Welcome to my stop on the tour for The Warrior & The Flower by Camille Picott. This is an adult high fantasy.
To celebrate Chinese New Year the tour is running Jan. 27th-31st with mostly reviews and only a few interviews and spotlight posts. Be sure to check out our tour page with additional info and list of tour stops.
About the Book
Author: Camille Picott
Series: 3 Kingdoms, #1
Publisher: Pixiu Press (self published work)
Release: Mar 20th 2013
Source: Blog Tour Copy
Pages: 307 (ebook)
( Amazon | Goodreads | B&N | Smashwords )
Yi, a retired soldier, has lost everything he loves — his wife, his daughter, and his home. He seeks refuge from his heartache by plunging into a secret mission for the World Emperor. The assignment takes him to the doorstep of a brothel, where he witnesses the madam beating a young girl. Drawn by the child’s striking resemblance to his lost daughter, Yi rushes to her defense and negotiates for her purchase — after all, how hard can it be to care for one little girl? But between the child’s inquisitive nature and the dangerous secret she carries, he gets more than he bargained for.
The Warrior & The Flower is an Asian inspired adult high fantasy novel written by Camille Picott. Being a Chinese native myself, I jumped at the opportunity to review it. It is not often that I encounter books mixed with Asian elements. The few times when I do, the references are either incorrect or inaccurate. Thus, I was both thrilled and anxious (just a little) when I picked up this book. Fortunately to my surprise, The Warrior & The Flower proved to be quite a delightful read with realistic traces of Asian traditions and I owe many thanks to both Camille and Candace :)
Yi is a devoted and loyal soldier who has seen and been through losses and misfortunes like no one else. The tragedy of his family flipped his world up side down. He became full of sorrow and rage deep inside. Tulip is an eight-year-old child who craves for love. She is mistreated and abused but that does not stop her from being curious and cheerful. They share little in common, but destiny is such a mischievous thing. They met and they became family. It is a wonderful journey to see their relationship spawn from distant into something more endearing through out the story. They heal each other by filling the empty hole in his/her heart - a daughter for him and a father for her.
While the book narrates in both Yi's and Tulip's POVs, I enjoyed Yi's perspective to a larger extend early on. Mostly because his view is more mature than Tulip's and often divulges a lot more details about the world and the conflicts between empires. To be honest, I was annoyed by Tulip's oblivion and idiotic jokes in the beginning. Though I understand it's perfectly reasonable for an eight-year-old to behave that way, I had difficulties putting myself in her shoes. This changes however when she became stronger and more powerful later on. By the end, I'm no longer able to pick favorites out of the two.
Yi is a devoted and loyal soldier who has seen and been through losses and misfortunes like no one else. The tragedy of his family flipped his world up side down. He became full of sorrow and rage deep inside. Tulip is an eight-year-old child who craves for love. She is mistreated and abused but that does not stop her from being curious and cheerful. They share little in common, but destiny is such a mischievous thing. They met and they became family. It is a wonderful journey to see their relationship spawn from distant into something more endearing through out the story. They heal each other by filling the empty hole in his/her heart - a daughter for him and a father for her.
While the book narrates in both Yi's and Tulip's POVs, I enjoyed Yi's perspective to a larger extend early on. Mostly because his view is more mature than Tulip's and often divulges a lot more details about the world and the conflicts between empires. To be honest, I was annoyed by Tulip's oblivion and idiotic jokes in the beginning. Though I understand it's perfectly reasonable for an eight-year-old to behave that way, I had difficulties putting myself in her shoes. This changes however when she became stronger and more powerful later on. By the end, I'm no longer able to pick favorites out of the two.
Camille Picott's writing is decent enough but not as distinctive as I would have hoped. She has yet to find her own voice but she portrays emotions excellently through detailed thoughts and movement descriptions, though sometimes it's a bit excessive. I do very much admire her depictions of flight scenes. Their vivacity and intricacy are unparalleled.
The Warrior & The Flower has a unique storyline that I for sure will follow to the end. Though world building is left to be desired in this book as only two out of the three kingdoms are mentioned, I am certain that more will be introduced in the subsequent installments. I eagerly wait for more Yi and Tulip's story in the future.
My Rating: ★★★ (3 stars)
(A copy of this book was kindly provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.)
About the Author
Camille Picott is a fifth-generation Chinese American. She writes science fiction and fantasy books with Asian characters and/or Asian settings. Camille grew up reading speculative fiction stories largely devoid of Asian characters and culture. This, coupled with a passion for her heritage, is the reason she strives to bring some aspect of Eastern myth, legend, culture, and ethnicity to all of her writings. To visit Camille, go to www.camillepicott.com.
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Thanks so much for hosting a tour stop!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your review!
ReplyDeleteI know how it feels to be worried about reading books when they're kind of based off something you know! I recently read one that dabbled a bit with Australia....aaaand, they didn't really do it right. Cultures are really difficult to capture if you have nooo idea! Glad you liked this one, though. It sounds like a fun read. :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, I completely agree. This one did a really good job adapting Chinese traditions in a way that makes them easier for foreign people to understand as well. Though I bet there are still gonna be lots of people lost in those "unpronounceable" names ;)
DeleteI would love to read more about Tulip's upbringing and what caused her to end up in a brothel. Is that part of her secret?
ReplyDeleteHer mother is a "flower" in the brothel, so the part about her growing up in a brothel is pretty straightforward. However, her father and her true identity/ability are secrets you will have to find out in the book ;)
DeleteWell, I love high fantasy. I'm adding this in my TBR list.
ReplyDeleteIf you like asian-inspired story, have you tried Eon and Wild Orchid?
Eon is definitely in my TBR, just not sure when I actually gonna be able to start it. But I have not heard of Wild Orchid, interesting name though, definitely checking it out :) Thanks for stopping by!
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