to things like they did. Everyone seemed so histrionic - often yelling at each other and having arguments that could have been easily resolved... Although Bernobich put a lot of effort into world-building, I found the magic to be confusing. I liked that it was creative and not a typical fantasy world, and the spirit animals were pretty cool, but I couldn't get rid of the feeling that I was missing something.
This would be a good choice for traditional fantasy fans, especially those who have an interest in China or Japan. If I was recommending it to someone, I'd probably advise them to read the short story first so they knew what was going on.
I looked at other reviews of this, and I am so glad I'm not the only one who was like "what the heck is going on? is this a sequel?" Apparently, although this is the first novel set in this world, it's a sequel to a short story the author published online. Although Bernobich tries to include the backstory in this book, I still had a hard time figuring out what was going on, and if I wasn't reading this for a requirement, I would have stopped reading somewhere in the first chapter.
The book does get better once the exposition is out of the way, but I never grew to love it. The character of Kai is immature and often annoying, and I never really understood why he and other characters were reacting to things like they did. Everyone seemed so histrionic - often yelling at each other and having arguments that could have been easily resolved... Although Bernobich put a lot of effort into world-building, I found the magic to be confusing. I liked that it was creative and not a typical fantasy world, and the spirit animals were pretty cool, but I couldn't get rid of the feeling that I was missing something.
This would be a good choice for traditional fantasy fans, especially those who have an interest in China or Japan. If I was recommending it to someone, I'd probably advise them to read the short story first so they knew what was going on.