My Thoughts:
This beautiful cover is powerful because as the story of Lan and Zen pulled me in, I forgot about this huge clue that is the cover. By the time I got to the clue, I was not only hooked on the story, but it was nearing the end of book 1.

This is a story of two very broken characters, Lan and Zen. They have lost their families to the Elantian colonizers. They carry scars and power that they either don't know about or that they are struggling to control. They are both very practitioners from long clan lines of practitioners. They are both the last in their line. On their way to try to outrun the winter magician and the large army of Elantian soldiers, the two young people are directly or indirectly responsible for hundreds of deaths, even some of the innocents that they are supposed to be protecting. Carve out time to finish this book. At 467 pages, you will need more than just a night.

This story is complicated because the two characters live on to fight another day, but there is no happy ending in sight. Perhaps that is the key to book 1s, which is to crush hope and bring readers back.

If so, I'm reluctantly in.

From the Publisher:
Once, Lan had a different name. Now she goes by the one the Elantian colonizers gave her when they invaded her kingdom, killed her mother, and outlawed her people’s magic. She spends her nights as a songgirl in Haak’gong, a city transformed by the conquerors, and her days scavenging for what she can find of the past. Anything to understand the strange mark burned into her arm by her mother in her last act before she died.

The mark is mysterious—an untranslatable Hin character—and no one but Lan can see it. Until the night a boy appears at her teahouse and saves her life.

Zen is a practitioner—one of the fabled magicians of the Last Kingdom. Their magic was rumored to have been drawn from the demons they communed with. Magic believed to be long lost. Now it must be hidden from the Elantians at all costs.

When Zen comes across Lan, he recognizes what she is: a practitioner with a powerful ability hidden in the mark on her arm. He’s never seen anything like it—but he knows that if there are answers, they lie deep in the pine forests and misty mountains of the Last Kingdom, with an order of practitioning masters planning to overthrow the Elantian regime.

Both Lan and Zen have secrets buried deep within—secrets they must hide from others, and secrets that they themselves have yet to discover. Fate has connected them, but their destiny remains unwritten. Both hold the power to liberate their land. And both hold the power to destroy the world.

Now the battle for the Last Kingdom begins.

Publication information:
Author: Amélie Wen Zao

Publisher: Delacorte Press (January 3, 2023)

Alright, bookworms Behold! As I give you a book with the magic of Fullmetal Alchemist and Mistborn, and the answer to, "What if Kitay had been the one to get corrupted by power?"
You know it's going to be a good book when it keeps surprising you despite using familiar tropes.

5 REASONS YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK!
1. the world-building and immersive writing gave studio ghibli
One of the most striking things about this book was the extremely thoroughly done worldbuilding. Be it the generation-long history of the country or the beautiful descriptions of the surroundings- it almost seemed lyrical. There is a lot of emphasis on the play of light and colors in the writing, like a stunning watercolor painting, is being described to you

So when that combination of excellent world-building and beautiful writing came together in this story, I was floored. This was one of the rare times that I didn't want to just skim through the descriptions, because this time I wanted to really take my time visualizing everything the author was trying to show the reader. It made for such a good reading experience.
As a writer, I really appreciated the metaphors, some of the clever turns of phrases, and the way the setting just captures the attention of the reader just as much as the plot or the characters.

Quote- "The Elantians spoke with the slow, unhurried slur of a people drunk on power."

2. the setting!!!!!!

The setting where the story takes place is also a plus point because we explore so many different kinds of locations in this world. We see sprawling grasslands and gorgeous lakes, waterfalls, a prison, an extraordinary magical school, and the dark, bustling streets of a colonized city.

Quote'-"This was where the illusion of the Last Kingdom ended and the reality of a conquered land began. Here the cobblestone streets carefully constructed by the Elantians after the Conquest faded to dust; the elegantly renovated facades and shiny glass windows gave way to buildings crumbling from disrepair."

