Pheonix Extravagant review

Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee

The rundown: Jebi (they/them) just wants to paint and politely turn a blind eye to their country’s occupation by the Razanei but is having a frustratingly hard time finding a job. One day they’re “recruited” to paint the magical sigils that animate the occupying government’s automatons in the Ministry of Armor’s underground laboratories. There they learn the terrible secret of the Ministry’s magical pigments and, finally deciding they can no longer ignore what’s happening, hatches a plan to free the automaton war dragon kept in chains. 

The review: Jebi is a great main character - they’re such an unconventional choice for the hero in a book about revolution. They don’t want to be a revolutionary, even after they conclude that they can’t remain willfully ignorant or uninvolved any longer. Jebi is not a badass, they never learn to fight, and they never become a resistance leader. Jebi is a true everyday hero, and it is so REFRESHING. The fairly light tone despite the heavy themes reflects Jebi’s character well, and their POV also creates some interesting blind spots for the reader. There are some things we don’t know much about because Jebi doesn’t know and, for the most part, doesn’t care. I was okay with that. Jebi’s ignorance also results in some clever, funny Othering of Westerners that earned some chuckles (they don’t know that red-headed people exist and are fascinated when they meet an “orange-haired personage” lol). The POV - and the pacing, for that matter - aren’t the norm for SFF, and readers should keep this in mind going in. 

Beyond this, I so enjoyed how Lee used art in the colonialism plot. I don’t want to spoil things here, so I will say that Lee makes it clear how important art is to cultural identity and to the expression of ideas and, following that, as a mechanism for cultural oppression by colonizers. This includes, for example, the perceived value of Hwagugin art (the oppressed) relative to that of Razanei art (the oppressor). There’s some great commentary here.


I also enjoyed how Lee presents a range of responses to the Razanei occupation through different characters. Jebi is a pacifist and engages in some ~light assimilation~ by registering for a Razanei name to aid in getting a job. Bongsunga, Jebi’s sister, responds with open resistance and kicks Jebi out of the house when she learns about their name registration. Jebi’s friend Hak openly assimilates, hosting parties for where she sells ancient Hwagugin art to the Razanei.


There are some elements that I thought were underdeveloped or that I could have easily done without, but overall I enjoyed and recommend this book.

Goes well with: The Black Tides of Heaven by Neon Yang