Full Review of the Sword Maiden Duology by Jade Moon's Publisher

 

  

 

This review truly strikes a deep chord with me. It just shows how much the reviewer appreciates my efforts at bringing this story to life! Ivana is indeed a kindred spirit!

  

 

Jade Moon Magazine - Author Interview and Book Review of the Sword Maiden Duology

 

  

 

I had the honour and privilege of being recently interviewed by the Jade Moon Magazine publisher, Ivana Milanovic, with whom I talked about the inspirations behind the writing of the Sword Maiden from the Moon duology, and about the wuxia genre in general. This interview, along with Ivana's amazing review of the two books (The Heavenly Sword and The Earthly Blaze), have appeared in Issue #2 of the magazine (June 2025). 

 

Jade Moon Magazine is a bilingual (English & Montenegrin) cultural periodical focused on exploring the Chinese culture in depth. Ivana, a native of Montenegro who lives in Rome, Italy, is clearly passionate about this topic and has poured her heart and soul into researching, compiling and editing the magazine.

 

As a Hong Kong native, I wrote the Sword Maiden duology as my small tribute both to the wuxia genre and the genre grandmaster Jin Yong. This genre of fiction and screen adaptations enjoyed a golden era in my birthplace. So I'm thankful for this opportunity to introduce the much loved wuxia genre and culture to the Balkans (or Southeast Europe), who are the primary target audience of Jade Moon Magazine. 

 

Some of the attractions of Issue #2 include an overview of the traditional culture of the Kingdom of Chu 楚國 in the Warring States era, an introduction to the ancient poetry anthology "Songs of Chu" or "Songs of the South" 楚辭, an exhibit of the various ethnic tribal cultures of Yunnan, stories of the four most handsome men of China, etc. 

 

The digital version of this Issue #2 (as well as of Issue #1) is available for free download from the magazine's Instagram account profile.

 

 

Book Review - Heavenly Sword and Dragon Saber

 

 

This was a reread for me after several decades!

The Heavenly Sword and Dragon Saber is Book 3 in the Condor Heroes Trilogy. Currently, no official English translation exists as yet, although it may be on the publishing agenda of MacLehose Press.

While I still love the complex plot overall, I'll admit that the protagonist Zhang Wuji has struck me as a non-trustworthy young man who's easily swayed one way or another, at worst fickle where his love interests are concerned, despite having acquired supreme martial arts skills. (Frankly, I hadn't paid attention to this deep personality flaw when I read the novel as a teen.) The author did explain in his Afterword that Zhang was meant to be flawed, as this way the character would be truer-to-life.

The main story line centers around Zhang Wuji's involvement in his foster father the Golden Hair Lion King's revenge feats, interwoven with a major subplot of a peasants' uprising against the oppressive ruling Mongolian Yuan dynasty and various subplots concerning his four love interests and violent conflicts among a host of martial arts clans/sects.

I love that Jin Yong always weaves history around his martial heroes' epic adventures, like in this instance. The realism in the history components serves to ground the fantastical story and gives it veracity and cultural authenticity. Also, I love the way the author expresses his negative opinion, through the POV of protagonist Zhang Wuji, of Zhu Yuanzhang (the rebel who managed to seize the throne and become the founder of the Ming Dynasty), which opinion I entirely agree with. I've read official and unofficial texts about Zhu and have always felt he was a roguish and vile opportunist.

For those readers who are intimidated by the dry and lengthy history books, reading Jin Yong's wuxia novels is certainly a good way to learn Chinese history. 

 

ACWW's 30th Anniversary Celebration

 

 

On Sunday May 4, I had the honor and pleasure of joining the Asian Canadian Writers' Workshop's 30th anniversary ( + its president Todd Wong's birthday) celebrations. 

 

At the celebratory dim sum lunch event, I also had the chance to talk about some interesting specifics related to the wuxia genre (like the earliest wuxia story ever written and the origin of 'qinggong'), and introduce my wuxia-myth Sword Maiden from the Moon duology (i.e. The Heavenly Sword and The Earthly Blaze).

 

ACWW has always been a friendly and supportive writers' group and I cherish being a part of it.

 
 

The Earthly Blaze Eligible for Nomination for CSFFA's 2025 Aurora Award for Best Novel

 

 

I'm pleased to say that The Earthly Blaze (Sword Maiden from the Moon, #2) has been confirmed eligible for nomination for CSFFA's 2025 Aurora Award for Best Novel!