It pulls quite a lot from Chinese mythology and folktales, such as the concept of yin and yang is central to the magic system, the four Demon Gods, and other kinds of magical creatures.
Listen, I am not kidding with that Studio Ghibli comparison. It genuinely feels like it makes for such an incredible animated movie, specifically with the whimsical and magical art style that Ghibli has.


3. the magic systems (yes, plural)

So in this world, there are two magic systems- one based on nature, and the other on the use of different metals. The first one, based on the use of energy or "qi" pulled from nature is used by the Hin people, that is, from whom our protagonists belong. And the metal-based magic system is used by the Elantians, who are the colonizing forces that have invaded the Hin land and now rule them.
In the beginning, I compared it to Fullmetal Alchemist because the philosophy and idea behind the qi magic are a little reminiscent of the former, with the focus on balance and equal give and take- and come to think of it, even a little Star Wars. Throughout the story, it is the question of how to use the magic and to what lengths can we use that, to create the thematic components of the story. The themes mainly concern themselves with these issues of magic and power.


Quote- "Everyone is born with qi inside them and around them- qi is the makeup of this world. It is the flow of water, the gusting of wind, the roar of fire and the steadiness of the earth. It is sun and moon and life and death. Some people have an affinity for channeling qi and weaving different strands of it into Seals. With training, they can cultivate their ability and become practitioners."

It matters a lot how is the magic used and where it is pulled from. It is incredibly fascinating and even though we really explore only one of these magic systems quite deeply, the other magic system that the Elantians use is one that I think we'll get to know more about in the second book.

4. hero corruption arc
The one thing- THE thing, imo, that I had no idea about going in this book, and the one that has made the most long-lasting impact on me- is this plotline. Because when I say I want character development, this is what I mean. Either a villain redemption arc or a hero embracing the dark side- give me any of these two in a book and I eat. it. up.
The character arcs are so well-executed, and the themes just fuel them forward. Even though it seems like quite a sad turn of events in a sense, it just made me so happy.
The themes of how power corrupts, and how much violence is justified are explored throughout the story. These come into play more in the second half, as the stakes get higher and we get closer to the breaking point of our character's resolves- that point where all their ideals and principles are shattered.

Quote- "This was the consequence of refusing power. This was the damnation of rejecting the idea of becoming gods: you became ruled by newer, crueler, merciless gods."

And then how we get to that point is also really interesting, because the path to corruption stems from this tremendous feeling of helplessness and powerlessness towards the inability of not being able to protect the people they love. And that then leads to this question "Is it justified to use whatever means of power necessary to fight against oppression?" In the qi magic system, the characters can use what is called the dark magic version of it (yin energies?), and the temptation of utilizing the incredible power that comes with it- despite however good the intentions are- is another one of the themes.

THIS is what actually adds that extra punch to the corruption arc- the very realistic and impactful questions behind that even make us the reader think that you know, if we had been in that situation with those choices same choices, maybe we would've made the same choices.

Quote- 'Strength without restraint and power without balance are akin to a path into darkness without light.

5. grumpy x sunshine (so, technically the characters)
We follow the story through the lens of our two main protagonists, Lan and Zen.
Lan (Lián’ér) is a young girl struggling to make a living in the streets of Haak'gong, and the only thing she fights for those days is protecting her friend at her place of work, and finding what a mark on her arm left by her mother means. She is stubborn and brave and playful. Not really 'sunshine' in the exact sense, since she is grieving and the place where she works is a traumatic experience in itself- but she's playful and funny and easy-going.

Quote-"Lan preferred not to believe that her fortunes lay in the hands of some invisible old farts in the skies—no matter how powerful they were meant to be".

