Warning: This article contains spoilers.
Life can be unpredictable. One moment you could be enjoying a normal day, breaking a personal record for the most money earned in one day of your monthly mortal auction. The next morning, it could be snowing in the desert, your family is missing, and the guardians of hell are in your room setting up protections and enchantments to protect the entrance to hell.
As someone who has never left the safe confines of your home, do you embark on a quest with these mysterious guardians, or do you run away and abandon your family? An Auction of Souls by Amber Chen follows Meng Lingxi, the 17-year-old running the infamous auction house, Meng Wu, as she travels through the three kingdoms in search of magical objects to save her family, and perhaps even the world.
Lingxi grew up feeling unwanted and alone. Abandoned by her parents as a child, she found companionship only in Liu-shu, a talking crow. Even her grandmother, popo, never acknowledged her or her efforts. But Lingxi’s life takes an unexpected turn when she discovers that Meng Wu is actually an entrance to hell and that her grandmother is Meng-po, the guardian of the Naihe Bridge who prepares Mi Hun Tang, a tea that allows spirits to forget their past lives before reincarnation.
Her discoveries also bring her in contact with Yan Jun and his younger sister, Yan Shan, the famed Horse-Head and Ox-Face immortals of the underworld. Tasked with escorting souls after they drink Mi Hun Tang, the siblings introduce Lingxi to a world far stranger than she ever imagined.
When Meng-po suddenly goes missing, the spirits cannot pass over the Naihe Bridge and into their next lives. The longer the spirits are trapped on Earth, the more violent and malicious they become. Lingxi, Yan Jun, Yan Shan, and Liu-shu set off on a quest to find out Meng-po’s whereabouts from the All-Seeing Mirror to rescue her before the moon cycle is complete and Meng Wu is overrun by spirits.
Along the way, Lingxi and Yan Jun’s constant bickering gives way to affection, especially as Lingxi begins recalling a possible past life in which she was Princess Xinya and Yan Jun was her star-crossed lover, Prince Jun. As they journey to find the magical objects needed to earn an answer from the All-Seeing Mirror, their growing bond becomes intertwined with the mysteries of their past lives and the fate of the world.
There are oftentimes novels where an epic journey is marred with romance being forced into the storyline—An Auction of Souls is not one of those books. Instead, the plot is a perfect mix of an epic journey with Chinese mythology and folklore seamlessly weaved in, with a sprinkle of romance. Lingxi and Yan Jun gradually develop feelings for one another, and their slow-burn romance never feels out of place. Instead, their growing trust and tendency to seek comfort in each other allow their affection to develop naturally, culminating in a tender romantic moment at the novel’s end that sets the stage for book two.
One of the novel’s greatest strengths is Chen’s attention to Chinese folklore, particularly the lesser-known gods, demons, and guardians who rarely receive the same recognition as figures like Sun Wukong or the legend of Altair and Vega. Having grown up hearing Chinese myths, it was refreshing to encounter figures like Meng-po, Horse-Head, and Ox-Face in a story that made their roles and signficance easy to understand. Chen’s vivid descriptions bring these characters and their surroundings to life, making the world of An Auction of Souls easy to picture.
At just over 400 pages, the novel also strikes a comfortable balance between detail and pacing. Even practical details, like the time it takes to travel between locations, ground the fantasy in a convincing sense of distance and time. The result is an immersive story that plays out almost like a film in the mind.
If there is one frustration, it is the cliffhanger ending. Though fitting for the story, it leaves Lingxi and Yan Jun’s journey, and the fate of their world, far from resolved. For readers drawn to mythology-inspired fantasy, adventure, and a slow-burning romance, the hardest part may be waiting to see what happens next.
