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Phoenix With A Purpose: A Tale of the Phoenix Princess
Is a princess ready for flight? Or is she going to crash and burn, because of her impetuous nature? Who is going to tame her inner fire? In the world of the Phoenix Court and phoenix shifters, Princess Min-Feng, heir to the throne, is fiery-tempered and head-strong, much to the dismay of everyone in the royal family, including her mother, the Empress. . . Is Min-Feng going to crash and burn without purpose? Is she going to fail?
160 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 12, 2015
14 people want to read
About the author
Joyce Chng
99 books82 followersJoyce Chng (also spelled Ch’ng) lives in Singapore. They write science fiction and fantasy as well as YA and MG. Their short stories have appeared in The Apex Book of World SF II, The Future Fire and Multispecies Cities. Dragon Dancer (Lantana Publishing) is Joyce’s first picture book, celebrating dragon dancing and Lunar New Year; it was followed by Oyster Girl (Pepper Dog Press), a tribute to their grandmother and the hawker heritage in Singapore. For YA readers, Fire Heart is a fantasy book about swords and coming-of-age. They also write books for adults as J. Chng and urban fantasy as J. Damask. You can find Joyce at their website, or on X and Bluesky at @jolantru.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 29, 2012
An intriguing novella set in a future where the ruling family possesses the ability to shapeshift from human to phoenix. Min Feng, the princess of the Phoenix Court, struggles to find her way and her purpose in life, as well as controlling her nei huo (phoenix fire).
I loved the strong female characters, the strong sense of family, and the musings on the nature of power--more diplomacy than armed battles, it is a welcome change to a lot of space opera out there. Very strong worldbuilding, with a Qinq-like administration in space and a matriarchal Imperial family--lots of awesomeness grouped together :)
If I had anything negative to say, it's that the structure does it a bit of a disservice: it is really two separate books with standalone plots; not a novella, which means that each book wraps up neatly and not much carries over from one to the next. In particular, the ending to the second book feels much more like that of an episode than a wrapup to an overall arc.
(I was also mildly put-out by the fact that the only hermaphrodite we see is an assassin--it was a bit of a blot on the otherwise well thought-out worldbuilding)
Nevertheless, well worth a read, and I look forward to more adventures with Min Feng and Javen!
I loved the strong female characters, the strong sense of family, and the musings on the nature of power--more diplomacy than armed battles, it is a welcome change to a lot of space opera out there. Very strong worldbuilding, with a Qinq-like administration in space and a matriarchal Imperial family--lots of awesomeness grouped together :)
If I had anything negative to say, it's that the structure does it a bit of a disservice: it is really two separate books with standalone plots; not a novella, which means that each book wraps up neatly and not much carries over from one to the next. In particular, the ending to the second book feels much more like that of an episode than a wrapup to an overall arc.
(I was also mildly put-out by the fact that the only hermaphrodite we see is an assassin--it was a bit of a blot on the otherwise well thought-out worldbuilding)
Nevertheless, well worth a read, and I look forward to more adventures with Min Feng and Javen!
Displaying 1 of 1 review