Peasreads: Song of Silver, Flame Like Night (Song of the Last Kingdom Book 1)

 

Before you sit down to read this book, go ahead and preorder the second one. You won't want to wait to dive right into it. Trust me. I purchased this book as soon as I found out I was chosen to read and review the second one. I'm so glad I did. I want copies of both to be able to reread.

Song of Silver, Flame Like Night is the first in the Song of the Last Kingdom series. It is a fantasy inspired by ancient China and its mythology. I grew up watching Chinese kung fu movies set in ancient China. The characters dressed so beautifully, they would fly through the air with billowing sleeves and it was always so visually stunning. Amelie Wen Zhao has a way of word building that paints her characters, world, and the whole story so vividly in your mind. Just visually beautiful. 

But in rare moments like this, when the sun hung ripe and swollen as a mandarin over the glittering sea, there was still a shattered-glass beauty to be found in the remnants of a conquered land.- Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

I had just started reading, and when I got to the second paragraph I read a sentence that stopped me. The one above. I reread it and knew that I was going to love the richness of how the scenery and the characters were going to materialize in my mind. I came to find that this was consistent throughout the book. I could read the pain and desperation of people who were worn down from occupation. I could sense their pride as they also clung to whatever they had left of who they were at the core.

The story from the beginning grips you and you just want to keep reading to see what happens next. There are twists, turns, and surprises. The story flows well, and you'll fall in love with the characters. Not just the main ones, but many of them. 

You can read the description of the book below from the publisher below.

Description:

In a fallen kingdom, one girl carries the key to discovering the secrets of her nation’s past—and unleashing the demons that sleep at its heart. An epic fantasy series inspired by the mythology and folklore of ancient China.

“Perfect for fans of The Untamed. I loved it!” —Shelley Parker-Chan, bestselling author of She Who Became the Sun

Once, Lan had a different name. Now she goes by the one the Elantian colonizers gave her when they invaded her kingdom, killed her mother, and outlawed her people’s magic. She spends her nights as a songgirl in Haak’gong, a city transformed by the conquerors, and her days scavenging for what she can find of the past. Anything to understand the strange mark burned into her arm by her mother in her last act before she died.

    The mark is mysterious—an untranslatable Hin character—and no one but Lan can see it. Until the night a boy appears at her teahouse and saves her life.

    Zen is a practitioner—one of the fabled magicians of the Last Kingdom. Their magic was rumored to have been drawn from the demons they communed with. Magic believed to be long lost. Now it must be hidden from the Elantians at all costs.

    When Zen comes across Lan, he recognizes what she is: a practitioner with a powerful ability hidden in the mark on her arm. He’s never seen anything like it—but he knows that if there are answers, they lie deep in the pine forests and misty mountains of the Last Kingdom, with an order of practitioning masters planning to overthrow the Elantian regime.

    Both Lan and Zen have secrets buried deep within—secrets they must hide from others, and secrets that they themselves have yet to discover. Fate has connected them, but their destiny remains unwritten. Both hold the power to liberate their land. And both hold the power to destroy the world.

    Now the battle for the Last Kingdom begins.

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