Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

This one is interesting to review. As described by the author, it is inspired by the traditions of Chinese Wuxia/Xianxia, but it is also a YA novel. Hence, I find that this novel does a lot of things wonderfully, but that it sets barriers to itself by trying to ascribe to two genres and two very different writing styles at the same time. It's not exactly a bad thing, but the novel gets in its own way sometimes with this choice.

I will preface this review by saying, however, that I adored this book. A few thing prevent me from giving it a full five stars rating, but I had a wonderful time reading this and I highly recommend it, at the very least for the prose and the character development, plus the very dramatic end section!

Why I loved it:
As I will discuss a bit further, I see this novel as a love letter to the Xianxia genre. It pays homage to the genre without trying to abide strictly to it.

Worldbuilding: Speaking of worldbuilding, the author brings to life a truly beautiful world with luscious landscapes and striking descriptions. The environment becomes alive in front of us and speaks for the love that the characters have for their land. The prose style is definitely a plus for me, as it allowed me to spend more time in this beautiful world that the author is bringing to life. The setting also allows for the depiction of the ravages of colonialism, not just on the land and on the people, but also on culture and hope for the future. I find that the beauty of the world emphasize the pain of the loss and the cost of difficult choices, which is rather the point, and so it worked in the favour of the novel.

Characters: Another great strength of this book is the characterization, specifically of the young generation of protagonists. Lan is someone that takes some getting used to, as she starts off a little bit whiney and skimpy. But as the novel progresses, she grows in maturity and the ambiguity of her character makes her decisions more understandable. Zen, however, I want to know more about! He is definitely a dark, broody character with a troubled past (a little too reminiscent of the trendy “bad boy that is actually good” in YA fantasy romance). But as the novel progresses, he makes some questionable choices that make him more than the unidimensional love interest he set out to be. And we get to see his soft side, and a genuine vulnerable moment between him and Lan that had me invested in their relationship! I also have a soft spot for Dilaya, which I think Lan treats rather poorly for most of the novel, but finally gets better by the end. I want to see more of her and her battle skills, and I am anticipating a lot of difficult decisions for her in the next book. But the two characters that stole the show for me were Shàn'jūn and Chó Tài. Herb Eater and Ghost Boy!! I will ship them to the end of the earth, please give us more time with these two!

A few issues:
My main complaint about this novel is that it tries to do too much at once. It tries to please both fans of Wuxia/Xianxia and western YA audience, and as such, it lands somewhat in the middle.

Pacing: The rhythm of the book is rather slow, especially in the beginning as we take more time to explore the land and explain the magic system. But it picks up in the last 100 pages or so and becomes a little bit hectic. While I liked the explosive ending, the rhythm lost me a little bit and came as a whiplash from all the description and exploration we have been getting since the beginning.

The ending:Right, this book took the “everyone dies at the end” to the next level. I think we lost over half of the people who were on the protagonists' side in the last 50 pages. And while I was pretty sad to see all of them go (I grew attached to the Masters of Skies' End), it made the deaths less impactful by their sheer numbers. And I'm also tired of seeing the older generation of a book having to die in order for the protagonists to learn how to manage by themselves. It has been overused, and I wanted to see all these Masters that were at the top of their ability be of some use to the protagonists in other significant ways than by dying to protect them. While I appreciate the sacrificing gestures, I think that a few less would have had a bigger impact in this context.

Inconsistencies in translation: The use of Chinese terms appears somewhat inconsistent in the book. For instance, some tools and items of clothing remained in Pinyin (dāo and jiàn are often used), but the names of places was fully rendered in English (for example, the Chamber of Waterfall Thoughts). I think I would have liked for the book to commit fully to one or the other. Also, the use of footnotes would have been of such help! I wish for the misconception that they discourage readers to go away, and for a full return of footnotes in novels!

About the genre(s):
First of all, I read this book at the best of times for me. I discovered the Wuxia/Xianxia genres earlier this year and I have been in love with them ever since. However, I admit to purchasing this book before that time, drawn in by the absolutely stunning cover (yes, give me a beautiful cover and I will fall for it). So when I figured out exactly what that book was, I happily dived in.

And that is where the mixture of writing traditions clashes a bit. As a novel written in English in the Xianxia genre, it appeals to a western audience, mostly YA, that may not have had come into contact with the genre before. However, much of this work is also done by translators who bring Chinese Wuxia/Xianxia stories to English-speaking populations (hence my difficulty to categorise this novel). As such, I feel like the novel tries to please many people all at once by placing itself in the middle ground. The many cultural explanations and direct translations of titles and relations, as well as the use of Pinyin, would help someone not familiar with the Xianxia genre to understand more of its context, but would sound repetitive and introductory to someone familiar with it. On the other hand, I found some worldbuilding and cultural elements underexplained, and some references were pretty obscure; as such, an unfamiliar reader such as myself a year ago, might have missed some of the richness of the culture that the author visibly wished to convey through her story.

A lot of misgivings regarding this book seem to come from the way it was marketed. As a YA novel many of its tropes make sense, as well as the fact that it doesn't seem like a historical fiction, but rather a definitive imaginary world inspired by cultural elements of the Wuxia/Xianxia genres. I went in warned about where it stands, and I had a better reading experience because of this knowledge.
Therefore, I recommend looking into what this book is before diving into this one. Which I still very much recommend, since I had such a fun time getting to know the characters and exploring their world, and following their adventures as their world gets more and more threatened. An overall great reading experience!