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The Elantian colonizers invaded Lan’s kingdom, killed her mother, and outlawed her people’s magic. Now, years later, she spends her nights as a song girl in Haak’gong, but during the day, she scavenges for what she can find of the past. For any information, really, to help her understand the strange mark burned into her arm by her mother in her last act before she died. The mark is an untranslatable Hin character, and stranger still, 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 whose magic was rumored to have been drawn from the demons. Magic believed to be long lost, 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 her mark, but he knows if there are answers about it, they lie deep in the pine forests and misty mountains of the Last Kingdom, with one of the last surviving orders of partitioning masters who plan to overthrow the Elantian regime.
For Lan and Zen, finding answers could mean putting both their lives at risk in the coming war. Both have buried secrets. And both may just hold the power needed to liberate their land—or destroy the world.
Song of Silver, Flame Like Night pulls inspiration from Chinese folklore and mythology, featuring demon creatures and a qi-based magic system.
The amount of time and effort the author spent creating a compelling and immersive world is evident through the writing, from details as small as the spices in food to the demon gods and their cosmology. It created a beautiful world that I would love to explore more. However, some readers may find that the world-building and info-dumping bogs down the story. A good deal of pages are dedicated to explaining the how and why of the character’s situation, providing enough background information to make the plot and the character’s actions understandable. At times, I found myself skimming paragraphs of information that kept interrupting dialogue.
Overall, it’s easy to see Song of Silver, Flame Like Night is set up as the first book in a series. With its explosive, action-packed finale, and its morally gray characters (who are trying to make the best decisions possible while trapped in the middle of war), it’s hard not to reach for book two. I’m looking forward to picking up the sequel and finding out what happens to the characters now that the hard work of understanding the world (hopefully) is behind me.
Rated: Moderate, for frequent violence, blood, and some gore. Four separate massacres are referenced, though most are remembered or witnessed by their aftermath, giving the illusion of graphic violence without offering too many detailed descriptions. A character experiences demon possession (while not portrayed in a favorable light, it’s still a source of power sought after throughout the story). Sexual content includes reference of teahouse girls working as prostitutes and the brief manhandling of a female character by a man intending to pay for sex. Profanity includes 6 uses of moderate language, 3 uses of mild language, and 2 uses of the name of Deity in vain.
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