Angsty romance, millennium-spanning intrigue, and fantastic worlds

Got slow-burn, angsty romance? Check.

Demon-spawned, millenium-spanning intrigues? Check.

Intricate imperial politics and cultivation sect rivalries? Check.

More time could have been spent on showing the relationships and motivations of the supporting characters, but there was still plenty of first-rate entertainment:

* Fantastic creatures--even a Cthulhu-like soul devourer.
* Gory battles in both the mortal and spirit worlds.

And even philosophy for those who enjoy it--and I definitely do. Here's an exemplary quote:

"The body was the way in which they loved one another; the body wasn’t the person that she loved."

My first complete read of a cultivation-inspired novel was thought-provoking and fun; I could even see this story make a splash as an anime.
( )

"Mortals aren't made for immortality. They couldn't bear the weight of the years, the memories. So, one by one, I stopped. And one by one, they died and left me." He looked at the flower in Zhu Guiren's hand, and reached out to touch it. "But they weren't afraid to go, they were ready. So that was my gift to them, that they didn't fear death."

Have you ever wondered what would happen if a phoenix were to fall in love? The Phoenix and the Sword sets out to examine that very question. This book travels through space and time as a phoenix tries to find their lost love as the characters have adventures in the real world and the spirit realm.

I usually love queer fantasy novels. This one is a little difficult to rate though. I absolutely loved the concept (the author based it off the Chinese contemporary genre of xianxia - cultivation magic) and greatly enjoyed the world building. But the first quarter or so (which takes place in the real world, in which Aili and Nora are about to be shipped out to a war zone to act as nurses) was incredibly confusing - and not in a good building mystery kind of a way. It was difficult to follow at times, with the location and seemingly even the point of view randomly changing. I had to go and reread a couple of paragraphs to try piece together what was happening. But once you get through the rocky start and reach the spirit world, the writing greatly improves and becomes much easier to follow, even with the duel timeline. The spirit realm seems much better developed and the writing feels more thought out and edited.

I would say that this novel is more of romance happening in a fantasy world rather than a romantic fantasy. There are two main queer couples - one who are in love and one who just met. There is a lot of pining and, although there are no sex scenes, some of the more *cough* make out scenes and sensual (possibly off page sexual) encounters are described in quite a lot of detail. So just keep that in mind if that makes you uncomfortable (or go for it if that makes you happy!) ( )

In a nutshell I would say this is a very slow-burn queer fantasy. It's romantic but I would definitely not say sexy. Not a lot of stuff happens with the main queer characters. Lots of longing but no fulfillment.

I did not like the beginning as I was a bit disoriented by it. Not a lot of history or world building beforehand so you have to piece it together. And at first, until you reach the spirit realm in the story, it's very confusing what's going on. The relationships are weird and awkward. It makes more sense later on but it took maybe a bit too long to get there.

Once they reach the spirit realm and a lot of truths are revealed, everything makes more sense and is being pieced together. However, I find the relationship between the main characters Aili and Tairei as well as Liu Chenguang and Hong Deming, frustrating. Lots of longing and love but no real action behind it. No movement towards fulfilling any of it which leaves you wanting more but in a frustrated way.

I enjoyed the history and mythology part of the story. The explanation of cultivation paths and sects were fun and interesting. The parts about demons and phoenixes were also interesting to read about. ( )