 

This Sword Maiden duology is an epic wuxia story woven with Chinese mythology and speculative history with themes of family love, fellowship loyalty, fighting injustice, loss, sacrifice and kungfu rivalry.

 

The wuxia genre is a niche subgenre of fantasy in the English book world. If you want to support this genre of Chinese literature reaching a wider Anglosphere audience, you could help by nominating The Earthly Blaze!

 

Here's the Eligibility List! You need to be a member of CSFFA in order to nominate and later vote for any title (annual membership dues is only C$10). 

 

The deadline for nomination is April 5, 2025.

 

International Women's Day - Celebration of Tang Sai'er

 

On this International Women's Day, let's celebrate Tang Sai'er's dauntless wuxia spirit and her valiant cause of liberation from tyranny!

Honored that both The Heavenly Sword and The Earthly Blaze are 2024 Indie Ink Award Finalists in the category Writing the Future We Need: Asian Representation by an Asian Author.

 

 

The Sword Maiden Duology are 2024 Indie Ink Awards Finalists!

 

 

Both The Heavenly Sword (Book 1) and The Earthly Blaze (Book 2) in the Sword Maiden from the Moon duology are FINALISTS in the category "Writing the Future We Need: Asian Representation by an Asian Author" of the 2024 Indie Ink Awards.

 

From February to July the contest will be in the reading phase (i.e. judges will read the books that are finalists and choose a winner in each category). Winners will be announced in August 2025.

Indeed, we do need a future with much more Asian representation by authentic Asian voices in the English book world, where Asian representation is dominated by those whitewashed Big Five quasi-Asian authors who don't speak their root culture's language.

 

 
 

Sword Maiden Duology on Local Shelf of Bookazine's Tai Kwun Branch

 

 

 

On my recent Hong Kong trip, I made it a point to visit the new Bookazine Tai Kwun branch that was opened a little while ago. Tai Kwun 大館 is the newly transformed arts and culture hub in the Central District. The premises formerly housed the Hollywood Road Central Police Station & Prison and were refurbished to become the elegant arts center of today.

 

On the day of my visit, the place was packed with locals and tourists who came to admire the lovely Christmas decorations and browse around the various interest points (like the Aura Art workshop, two bookshops, the heritage museum, the Japanese tea ceremony workshop etc.) Besides Bookazine, there's another bookshop on ground level, which is Taschen Books from Germany, the renowned publisher/bookseller of luxury art-books. It felt like Tai Kwun is going to be a magnet for people who like books and the arts.

 

I was pleasantly surprised to find my recently published Sword Maiden wuxia-myth duology (The Heavenly Sword + The Earthly Blaze) right on the LOCAL shelf of the Bookazine shop! I also spotted a few popular Hong Kong-themed books by other Hong Kong authors, like Jason Ng's Hong Kong Noir, Janice Lee's The Expatriates and Larry Feign's The Flower Boat Girl. As it is well-known that Hong Kong is the birthplace of Jin Yong's and Liang Yusheng's famous wuxia novels, it seems that my wuxia duology is placed on the appropriate "Local" bookshelf and in the right locale (as shown in photos above)! It is fully my intention to have my two books carry on the Hong Kong wuxia legacy, as well as to promote the genre to the Euro-American audience!

 

 

On separate occasions, I also made my rounds to Bookazine's IFC and Prince's Building branches, and was glad to see my books displayed as shown in the two photos above.

 
 

Podcast Review of The Heavenly Sword

 

 The Notes from the Library Podcast has done an amazing and thoughtful podcast review of The Heavenly Sword (Book 1 of the Sword Maiden from the Moon duology). Fans of the wuxia genre or Western fantasy readers who are curious about the genre will find the review interesting/helpful.

Here's the podcast link.

My Wuxia Duology Now Available at BookazineHK!

 

 Calling all Hong Kong and Southeast Asia WUXIA FANS!

Both books of my wuxia-xianxia duology (The Heavenly Sword and The Earthly Blaze) are now available at all branches of the illustrious Bookazine bookstore chain in Hong Kong! This year being the 100th birth anniversary for both Jin Yong and Liang Yusheng, our two beloved wuxia fiction writers, it's the perfect time to celebrate wuxia literature! Don't miss this duology!

 

Best Wuxia Xianxia Fantasy Books With Strong Female Leads

 

 Find out why I picked these books here!

My Talk on Jin Yong on the China History Podcast

 

I had the privilege of being invited on the renowned China History Podcast to talk with the host, Laszlo Montgomery, about Jin Yong's life, his works, their influence on pop culture, the history and evolvement of the wuxia genre and other interesting tidbits.

