Book Review: Song of Silver, Flame like Night: by Amélie Wen Zhao

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Title: Song of Silver, Flame Like Night
Author: Amélie Wen Zhao
Genre: Fantasy, Mythology
Audience: Young Adult
Series: Song of the Last Kingdom #1 (of 2)
Next in Series: January 2024 anticipated release
Format read: Audiobook/Hardback
Publisher: Harper Voyager (UK) Delacorte Press (US, Penguin Random House)
Date read: 8 April 2023
First published: 28 February 2023
Content Warning: Violence, Death, Death of a parent, Colonization, War,

Long ago, the Heavens split
Like teardrops, its fragments fell to the ground

A piece of the sun bloomed into the Crimson Phoenix
A slice of the moon turned into the Silver Dragon
A shard of the stars gathered into the Azure Tiger
A splinter of the night became the Black Tortoise

And so the tale went, a sorrowful folktale of a fallen land forsaken by its gods.

Mini Review:

What if the myths and folktales were true?
Lan has a mysterious mark, acquired during the worst moment of her life. No one can see it but her, that is until she meets Zen.
Zen is a practitioner of magic and traditions lost to time, or more accurately stated, traditions eradicated by the Elantian colonizers.
When their paths cross, it’s more than fate, but what will be their destiny? This story is perfect for fans of xianxia and wuxia stories and is full of magic, fate and demons. I immensely enjoyed reading this story and spending some time in this world. It’s a brutal world, but full of mythology, hope and resilient characters. The mythology and history of this world is really well done and I look forward to seeing how the duology wraps up!

Kingdom before life, honor into death

Full thoughts:

The first in a new duology, this fantasy was such a good fit for me. I devoured it in three days, but would have loved to read it straight through. The story has so many things I enjoy, mythology, magic, folklore/myths that are more real than the main character wants to believe they are, a literal journey and adventure. The story is medium-fast paced, depending on how you feel about the prose. For me, it moved very quickly as I was very invested!

There are old gods and new gods, kind gods and fickle gods—and most powerful of them all are the Four Demon Gods.

I first encountered the four gods of Chinese mythology in Fushigi Yuugi, my first anime/manga love. This Japanese work of fiction used different names for the four gods, but the story was set in ancient China and these four Chinese gods played a major role. The premise for this story sounded like a lot of fun and I was super excited to read this story and experience the four gods mythology from a Chinese author. Her love for her heritage shines through and I am happy to have been along for the ride.

Power is always borrowed, never created.

Each chapter starts out with a quote from a work of text found in this world. I really enjoy this style of worldbuilding where there’s an epigraph at the beginning of different sections. Several are quotes from the “Book of the Way” or other guiding documents for the practitioners in this world. Some are decrees from an Emperor. Often they include some sort of sage saying or phrase which is referenced in other parts of the story.

Kingdom before life, honor into death

This phrase was said no less than five times in the story and also included as an epigraph, perhaps my favorite one. It fits the tone of the story well and I enjoy a good epic refrain.

“It’s all just folklore, Old Wei”

When our story starts, Lan has a lot of secrets and little answers. She’s doing better than a street orphan, but maybe not by much. She’s trying to find out what she can about the mysterious mark/scar/symbol her mother left on her wrist. She’s doing what she has to in order to survive.

The heroes in her stories had never bled.

Twelve cycles have passed since Lan learned the horrible truth that your heroes can die. Twelve years since she’s had to adopt a new name, a new method of keeping time and a new world order brought on by the Elantians. Their goal is to eradicate all Hin culture and they are not forgiving. Lan’s kept her mark a secret and her friends few. She dares not hope too much, but is resilient and takes her future into her own hands.

She would take it. She would no longer be the flower. She would be the blade.

Zen, the mysterious practitioner dressed like a court official, has secrets of his own. Together Lan and Zen share a bond, but will they work together or find themselves on different paths? How far is too far when you are just trying to survive?

A practitioner requires not only devotion of the body but that of the mind and soul. An obedient body with a traitorous mind is self-deception.

I immensely enjoyed reading this story and spending some time in this world. It’s a brutal world, but full of mythology, hope and resilient characters. The mythology and history of this world is well done and I look forward to seeing how the duology wraps up in 2024!

Notes on edition:

This gorgeous edition of the book was included in the February Illumicrate box. The hardback is fully designed, as well as the edges!
Full unboxing coming soon!