Song of Silver, Flame Like Night Series: Song of the last kingdom #1 Published by HarperCollins Publishers Limited on February 15, 2024
Genres: Fiction / Action & Adventure, Fiction / Coming of Age, Fiction / Fantasy / Epic, Fiction / Fantasy / General, Fiction / Fantasy / Historical
Pages: 480
Goodreads
Reading Challenges: Beat the backlistIn 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 new fantasy duology inspired by Chinese mythology.
Once, Lan had a different name. Now, she goes by the one the Elantian colonizers gave her. She spends her days scavenging for remnants of the past. For anything that might help her understand the strange mark burned into her arm by her mother, in her last act before she died.
No one can see the mysterious mark - until the night Zen appears at the teahouse and saves her life.
Zen is a practitioner, one of the fabled magicians of the Last Kingdom, whose abilities were rumoured to be drawn from the demons they communed with. Magic believed to be long lost. Magic to be hidden at all costs.
Both Lan and Zen have secrets buried deep within. 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.
A ferocious tale of romance and fate, SONG OF SILVER, FLAME LIKE NIGHT is a gift to those seeking adventure with a mythological twist.
Perfect for fans of DAUGHTER OF THE MOON GODDESS by Sue Lynn Tan, THE FINAL STRIFE by Saara El-Arifi, and IRON WIDOW by Xiran Jay Zhao.
Review:
Song of Silver, Flame Like Night is a magic-filled, dark fantasy with a unique magic system and a different type of gods and mythology narrative than I’ve read before.
We follow an alternate between two characters – Lan and Zen. Lan is hiding in plain sight – the last of her clan after the Elantians slaughtered them. Zen is also the last of his clan, looking for someone after finding a contact he was due to meet murdered. The pair collide and flee Lans current home after Elantians catch up with them both. There are two types of magic in this story: Qi used by the Hin (traditional clans) and metal magic used by the Elantians (enemies of the Hin), and both are fascinating. The mystery around Lan’s magic is very involved, and the dark secret that Zen is hiding is so heartbreaking. I am not sure what choice I would have made had I been in Zen’s shoes.
I loved the host of Hin characters in this story and can’t wait to see where book two leads after the shocking ending of book one.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
This one sounds really good! Is it YA? I felt like I saw it as a YA book somewhere. Great review!
Yes this is a young adult and it a two book series.