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A review by mweis
The Phoenix King by Aparna Verma
3.75
*I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*
I had this on my TBR when it was self-published as The Boy with Fire so I was excited when I saw it got picked up for traditional publishing by Orbit. Overall, I thought it was a really solid debut!
The Phoenix King is a tense political fantasy that follows 3 character POVs as they try to navigate a world on the brink of war. In the author's review, Aparna Verma says that she was inspired by the geopolitical tensions in India and the rise of nationalistic leaders in both America and India and it absolutely shows. Each of these characters make choices that show how hard it is to rule and the consequences of making decisions "for the greater good". On top of that, there is an interesting magic system that involves dance, prophecy and commentary on religious zeal, fantasy technology, and so much more.
I found the pacing dragged a little in the middle, but for the most part I was consistently compelled to keep reading and I never found myself hating being in any of the character perspectives. The romantic subplot did cumulate into a minor spicy scene at the end that to me, kind of came out of nowhere. But maybe that's because I didn't really care nor buy into the romantic subplot especially compared to the political machinations.
All that to say, I had a pretty good time with this and I would be very interested in continuing this series with The Burning Queen!
I had this on my TBR when it was self-published as The Boy with Fire so I was excited when I saw it got picked up for traditional publishing by Orbit. Overall, I thought it was a really solid debut!
The Phoenix King is a tense political fantasy that follows 3 character POVs as they try to navigate a world on the brink of war. In the author's review, Aparna Verma says that she was inspired by the geopolitical tensions in India and the rise of nationalistic leaders in both America and India and it absolutely shows. Each of these characters make choices that show how hard it is to rule and the consequences of making decisions "for the greater good". On top of that, there is an interesting magic system that involves dance, prophecy and commentary on religious zeal, fantasy technology, and so much more.
I found the pacing dragged a little in the middle, but for the most part I was consistently compelled to keep reading and I never found myself hating being in any of the character perspectives. The romantic subplot did cumulate into a minor spicy scene at the end that to me, kind of came out of nowhere. But maybe that's because I didn't really care nor buy into the romantic subplot especially compared to the political machinations.
All that to say, I had a pretty good time with this and I would be very interested in continuing this series with The Burning Queen!