Phoenix Extravagant

by Yoon Ha Lee

Overview

Dragons. Art. Revolution.

Gyen Jebi isn’t a fighter or a subversive. They just want to paint.

One day they’re jobless and desperate; the next, Jebi finds themself recruited by the Ministry of Armor to paint the mystical sigils that animate the occupying government’s automaton soldiers.

But when Jebi discovers the depths of the Razanei government’s horrifying crimes—and the awful source of the magical pigments they use—they find they can no longer stay out of politics.

What they can do is steal Arazi, the ministry’s mighty dragon automaton, and find a way to fight…

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781786183170
Publisher:	Rebellion Publishing Ltd
Publication date:	10/15/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	NOOK Book
Sales rank:	144,188
File size:	691 KB

About the Author

Yoon Ha Lee is an American science fiction and fantasy writer, known for his Machineries of Empire space opera novels and his short fiction. His first novel, Ninefox Gambit, received the 2017 Locus Award for Best First Novel.

Editorial Reviews

★ 04/13/2020

Lee (Hexarchate Stories) sets an arresting tale of loyalty, identity, and the power of art in a skillfully rendered fantasy world inspired by the Japanese occupation of Korea. The Empire of Razan conquered Hwaguk six years earlier, transforming it into Administrative Territory Fourteen. When Gyen Jebi, a nonbinary struggling artist, registers for a Razanei name to enhance their job prospects, their sister, Bongsunga, calls Jebi a traitor to their Hwagugin heritage and cuts off the financial support she had been providing. Jebi is left in no position to turn down a job offer from the Razan government’s defense sector, especially not when the recruiter threatens to arrest Bongsunga for her revolutionary ties should Jebi refuse. Jebi’s task is to destroy classic Hwagugin artworks, reducing them to a powder with magical properties that can be used as a pigment to paint codes onto automatons of war and program their behaviors. When Jebi secretly teaches the mechanical dragon they’re working on to speak, Jebi learns the devastating truth behind a recent massacre. But will Jebi be able to save their people and regain their sister’s trust? Readers need not be history buffs to appreciate Lee’s rich worldbuilding, but those with knowledge of Korean history will find the nuance and detail especially rewarding. Lee’s masterful storytelling is sure to wow. Agent: Jennifer Jackson, Donald Maass Literary Agency. (June)

Publishers Weekly

"An elegant, eloquent novel, tense and full of incident."

Locus

Phoenix Extravagant marks a different way of looking at Empire and power and living within, under, and against that than Lee’s first novels, but no less a powerful one. A fantastic, brilliant undertaking.

Waterstones Bookseller’s Review

... a smart, thought-provoking book, and one which feels incredibly timely.

SciFiNow 4 star review

Powerful. Unforgettable. This is another amazing piece of work, and I have the feeling I need to read it again to get it fully!

Stephen Baxter

"Phoenix Extravagant is a book containing ruminations on imperialism, the function and sanctity of art, acculturation, and the morality of love. It also contains a bloody big and unexpectedly adorable mechanical dragon."

Jonathan L. Howard

"A gloriously imaginative silkpunk fantasy."

SFX Magazine

"Yoon’s story-telling is mesmeric."

Starburst Magazine

A story of art, love, human connection, the power of creation, colonialism, and the roles we all have to play in fighting oppression."

Paul Weimer

"The emphasis on art and painting gives the writing a poetic quality, added to by the elements of magic and mythology, which shows the depth of Lee’s research with a deft hand."

The Nerd Daily

"A lovely fantasy that eschews epic sturm und drang for small-scale challenges, full of tenderness, brutality, and quotidian living."

Paul di Filippo

Fiercely original.

Adrian Tchaikovsky

A powerful, deeply moving book that is a wonderful read, without question one of the best of the year.

Every Book a Doorway

"A gloriously imaginative silkpunk fantasy."

SFX?

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