Thursday, April 14, 2011

Fury of the Phoenix by Cindy Pon

Fury of the PhoenixFrom Goodreads:

The Gods have abandoned Ai Ling. 
Her mysterious power haunts her day and night, and she leaves home—with just the moon as her guide—overwhelmed by her memories and visions and an unbearable sense of dread. For Ai Ling knows that Chen Yong is vulnerable to corrupt enchantments from the under-world. How can she do nothing when she has the skill and power to fight at his side? A dream has told her where he is, the name of the ship he is traveling on, his destination. So she steals off and stows away on board. 
The ocean voyage brings with it brutal danger, haunting revelations, and new friendships, but also the premonition of a very real and terrifying threat. Zhong Ye—the powerful sorcerer whom Ai Ling believed she had vanquished in the Palace of Fragrant Dreams—is trapped in Hell, neither alive nor dead. Can he reach from beyond the grave to reunite with Silver Phoenix and destroy Chen Yong? And destroy whatever chance Ai Ling has at happiness, at love? 
In this sequel to the acclaimed novel Silver Phoenix, four lives are woven together and four destinies become one, now and forever.
This book is a beautiful second book for Ai Ling and Chen Young. The first book, The Silver Phoenix (my review) had more a lush and lyrical world that revolved in the background. Since this book mostly takes place on a ship, it does not have that same background, so the characters become all important. This is good as the characters were captivating. This is not to say that the last third of the book didn't capture that same lushness as the first once they landed. It did. You were able to see strange lands through Ai Ling's eyes. Also, the first book was more a story adventure of 3 friends solving a mystery. In this book a mystery abounds but is connected to the first story. For me, this story answers questions I had left in the first book.

The mystery here revolves around Zong Ye, the evil mastermind in the first book. We are connected to his story through Ai Ling and we begin to understand how and why he became so destructive and how the Silver Phoenix fell in love with him in the first place. I really enjoyed this as we start to see that he did not start out as some mythical evil creature, but was human just like all of us. We get to see evil though greed start to develop. Ah... and as interesting as that may (or may not) sound... I will tell no more because I will not spoil anything! *evil grin* The adventure's key is within Zong Ye's adventure.

I give this book 4 1/2 stars. It is a great sequel to The Silver Phoenix. Yes, you may faint since I did read these in order. In fact, I would say that they need to be read in order, which isn't too hard since there are only 2 books here. :) This ending is complete and I don't think there will be another in this series, but I would enjoy reading more if there ever was another book. 

I received this ARC from the publisher, Harper Collins and no compensation for my review was given.

18 comments:

  1. Glad to see this is getting great reviews! I can't wait to read my copy.

    ReplyDelete
  2. For some reason this reminds me of a story typical of Norse mythology. A great review, this seems to be a very poular read - I'll have to see if our library has a copy.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I bought The Silver Pheonix so darn you for breaking me out of my normal reading patterns LOL

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have both this and The Silver Phoenix on my TBR. I am really looking forward to reading the boos.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh my gosh you read in order! I fully expected you to say you hadn't read The Silver Phoenix yet:) I haven't read either of these, but the world sounds beautiful and I love that the questions you had from that book were answered in this new one. Nice review Melissa!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I really need to read these books! I have read nothing but great reviews about them. Nice review!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Yes, you may faint since I did read these in order.

    I am fainting but just before I am left unconscious next to my computer I would like to say how much I would like to read these two....

    Ana faints for good

    ReplyDelete
  8. That's another series I didn't know I wanted to read until I read your review! Damn...my wishlist is starting to resemble a novel itself! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  9. One thing though, when I see this cover I do not connect the two books..

    anyway, sounds great :D Of course I must read the other book first

    ReplyDelete
  10. @LM... oh you will enjoy it.

    @...Petty... could be. A lot of mythologies seem to be close even from different parts of the world.

    @Felicia... :D

    @Misha... I loved the Silver Phoenix. Hope you enjoy them both!

    @Jenny... I know...in order! Don't faint! ;)

    @Savannah... You needs them! Needs them now! ;)

    @anachronist... *brings smelling salts* *fans Bridget* ;)

    @Mel... Ha ha! You are one of us! One of us! ;D

    @Blodeuedd... Well, it does connect with the paperback cover. I refuse to show that one. :D

    ReplyDelete
  11. You are rotten. very very rotten! I think I need this series now. ;) Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  12. @Melissa... *sniffs underarm* No, I don't think I'm rotten... ;D

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh okay. :) Must have been one of the girls here. ;D

    ReplyDelete
  14. I love the Chinese elements of this series - too bad the cover for the second one doesn't reflect that. However, the book trailer does evoke suspense and adventure.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Great review Mel! I gotta check out this series =)

    ReplyDelete
  16. *faints*

    I almost don't believe it, Mel!

    Well, it certainly seems like I'm missing out by not having read these books yet. It definitely appeals to me with the satisfactory ending you described.

    ReplyDelete
  17. First time I see this series, the cover reminds me a lot of the Darkest Powers series by Kelley Armstrong. Also that trailer is awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Ooooh this looks awesome! Every freaking time I come here I'm adding more books to my TBR list!!

    <3 You!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for commenting! I ❤ comments!