 

The talk was recorded on April 9, the release date of The Earthly Blaze, the concluding sequel to The Heavenly Sword! This wuxia-myth duology was written in the first place to celebrate Jin Yong's 100th birthday. So it was like a double celebration!

 

The generous host also allowed me time to introduce my four published novels to his world-wide audience, for which I'm most thankful.

 

Richmond Public Library Writers' Festival - March 13, 2024

 

 

 

I was so glad to have met wuxia fans from Hong Kong at this Author Event and mini book launch for The Earthly Blaze, the concluding sequel to The Heavenly Sword.

 
 

Book Review - The Husky and His White Cat Shizun Vol. 2

 

In Volume 2 Mo Ran in his reborn life continues to have mixed feelings (searing hatred and repressed deep sexual desire) for his master Chu Wanning. But after they've gone through deadly perils together, Mo Ran finds Chu not as icy and arrogant as he remembers from his last life, but actually has a sweet and lovable side. Chu, on his part, cares deeply and yearns for Mo Ran but lives in denial. Mo Ran begins to feel deeply ashamed of his own cruelty and atrocious acts as a mortal Emperor in his past life. At the same time, he realizes that in actual fact his heart has not quite settled on Shi Mei but instead veers more and more towards Chu.

After an incident at Peach Blossom Springs where Mo Ran is accused of murder, he finds that he can count on Chu for protection and together they try to unravel a malicious plot aimed at eliminating Mo Ran. During their stay at Peach Blossom Springs, they come across Ye Wangxi, the chief cultivator of the powerful Rufeng Sect.
 

Mo and Chu discover that the plot has something to do with a divine sword called "Bugui", which is being auctioned. Mo Ran recognizes the sword, as it belonged to him in his last life.
 

Ye also appears at the auction and saves a fair maiden Song Qiutong from being sold into slavery. Mo Ran knows her as she was his Empress in his last life. Ye also puts in a winning bid for Bugui.
 

The unexpected twists and turns of the story line and the angst felt by the MCs kept me on my toes all the time. I'm looking forward to reading the next volume.

 

Advance Praise for The Earthly Blaze

 

 

A Film Critic Reviews The Heavenly Sword

 

It's not everyday that you get your book reviewed by a seasoned film critic! 

 

So I was beyond thrilled to find this Goodreads review of The Heavenly Sword posted by Jeffrey Wang, film critic for The Cinema Files:

 

"Alice Poon’s The Heavenly Sword is a great and engrossing adventure story that is steeped in Chinese mythology. If you’re a fan of classic wuxia novels and films, like those by Jin Yong and King Hu, you’ll love this elegantly written novel. I highly recommend this book for both those who are familiar with Chinese culture, and for those who want to learn more about China and its literary history."

 

Link to review.

 

Cover Reveal Time!

 

The long awaited cover art for The Earthly Blaze,

the concluding sequel to The Heavenly Sword, is finally here to meet readers!

The date of release has been confirmed as April 9, 2024.

 

PRE-ORDER FOR THE KINDLE VERSION IS NOW OPEN! THE HARDBACK EDITION WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER SOON!

 

Eternal Love - A Xianxia Drama That Snatched My Soul

  

"Eternal Love" is hands down a masterpiece of a xianxia drama! Everything from plot, characterization, casting, acting, to dialogue, costume, backdrop, is impeccable. The love story between Ye Hua and Bai Qian (or Su Su) is imprinted on my mind and I will not forget it for a long time to come. The chemistry between lead actor Mark Chao and lead actress Yang Mi is just magical! 

 

Though I'm late to the party (the drama came out in 2017), this is definitely on my must-rewatch list.

Here's the link to the theme song MV (which is also excellent!).

 

I think this is the first time I've ever been moved to write a post praising a Cdrama series!

 

Her Grace's Library's ARC Review of The Earthly Blaze

 

 

Reading Her Grace's Library's early review of The Earthly Blaze (due to be released in April 2024) was, to say the least, an exhilarating experience! This blogger is an avid American reader of western fantasy, and the Chinese wuxia genre was entirely new to her. Yet her thirst for knowledge nudged her to explore outside of her comfort zone. I'm so appreciative of her honest thoughts about my wuxia-myth duology.

 

A quote from her review:-

 

"One sign of a good story, to me, is when an author can take readers where they may not want to go but ultimately where they need to go; Poon does that exactly right."

 

Full Review 

 

 
 

Book Trailer for The Early Blaze (Sword Maiden from the Moon, #2)