Definitely a ray of sunshine, compared to our other main character Zen, who is a practitioner. He also has gone through an extremely traumatic experience in his past, and there is so much weight of that that he still carries today. As we slowly unravel his backstory, we see how so many of his decisions are informed by the things that happened to him when he was a kid. He is pragmatic, a complete stickler for the rules and laws. He reminded me a lot of Kitay from The Poppy War- really smart and principled but also so full of rage and sadness because of the oppression and loss that they've seen.
The dynamic between them is so enjoyable because they complement each other really well. They connect with each other because of their pasts, but they differ in how process and deal with things.

This book has potential to turn into a fantastic series. Going in, I was not familiar with much Chinese mythology, so this opened new doors for me. In this book we follow an orphaned girl who is searching for answers about the strange scarring on her wrist. It appears to be some kind of seal. In her journey, she meats Zen, who is on his own journey. We see them forge a path to find answers. As they learn more, we see the story moving though many emotions - love, revenge, and courage. Overall, a good first book to a series. I'd recommend it for YA and adults who like fantasy.

The newest series by the author of the Blood Heir trilogy, Song of the Last Kingdom, opens with Song of Silver, Flame Like Night. A YA fantasy rich with magic and history, Song of Silver, Flame Like Night, tells the story of Lan, a young Hin songgirl in a land conquered by the Elantian colonizers. Forced to perform for her oppressors, Lan's life is a tapestry of loss and resilience. She has only one reminder of the mother who was killed by Elantian soldiers 12 years ago - a scar in the shape of a Hin character no one has ever seen. When her path crosses with a young practitioner - a man who channels qi to create what Elantians call magic - he recognizes her as containing a specific signature of qi that speaks of demonic energy. The two escape to the wilderness and agree to work together to unravel the message left behind by Lan's mother in her scar and to train Lan in the art of practitioning.

What follows is a painful, hopeful meditation on power and on whether or not the ends ever justify the means. A heartbreaking war story reminiscent of The Poppy War, Song of Silver, Flame Like Night, is a gut-wrenching, stunning start to a duology. I cannot recommend this highly enough.

Thanks so much to Amélie Wen Zhao and Random House Children's for this ARC through NetGalley.

a powerful start to a new duology.

<i>song of silver, flame like night</i> is a deft exploration of choice and the loss of culture and history under colonialism set against the backdrop of a lush, vibrant fantasy world, but the plot itself relies too heavily on predictable YA fantasy tropes.

the world-building, while unique and intricate, is often presented in a rather clunky way. i felt like i was being spoonfed information, and it was so repetitive at times—yes, i remember what happened a few pages ago! in spite of that, i was invested in lan and zen’s journeys (and appreciated their alternating POVs) and the last 25% redeemed the book for me. it was WILD.

I finally finished this amazing Ya Fantasy book and it was so good! I loved how it was from 2 characters povs because those are my favorites!
Song of silver, flame like night is a ya fantasy book that about a girl name Lan and she discovered she has to save her kingdom from taking over from it's enemy! She must go on a quest to find out how she can save the kigndom and use her Qi magic to stop them.
I really enjoyed how short the chapters were and I flew through this and couldn't put it down once I got to page 150 it was so much action packness and I cannot wait for book 2! Sadly have to wait till next year for book 2 though):

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's for the eARC.

This book was 3 stars for me.

Pros: Lovely prose and extensive worldbuilding.
Cons: Lovely prose and extensive worldbuilding.

The book was beautiful, with lots of detailing, which slowed down every scene. I skimmed entire sections because there was SO MUCH INFORMATION thrown at us. There was even a history lesson in there, which I skipped entirely. The narrative and description were very sensory but so overwritten.

This style works for some, but it's not my favorite.

I also found the main character to be unlikeable at times and downright immature for a song girl in a Teahouse. For example, she used insults like: 'big, steaming bowl of turd,' 'ratfart,' 'dogfart,' and 'old farts.' These completely pulled me out of the book and made me dislike the main character more.

A deeply compelling fantasy. The author of this manages to craft a beautiful sense of setting and tension. That being said, I found the first half of this book to be a bit slow, which impacted my ability to get into it. Still, it was a fascinating read!

