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. 

 

Book Review - The Day Lasts More Than A Hundred Years by Chingiz Aitmatov

 

This was an extraordinary read, not only because this was the first novel by a Kyrgyz writer I'd read, but also this was my first encounter with the blending of realism and science fiction in a novel.

In this novel, two parallel story lines are woven into the narrative. One is about the trials and tribulations of living in the harsh, windswept steppe of the Sarozek desert in Kazhakstan and one man's determination to uphold certain traditional burial rites and to seek justice for his dear friend who's been wrongly accused of a crime. In juxtaposition to this story line is an account of two astronauts' strange space encounter with an alien civilization while working under a joint space program undertaken by the U.S. and Russia, which encounter causes the two countries' collaboration to collapse.

The blending of the two story lines is symbolic of the disparity between humanity (with all its attachment to cherished cultures and conflicted morals) on the one hand and, on the other, scientific progress founded on mankind's thirst for knowledge, only ironically marred by its fear of the unknown.

While I found the premise to be an interesting one, the narrative style tends to drag the story out. Overall, I'd give it 3.7 stars.

 

Book Review - A Deadly Secret by Jin Yong

 

 

This was the first time I read this short wuxia novel. When I was about halfway through, a thought hit me: "This sounds so familiar!" The way the story went reminded me of Alexandre Dumas's The Count of Monte Cristo. It has the same dark themes of betrayal, revenge, greed and corruption, and the similar plot line where the protagonist is framed and wrongly accused, losing the love of his life to his enemy in the process, and where he stumbles on a treasure find. But of course the historical settings and plot details are totally different. Being a wuxia novel, there are the usual wuxia tropes of martial arts rivalry, struggle against injustice, secret manual, violent conflicts etc.

Apparently Jin Yong himself admitted that this story had been inspired by the said French classic. It was also based on an incident that he had witnessed as a child that had haunted his memory ever since.

Regardless, the short novel was a rather moving read with a core moral theme of fighting prejudices and bigotry.
 

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.

Book Review: Romance of the White-Haired Maiden by Liang Yusheng

 

 

My review of Vol. 1

 

My review of Vol. 2

 

  

My Ballot of Ten Best Books of the 21st Century

 

 I've been inspired by a bookstagrammer (who was aroused by the New York Times Best Books of the 21st Century List to create her own ballot) to draw this ballot. 

 

The books listed are all on my "favorites" shelf on the Goodreads website, each with my written review. Please feel free to check out my reviews if interested.

 

Best Wuxia Xianxia Fantasy Books With Strong Female Leads

 

 Find out why I picked these books here!

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.

 

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 

 

 
 

My 3 Favorite Reads of 2023

 

 For more context as to why I chose these three books, please click this link.

Through a survey of favorite reads of 883 authors (myself included), Shepherd has compiled a list of 100 Best (Most Read) Books of 2023. The catch is that the list is very much skewed towards the Big Five published books mainly with Eurocentric themes. Indie-published books with Asian themes are all but drowned out. It's really no surprise, as the Big Five together take up over 80% of the U.S. trade books market.

In terms of global distribution and marketing dollars backup, indie-published authors, in particular non-American ones, are no match for Big Five authors. This is an entrenched systemic stranglehold on publishing freedom.

Book Review - 神鵰俠侶 "Return of the Condor Heroes" by 金庸 Jin Yong

 

 

This was a reread. I had first read the Chinese standalone novel as a child, which was decades ago. As I've forgotten most of the details, but have only retained a vague impression of the main characters like Huang Rong, Guo Jing, Yang Guo and Xiaolongnu, probably as a result of watching several TV and movie adaptations while growing up, this rereading felt like reading it for the first time.

These 4 volumes of The Return of the Condor Heroes (Chinese version), which is now considered as Book 2 in the Condor Heroes Trilogy, are being officially translated into English, and Volume 1 has been entitled A Past Unearthed and will be released on October 12, 2023, with 3 more Volumes awaiting release.

Book 1 of the Trilogy, or Legends of the Condor Heroes, has been published in English in 4 volumes, and they are respectively entitled: A Hero Born, A Bond Undone, A Snake Lies Waiting, and A Heart Divided.

Book 3 of the Trilogy, or Heavenly Sword and Dragon Saber, is in the pipeline for translation and publication. I had also read the Chinese standalone novel in my childhood and watched numerous TV and film adaptations. Of the 3 Books in the Trilogy, this Book 3 made the deepest impression on my mind and has been my favorite (again what I've retained in my memory is probably from screen adaptations).

My present thoughts about Book 2:

The main story line involves the tabooed romance between Yang Guo (son of Yang Kang the villain from Book 1) and Xiaolongnu the distant and beautiful hermit, also Yang Guo's kungfu master. It is a tabooed romance because in those times, love or marriage between a kungfu master and his/her disciple was forbidden and frowned upon by society in the same way as incest. Despite the social ban, the couple brave people's scorn and dive fearlessly into the relationship.

