Sword Quest (Swordbird) by Nancy
Yi Fan
A Great Prequel, Can't Wait Until Next One!
One magical sword. Two rivals.
Wind-voice the half-dove, formerly enslaved, is now free, and Maldeor,
the one-winged archaeopteryx, hungers for supreme power. The
adversaries will both embark on their own epic quest to find the sword that
will determine the future of birdkind. An exciting prequel to the New York
Times bestseller Swordbird.
Personal Review: Sword Quest (Swordbird) by Nancy Yi Fan
I must admit that I was skeptical of how a story about birds at war with
each other could have much essence of Chinese culture. However, my
skepticism quickly died. Nancy Yi Fan's Sword Quest contains several
Chinese elements. The key and more obvious elements that I was able to

find are the importance of family, nonviolence, Yin and Yang and the belief
in good and bad spirits.
A major Chinese element in Sword Quest is the importance of family, as
shown by the eagles. Though I do not know all that I wish to know about
my parents' culture, the importance of family is permanently drilled into my
head. One of the quotes from the Old Scripture describes this importance
well; "One of the hardest things to break is the tie of family". However, Fan
takes this key belief and goes a step forward by challenging it. One of the
main characters, a former prince of the eagles, Fleydur, had to choose
between what he know to be the right thing to do and the people he loved
more than himself. In the end, he chose to do the right thing and did not
regret it. However, the pain of separation from his family after so long is
evident. Fan also takes it a step further when Wind-voice proclaims his
companions his brothers, as if they were a true blood-related family.
The most obvious Chinese element is Yin and Yang. Its most obvious
appearance is when the robin uses a tapestry that depicts the symbol of
Yin and Yang to tell the future. Fan's description of the piece sounds
poetic, like right from a translation of a Chinese poem; "tadpoles swimming
together, encircled by orderly lines". Fan imbeds some Asian décor into the
novel. The Yin and Yang tapestry is one example but another is the kite-
shaped flying carriage with a frame of bamboo that Maldeor rides in.
Yin and Yang's other apparent appearance is in the form of the most evil
and greedy villain, Yin Soul. In Chinese culture, Yin is thought of as the
dark side representing all of the evil. I am surprised that the author did not
go the whole way and make Yin Soul male, seeing as Yin is usually paired
with any feminine. Its less obvious appearance in the story is when the
main character, Wind-voice, realized that birds are not easily separated
into "white and black, good and bad". Life and people have a lot of gray in
them. This belief is depicted in Yin and Yang by the small circle of the
opposite color in the fluid shapes of white and black.
Yin Soul is also linked to anther aspect of Chinese culture; spirits. The evil
monster is turned into a spirit that must find a physical body to inhabit if he
wants to live. Hence, he attempts to convince other birds to take his
essence. The idea of essence and one's spirit seems a bit of place in the
American culture but it is not so in the Chinese culture. However, not all
spirits are evil. An obvious example is Wind-voice, who turns into a spirit to
become an everlasting protector of peace, and his possible father, the
Great Spirit. In China, ancestors are believed to be good spirits that protect
families. Due to spirits not being a major role in American culture,
Americans might confuse Fan's Great Spirit to mean the Christian God.
I do not know if it was the author's intentions but the name of her main
character, Wind-voice, sounds like an English translation of a traditional
Chinese name. However, I am certain that Fan named Wind-voice as 013-
Unidentified because he is the hero that everybird, good and bad, has

been looking for and because 13 is considered a lucky number in China.
This is less obvious and may be confusing to Westerners who believe that
13 is one of the unluckiest numbers possible.
I remember silently agreeing with one of the characters when they
questioned how a weapon, specifically a sword, could bring about peace. It
seems that martial arts use weapons but only as a tool for nonviolence and
peace. I noticed that when Wind-voice goes against Maldeor, Wind-voice
does not actually physically fight Maldeor. Even when he had the hero's
sword, Wind-voice uses it to protect himself but he does not harm his
opponent.
My mind and heart were both touched by the words of Wind-voice; that
true peace is not possible through force. Thought it does not directly deal
with Chinese culture specifically, it applies universally. However, we
humans easily forget it. The most obvious event that shows this is the Iraq
war. Though the details of the mater are extremely complex and there are
many gray areas, it is impossible for America to believe she can create
peace in the Middle East through force. It seems so simple in this
children's book in which it is the lives birds that are destroyed by war. Yet
adults have not grasped this seemingly simple concept when they are in
the real world impacting other human beings.
I must commend on the author, Nancy Yi Fan, for the brilliance of her
writing and the universal teachings within. To me, Sword Quest is
emboldened with hidden elements of Chinese culture but those are not
themselves the key messages. They are tools used to inform readers of
greater and broader messages.
---Lensa Z.
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