Sword Quest
Jun. 25th, 2010 04:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
calzephyrSword Quest is the prequel to Swordbird by Nancy Yi Fan and unfortunately I did not like it as much as the first book. It was not a matter of writing style or a poor story. The ideas she had for Swordbird's backstory was great, but there were so many characters and too much detail that the story got lost along the way until the end. Some better editing would have really tightened up the story without changing her style.
I think it would have almost been better to keep Swordbird mysterious and not try to explain his origins. Part of what confused me was the timeline in the book. Birds are the good guys (for the most part) and archaeopteryxes are the baddies who want to enslave all the birds. Wind-voice, a former slave and prized for his rare appearance, learns of a story of a hero who will someday free all the birds and enable them to live in peace. As he tries to find some magical gems and a hidden sword, he makes new friends along the way who help him in his journey.
There's an interesting review on Amazon that details some of the Chinese cultural references in the book, which I thought was very conscientious of the reviewer. Personally I thought the story and character of Swordbird had several nods to the life of Jesus Christ. For example, Swordbird seems to be immaculately conceived, he treats others with forgiveness, believes in a sort of personal salvation and is tempted by the devilish Yin Soul. It's too bad that the Chinese references are more clear - it would be too easy to put a Western stamp on the book.
I think it would have almost been better to keep Swordbird mysterious and not try to explain his origins. Part of what confused me was the timeline in the book. Birds are the good guys (for the most part) and archaeopteryxes are the baddies who want to enslave all the birds. Wind-voice, a former slave and prized for his rare appearance, learns of a story of a hero who will someday free all the birds and enable them to live in peace. As he tries to find some magical gems and a hidden sword, he makes new friends along the way who help him in his journey.
There's an interesting review on Amazon that details some of the Chinese cultural references in the book, which I thought was very conscientious of the reviewer. Personally I thought the story and character of Swordbird had several nods to the life of Jesus Christ. For example, Swordbird seems to be immaculately conceived, he treats others with forgiveness, believes in a sort of personal salvation and is tempted by the devilish Yin Soul. It's too bad that the Chinese references are more clear - it would be too easy to put a Western stamp on the book.