“Teach me to be powerful, so that I will not have to watch another person I love fall…”

Overall vibes rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️, I’m just going to call it, I think this book could easily end up being my favorite new read of 2023. It’s certainly my favorite thus far. This book has everything and its executed so beautifully, it’s truly a masterpiece. The magic system is delicate and powerful, the main character is the definition of “soft and strong”, and the romance OH MY GOSH THE ROMANCE. It’s poetry. It genuinely felt like a privilege to witness these two fall in love. This author notes at the beginning of the book that she is “tired of Chinese girls being portrayed as beautiful, fragile flowers. I want to be a blade.” Goal accomplished. It is a story inspired by the damage of colonialism and is “an interrogation of and response to history” and she delivered in one of the most beautiful stories I’ve read. You will be left aching and full of agony but also hope.

Fat-friendly rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️, pretty neutral, very minimal talk of bodies, yay!

Spice rating: The most beautiful and delicate and passionate kisses

Recommend?: I will never STOP recommending this book! 😭🥹🫶🏻

Song of Silver, Flame Like Night launches a thrilling fantasy series based in Chinese folklore. Since I read a digital copy, I genuinely didn’t realize it was such a long novel until I had already finished and was marking it on Goodreads—the pacing is slow and steady, leaving ample room for worldbuilding and character development while delivering action-packed climaxes toward the end. 

I can’t definitively say that I liked Lan as a character, but I sympathized with her even when I didn’t support her decisions. She maintains her scrappy vitriol while learning to care about protecting the greater good, which reminded me vividly of Rin from R.F. Kuang’s The Poppy War (one of my all-time favorite books). I wish we had seen Lan learn more from her previous actions, but I have a feeling a lot of consequences will be fully brought to light in the sequel. 

Zen fits many YA mysterious bad boy protagonist archetypes, but I really enjoyed the glimpses of character depth, and the ending strongly establishes his future development. I found his dialogue rather robotic, especially in contrast to Lan’s, which I’m guessing might have been intentional. Because of this, I didn’t believe too strongly in their romance, though I agree that their personalities are otherwise well-matched.

In terms of the magic system, I was still a bit confused about how it came to be appropriated by the Elantians, and only a select few at that. The Elantians, in general, appeared very monolithic, though I did admire the nuance with which Zhao addressed the lack of "black" and "white" in the narrative. I also can’t speak to how accurately Song of Silver, Flame Light Night incorporates practitioning since I’m not familiar with xianxia/wuxia, but to an untrained audience, it wasn't clearly defined. Since Lan's training was so brief, I don't have a solid understanding of the different schools of practitioning, nor do I entirely understand what differentiates a practitioner from a non-magic user.

Despite its predictability, I enjoyed the musical language and the ferocity with which Zhao tackles colonialism. This series has potential in the realm of YA, and I hope that it comes to fruition.

Song of Silver, Flame like Night by Amélie Wen Zhao
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This is the first book in a new YA fantasy series.

Lan is a young girl living in her homeland that is under the rule of a conquering nation. She despises them though because she watched them kill her mother. All she has left of her mother is a scar on her wrist of an unknown seal. Searching for clues to the seal she comes face to face with Zen, who is also fighting the ruling empire in his own way.
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What I liked:
-I loved all the mythical mysteries in this story.
-There were some clever reveals throughout the book that I greatly enjoyed.
-I loved the school and all the people we met there.
-Lan and Zen were cute together and I am looking forward to seeing where things go in the next book, especially after that ending in Song.
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4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This was a really fun start to a new fantasy series.

Solid book, no real notes but it’s firmly in the YA camp in a way in which I’m realizing isn’t to my liking anymore.
It’s very idealistic in the way it tackles colonial violence and the use of violence against colonial forces.

