Perhaps it was thanks to my surreal expectations with it being compared to my favourite fantasy series of all time: the Poppy War, or perhaps it was because I read it in a few sittings and skimmed through it... whatever it was, I hardly remember anything and 50% in was resisting the temptation of a DNF. From her pose, the woman comes across as a fierce warrior. Let’s hope that she has the strength to face a cruel, vindictive god like the Phoenix. Yassen is a character who logically should have had a degree of moral complexity. There’s the very classic conflict in the trope of the reluctant assassin, which is always effective; the plot twist regarding Yassen’s allegiances gives it a unique flair. I do think, however, that this reveal would have been more effective had we not actually had his point of view in the novel at all. Since we did get to see his thought process throughout, it genuinely did not make sense that he has been keeping such a big secret from the audience. He’s not denying it to himself; so why doesn’t it appear in his inner monologue at all? This omission obscured key aspects of Yassen’s personality, making him feel generic as a character throughout the story and making it very difficult to feel invested in him. I wanted my POC characters to be ruthless and angry and vindictive. I wanted them to be selfish and loving and kind. I wanted them, simply, to be human and let the reader judge their actions.” Once again the Asur found themselves leaderless during a time of war. The clear candidate, Mentheus of Caledor, was dead, and none could agree on a suitable replacement. In the end Bel-Hathor, a wizard prince of Saphery was chosen and crowned. He was chosen because many in the Elven court believed that he could easily be manipulated to their own ends. They were proven wrong, and Bel-Hathor became a ruler as famed for his resolve as for his wisdom. The most notable example of this was his refusal to agree to an invasion of Naggaroth: while he was aware that the High Elves could likely destroy the Dark Elves in their weakened state, he feared that such a bloody and bitter war would leave so many dead that the extinction of the Elven race would be assured. He would not gamble his people's future simply for the satisfaction of revenge.

Similarly, I asked myself how people who live in a desert settled upon worshiping a fire god, and not a water one. Generally in mythology, people end up worshiping gods that offer something they want, such as a bountiful harvest, wisdom, fertility, etc.. But again, I never saw any direct benefits of worshiping the Phoenix, except that supposedly the royal family made a deal with her to found the nation of Ravence initially. And though Elena tells readers her father only focuses on his nation, and doesn’t do a good enough job taking care of his people, I never really see anyone suffering in the streets or crying out for the Phoenix’s aid. But anyways, as much of the novel centers around the Phoenix and the prophecy surrounding the rise of her mysterious prophet, who is foretold to burn the world, the actual benefits of worshiping the Phoenix seems like a very important question. I also would have really liked to learn more about the religion’s practices in general. There were priests and priestess, sayings that her followers uttered, and some ceremonies, but not a lot of actual substance beyond it. The war meeting that took place in " Nightmares and Daydreams" is revealed in full in this episode, also revealing the event that triggered Zuko's decision to betray his father and join Aang. Elena and Yassen however, were not given that courtesy. By the end of the novel, Elena was supposed to have experienced a moral decline; unfortunately, her initial motivations and characterisation were so unclear that it felt ingenuine, the reasoning behind her decisions flimsy at best. Elena felt, very fundamentally, like a Young Adult heroine. Her existing personality traits would have been compelling on a 16 year old, but on an adult woman naivete, daddy issues and a coming of age story arc feel almost incongruous. There’s nothing wrong with YA literature - some of my favourite books are YA fantasy - but TBWF was marketed as an adult SFF. It did not feel like one. Note: While I am reviewing this novel independently and honestly, it should be noted that it has been provided to me by Orbit for the purpose of this review. Warning: My review of The Phoenix King contains some spoilers! ] The Phoenix King is full of regrets and redemption This is something I had the most problem with- it is being heavily marketed as a romance. It is not romance. Romance is a subplot. The slow burn was kinda meh. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed their moments together. But if there was supposed to be pining, I didn't see it from Elena's side. I didn't see any vulnerability from her. Considering Samson's involvement, things could have been interesting but they were not. When Elena and Yassen finally kiss which is right towards the end, it does feel like a good moment but only for Yassen. Elena needs some emotions to her, desperately.The world building is fantastic. I loved that it’s kind of entwined throughout the entire story. You don’t get an overwhelming amount of information all at once. Some of it comes from dialogue, some is just woven into the plot. I really liked that it wasn’t just thrown at us. In the beginning and throughout this episode, Toph wears her Earth Kingdom uniform, but for the brief section of clips when Zuko tells Aang to roar like a tigerdillo, Toph is seen wearing her Fire Nation disguise. Toph is also shown in her Fire Nation disguise while she is on her "field trip" with Zuko. This also occurs with Katara shortly before Sokka claims that Appa must have eaten Momo.

Sokka makes a dummy, naming it the "Melon Lord", to use as practice for the group's strategy to take out the Fire Lord. The rest of the group, except Toph who acts as the Melon Lord's forces, creates a diversion to provide Aang with the opportunity to deliver the finishing blow. During training however, Aang fails to finish off the puppet, saying it did not feel right because of his peaceful nature. Irritated, Sokka slices the puppet's head in two to show Aang how it is done, leaving Aang nervous and worried.But the Phoenix watches over all and the fire has a will of its own. It will come for all three, will come for Sayon itself….and they must either find a way to withstand the blaze or burn to ash. Hi there. I'm Aparna Verma, author of The Phoenix King. Rather than giving a boring, highly produced publishing bio, I figured I'd personally write to you.

Come for the science fantasy worldbuilding and stay for the characters you just can’t get out of your head.” —Vaishnavi Patel, NYT bestselling author of KaikeyiThe kind of book you sit down with to read one chapter and end up spending the whole day on. Come for the science fantasy worldbuilding and stay for the characters you just can't get out of your head' I also wasn’t the biggest fan of the prose. It was mostly very direct and simplistic, but then had tons of expressions sprinkled in that felt forced and unnatural to me, like they desperately wanted to be quotable and poetic. Many of these sentiments also felt rather over the top and melodramatic to me as well, with not a whole lot of actual meaning behind them. For example: If there was one thing he could claim, it was this: that even in the darkness of death, he would know her.”

Later, Zuko teaches Aang the technique of lightning redirection. His explanation of how the lightning will be guided by letting one's own energy flow within their own body, thus using the opponent's energy against them, causes Aang to recognize its similarities to waterbending, with Zuko clarifying how his Uncle Iroh invented the technique by studying waterbenders. Zuko cautions that while the feeling of power by holding that much energy is exhilarating, it is also just as terrifying, as the user is aware that one wrong move could prove fatal. Aang asks if he has ever used it before, causing Zuko to recall the incident with his father. Aang thinks Katara would still be able to heal him if that happened, but she says she used up all of the spiritual healing water when Azula shot Aang with lightning before. Zuko stresses that against an opponent as vicious as Ozai, Aang has no choice but to take his life. Aang anxiously replies he will do just that. Aang meditates on the beach house porch, accompanied by Momo. He and Momo later fall asleep, and with the sudden appearance of a strange small island off shore, Aang is unconsciously drawn toward the island with Momo flying after him.It’s been a very long time since the last prophet rose. That prophet almost destroyed the world. King Leo Malhari of Ravence is certain that if a new prophet rises, they too will be a vengeful prophet that will devastate the world. His time of power is passing but he’s determined to pass on a safe and, more importantly, secure kingdom to his daughter before it does. The game begins with Aang and Ozai standing on two pillars. The player's role is to keep Aang out of Ozai's line of fire while also hitting Ozai with the Avatar's air blasts. If Aang is hit by Ozai three times, the player loses the game.