Book Review: "The Phoenix King"

Aparna Verma's debut novel is a thrilling blend of science fiction, fantasy, and political intrigue that is not to be missed.

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One of the things I love most about the current fantasy landscape is simply how diverse it is. Once upon a time, almost every fantasy novel published by a major trade publisher was some variant of a northern or western European milieu, whether explicitly or implicitly. Now, however, we’re seeing a plethora of fantasy voices from cultures from all of the globe, from China (Shelley Parker-Chan’s She Who Became the Sun and its sequel, He Who Drowned the World), Tomi Adeyemi’s Legacy of Orisha series, and R.F. Kuang’s The Poppy War and its sequels). This year sees the publication of another great fantasy, this one inspired by the history and myths of India: Aparna Verma’s The Phoenix King

The novel  is an intriguing blend of epic fantasy, science fiction, and political drama. At the center of the story are three characters: Elena, the heir to the throne; her father, Leo, a powerful king who has had to make a number of sacrifices to retain his power; and Yassen, an assassin with a lot of secrets. This is the kind of story in which you can literally lose yourself for hours, as you watch these three characters as they try to survive in a world that grows increasingly destabilized and uncertain.

For, you see, Elena might be the heir, but she has yet to be able to command fire, a prerequisite to anyone who would sit on the throne. This causes her no small amount of anxiety, as she tries to figure out just why it is that she can’t wield fire in the way that is expected of her. She is similarly haunted by the death of her mother several years earlier, as well as by the madness that seemed to overtake the other woman in the later years of her life. Like so many other fantasy characters, she has to reckon with what it means to come to terms with one’s past and one’s future. She also has to learn to balance her own political beliefs against the necessity of the moment. 

Yassen, likewise, has his own ghosts to contend with, and even his body bears the scars of his previous adventures. He is a bundle of contradictions, and he has competing loyalties that make it difficult for him to see a path forward in his life. It’s only once he becomes the bodyguard to Elena that he starts to see a purpose, though he also finds that he has only a limited amount of power to affect the course of events. Ultimately he, along with Elena, is swept up by powers and forces neither of them can fully control. 

It’s not all politics and prophecies and unrest, however. There’s real human warmth at the heart of this story, and it’s clear from the beginning that there’s a powerful bond between Elena and Yassen. Both of them know what it is to feel the pressure of expectations, and they both endure quite a lot of loss as the story unfolds. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that this is an enemies to lovers type story, but there is nevertheless something sweet about watching these two broken people slowly find a sense of wholeness with one another. 

While much of the novel focuses on Elena and Yassen and their various loyalties, the first half also gives a great deal of attention to Leo. From the beginning it’s clear that his relationship with his daughter is strained at best, for while he is very much a pragmatic ruler–the type of person who will make use of an armed group of thugs to see to it that his throne remains secure–Elena is much more progressive and empathetic to the plight of the common people. It would have been very easy for Verma to make Leo into nothing more than a stereotypical autocrat, but she chooses instead to make him a fully-fledged individual in his own right. Heavy lies the head that wears the crown, and only he knows just how much must be given up.

I’ve heard the novel described as Dune meets The Poppy War, and I think that there’s a lot of accuracy in that description. Religion plays a major part in the story, particularly since both Elena and Leo are religious as well as governmental figures. The faith they follow can at times be an unforgiving one and, as Elena slowly discovers, there are some dark and sinister secrets hidden in their history. Verma knows how to keep the big revelations lurking in the background, just waiting for their opportunity to drop down on the protagonists like a ton of bricks. As in Dune, the desert is a stern and punishing landscape, but it is also one which has forged a people with an extraordinary strength, one which Elena wields to great effect.

There is, likewise, an expert blending of fantasy and science fiction elements here. Though he is only seen in a couple of brief moments, there’s a monarch of a neighboring country who has used a special kind of metal to forge a half-metal body for himself and for his armies. There are handheld electronic devices and airships of various kinds. Verma has a keen eye for how to keep these two elements in a precise balance and, given how tricky this can be seen, she deserves especial praise for it. 

Overall, I found The Phoenix King to be an enjoyable read. It has some rich and textured worldbuilding, but it doesn’t ignore character development. By the time we get to the climax we feel as if we know these people, their motivations, their strengths and their shortcomings. We may not always find ourselves liking them or approving of their actions, but we understand them. This is also the kind of fantasy that isn’t afraid to engage with weighty political and philosophical questions, which adds a further layer of complexity and pleasure. I know one thing for sure. I can’t wait to see what the Verma has in store for us next!