Overall: Special thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thoughts:

I had a lot of fun with this! I haven't read a lot of books based off of asian, specifically Chinese mythology, in fiction before so I liked exploring the folklore and the the different mythological creatures in this book! I did think the writing was a little dense for a YA book, but the more invested into the story that I got, the more I just went with it and enjoyed the story.

There were a LOT of twists and turns in here, and I can't wait to read the next book!!

Zhao created a compelling universe and story with this book. I haven't seen a magic system that revolves around seals before so that was a fun aspect. I also loved that this was an Asian inspired fantasy: we don't see enough of that. I also thought that the character were realistic in their behavior and motivations. Finally, I liked the way there were little hints to various plot points but it didn't feel overly obvious to me when I got to them.

This was an excellent read that I found myself saying, "One more chapter" several times throughout. It was so beautifully written, with such wonderful storytelling and diction along with relatable, realistic characters

This is so clearly a love letter to Chinese culture, history, and mythology. On the other hand, it is a very clear commentary on the horrific destruction of colonialism and how to fight against it. I felt the topic was expertly handled, with a very real discussion/debate happening between the characters being brutalized on how to fight back effectively.

The mythological aspect is phenomenal, too; the four gods of Chinese mythology have been used for many different stories, and this one took a turn that was subversive compared to other mainstream media that portrays them. It fits within the anti-colonialism narrative perfectly and seamlessly, a great way to show the differences between the colonists and those being colonized.

All exposition was natural and easy to understand, as Lan was taught the Way. I (though admittedly biased, as a musician myself) really loved the use of music as a way to channel qì among the many different techniques displayed throughout the book. Again, a loving reverence for the arts is clear here, pulled from millennia of real history.

I sincerely cannot wait for the next book personally and it makes me happy that it is a series, even though (spoilers) it had looked like it was going to wrap up with just the one book and probably could have--many kids these days have grown accustomed to serial reading and I think this will very much engage them and satisfy that need for a multi-part, in-depth story.

I don't know when books based on Chinese folklore became an instant must read for me, but here we are. With excellent source material and in the pen of a gifted writer, the story becomes timeless and epic. Highly recommend!

Everything about this Chinese folklore-inspired fantasy is utter perfection, from the characters you can empathize with from page one to the perfectly logical yet still utterly mystical magic. It's as much a story of the conquered fighting and resisting their conquerors as it is the story of one girl trying to figure out her past and her purpose.
Lan is a great character to guide readers through the story because she knows more than she's telling, but she also has a lot of questions. It's a nice play on getting information from characters and Lan figuring things out on her own. And Zen is a great male lead that follows a path that's obvious from the very beginning but, oh, so satisfying to follow. You can't help but root for them and want them to find a way to help their people against the awful Elantian colonizers.
Be ready to hate absolutely everything about colonization (as if you already didn't) because the author did a fantastically realistic job of writing out how they systematically annihilate a culture they blindly think is lesser than their own only because it's different. I confess to spending a couple of pages raging mad.
I can't wait to catch up with the characters once again in the next book. This one has the potential for greatness.

Very happy thanks to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for the phenomenally fantastic read!

I adored this book and it immediately made me pick up the author’s other books to read eventually! I loved the page of the story and the flashbacks that we get to give us context to different scenes as they happen. The characters are so three dimensional and felt very consistent with their personalities. These two bickering could have been the entire story and I would’ve loved it too. The world building was so interesting and I was blowing through this story!

This took me so long to finish 😅

I really wanted to love it. But sadly, I never quite did. I think if you've ever watched a xianxia or wuxia drama can almost predict what will happen here.

It wasn’t until the last 70% or so that I felt invested in any way.

I will say though. I’m Team Zen. His sacrifice makes perfect sense and in the end, Lan and her gang are kind of doing what he intended in the first place: same thing, different font.

This was such a good time! It really hit it's stride in the second half, and I could not put it down. The plot twists combined with the Chinese based folklore were stellar!