Around this main plot are woven numerous loose subplots of the couple's picaresque adventures in various cities and towns all over China, leading to a tragedy where both of them get fatally wounded by poison. Only one dose of antidote is available, and Xiaolongnu wants Yang Guo to take it and in an apparent suicide attempt, jumps into a deep lake, having left a message telling Yang Guo to meet her sixteen years later. Yang Guo is inconsolable and throws the antidote into the lake. He then begins to embark on an aimless journey until he stumbles on a huge magical earth-bound eagle who imparts formidable kungfu skills to him that also cures him. Subsequently, he gets to use the skills to help Guo Jing and Huang Rong to defend a strategic fort against Mongol invasion.

I found the story immersive and entertaining, the characters colorful, and the kungfu skills imaginative. The only nitpicking is that the plot structure seemed a bit loose, but it didn't take away the enjoyment overall. 

 

Book Review - "The Scholar's Blade" by Chris Emmett

 

A blistering, powerful retelling of one of the critical battles fought near Shanghai in 1860 between the Taiping Army led by Hong Xiuquan and a band of Euro-American mercenaries hired by the Qing government. The cinematic prose makes the action-packed scenes jump off the page, leaving the reader breathless from start to finish.

The Taiping Rebellion is a cataclysmic event that took place in 19th century China, which exposed the absurd incompetence of the Qing administration. Like other revolts in Chinese history, abject poverty and destitution of peasants exacerbated by famine was the root cause. On top of that, the Qing government had repeatedly bent to the will of foreign nations in terms of trade and territorial concessions and this had stoked the Han Chinese's anger and distrust of the Manchu rulers. Also, the Qing government shamelessly hired foreign military aid to crush the Han peasant rebels. It can be said that the Taiping Rebellion heralded the subsequent Boxer Rebellion.

There is an obvious dearth of English-language fiction that describes the Taiping Rebellion and this novel certainly fills a glaring gap. 

 

 

Book Review - "The Husky and His White Cat Shizun, Vol. 1"

 

The plot twists are surprising and outlandish (par for the course for a xianxia novel), infused with searing emotions related to gay romance.

 

It's basically a story of personal vendetta based on unfortunate misjudgment that a sect disciple takes up against his cultivation master whom he deems impossibly haughty and cruel. 

The story does flip back and forth between a previous life and the present life. I find the ultra modern language a bit out of place with the ancient settings. However, the morally gray Mo Ran and the sorely misunderstood Chu Wanning are portrayed with exceptional brilliance.
 

Overall, it's a superbly entertaining read. I'm giving it 4.3 stars.

 

James Nicoll Reviews Quote on The Heavenly Sword

 

 

 

 

Quote:

“Poon strives to live up to the standards of her literary model Jin Yong, whom I’m sure you’ve all read. Sai’er needs all the martial arts prowess she has to survive the numerous confrontations she will have. She also needs her cunning to elude the myriad of traps, and friends and family to rescue her on those occasions when her martial arts and keen wit are not quite sufficient. The plot moves along very nicely.”

 

Full Review

 

Her Grace's Library's Review of The Heavenly Sword

 

Full Review

 

Excerpts:-

 

 

"I enjoyed this, as I did Poon’s earlier books. She does a terrific job of blending fantasy, mythology, and real history all together to make a credible story. I would almost categorize this book magical realism rather than fantasy simply because the elements of magic are so closely woven into the factual parts of the story. They just…belong. Of course Sai’er has a sprite friend. Of course she is an immortal sent to earth. It could be no other way. There isn’t any suspension of disbelief while reading this, it’s just the way things are in Sai’er’s life. So that is particularly well done on the author’s part."

 

"I think for someone like me, whose experience with wuxia/kung fu extends to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and a handful of Jackie Chan films, this is a very good introduction to the genre. Poon talks about her lifelong love of wuxia (Chinese martial arts/kung fu novels), and references Jin Yong. I had never heard of him before so now I am tempted to read some of his works. Apparently, he’s big in the genre… I never would have learned about him had I not read this book. I always appreciate a book that teaches me something!"

"I don’t think this necessarily has to be an adult novel, either. Yes, there’s some sex and gore, but I don’t think it was gratuitous or anything inappropriate for a teen to read."

 

The Quill to Live Review of The Heavenly Sword

 

So happy to find this snug review of The Heavenly Sword!

 

Excerpt:

 

"I got cozy with The Heavenly Sword by Alice Poon. It was so easy to sit down and read Sai’er’s adventures, it was like listening to an epic oral tale. I looked forward to opening up my book before bed each night to see where Poon would take me next. The story flowed so nicely and I couldn’t help but snuggle in and relax into Sai’er’s tale of love and justice."