The Los Angeles Review of Books China Channel's Review of The Green Phoenix

What can be more rewarding than to read a historian’s well-written and commending review of your new historical novel, and on an influential scholarly platform such as the Los Angeles Review of Books China Channel? It just makes my years of hard work seem all worth it.

Link to the full review

Here are some quotes from the review:-

“Where the novel really shines is in the level of historical detail. Poon gives sumptuous descriptions of dress and hairstyles. Lavish dinners and quick snacks are laid before the reader in such a way as to inspire hunger pangs. The early years of Bumbutai’s life, both at home in the Mongolian Steppe and in Hung Taiji’s palace in what is today Shenyang, particularly come to life with a vivid array of colors, textures, and sensations.”

“The style of the work owes a debt to the famous wuxia novels of Louis Cha (aka Jin Yong). Some passages are lush to the point of being florid, but Alice Poon’s novel is, at heart a, romance of two kingdoms. She breathes fresh life into characters who do not often find their way into English-language fiction, and does an excellent job of bringing to the page the story of a woman who was the foundation upon which an empire that lasted over 268 years was built.”

“One of the joys of studying this period in history is that every name sounds like it was taken from Game of Thrones.”

Thank you so much, Jeremiah!