Secrets of the Weird
7.5
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"Trixie loathed her penis." That shocking revelation begins the emotional and personally horrifying...
Dining with the Rich and Royal
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Dining with the Rich and Royal is a marvelous journey into the gastronomic peccadilloes of the...
Egypt Marco Polo Guide
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Marco Polo Egypt: the Travel Guide with Insider Tips Experience all Egypt's attractions with this...
The Stranger (Jude Lyon)
7.0
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ISIS can’t control him. MI6 can’t find him. But he’s coming… Things change quickly...
A Traveler's Guide to the Afterlife: Traditions and Beliefs on Death, Dying, and What Lies Beyond
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Drawing on death and afterlife traditions from cultures around the world, Mark Mirabello explores...
Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) (530 KP) rated Fury of the Phoenix (Kingdom of Xia, #2) in Books
Jan 23, 2020
Note: Formatting is lost due to copy and paste.
*Warning: May contain minor spoilers from the previous novel*
Remember the evil sorcerer by the name of Zhong Ye from the previous novel, Silver Phoenix? In Fury of the Phoenix, the sequel to Silver Phoenix, it's been a few months after Zhong Ye's death and Ai Ling receives warning from a dream that Chen Yong is in danger. Knowing that, Ai Ling finds a way to try and find him.
During Ai Ling's journey, we go through a few flashbacks throughout the book entering Zhong Ye's life when he's just a worker in the Emperor's Palace (I'm not talking about the buffet) trying to climb up in rank to how he came to be in Silver Phoenix. Ai Ling and Chen Yong have also changed a lot and matured a bit (maybe a lot?) since the previous novel.
I'm not exactly sure what to make of the second (and I think final?) component to the Kingdom of Xia series. I personally picked up the series because it was based on Ancient China (just in general terms there are fictional stuff as well) and thought it would be really interesting to read. But staying away from the series actually, I never even knew a sequel existed until I joined Goodreads and then coming back to it has made me realize that I'm missing out in the world that Cindy Pon creates in Silver Phoenix and Fury of the Phoenix. In fact, I even miss the dumplings and buns. And that's coming from someone who has those often... :p I also want to visit China one day, though I certainly don't want to meet some of the unpleasant creatures both Ai Ling, Chen Yong and Zhong Ye encounter in the book.
Swimming For Beginners
9.0
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Funny. Heartbreaking. Life-affirming. Swimming for Beginners will show you how a child can...
Lonely Planet Iceland
Lonely Planet, Carolyn Bain, Brandon Presser and Fran Parnell
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Lonely Planet: The world's leading travel guide publisher Lonely Planet Iceland is your passport to...
Amy Christmas (171 KP) rated Half a King (Shattered Sea #1) in Books
Nov 27, 2017
Yarvi is our protagonist, a cripple that his father cast aside in favour of his 10 fingered brother, although Yarvi hated that he was ignored it allowed him to follow his own path and train to become a minister, an advisor to powerful people though he never gets a chance to pass the test. His plans dashed by his father and brothers deaths as he's forced to take the throne his father ruled from. During their funeral Yarvi swears to avenge them.
And he tries, even with his crippled hand but in such kingdoms we soon learn that betrayal is rife along with greed. Betrayed by one close to him Yarvi's reign ends abruptly on the battlefield.
After being made a slave he embarks on a journey that finds him rowing around the shattered sea and marching through snow. He manipulates small scale politics and finds himself on the sharp end of a few too many swords but with friends who seem fickle at first there to help him. However it seems that one of the group like Yarvi kept his true identity a secret and their is more to his uncles betrayal than meets the eye, because their are always more puppet masters.
And with a bittersweet ending the case is closed and the mystery solved, atleast one piece of it.
This book has a lot of death and makes you mourn those you thought you detested and hate those you thought you'd love. It's a fast paced action packed fantasy with a world of rich an wonderful colours and twists that are yelled at you from chapter one yet you still don't expect.
A very satisfying read because when you thought the betrayal was solved Abercrombie still held on to one final piece of the puzzle making for a bittersweet ending that really shows how far Yarvi has come, for better or for worse.