While certain members of my circle will insist, "Never read anything written before 1980!", (And true, there's a wealth of quality works, enough to last you the rest of your life, written before 1960, and you'll never even have to leave the Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror genres) Sometimes you just have to give the moderns a chance. Amidst a dismal series of piecemeal random selections in MilSF & the various flavors of Game Literature I can assure you, no, I don't just hate everything.
Tao Wong's A Thousand Li: The First Step isn't just a solid start to a new series, succesfully divergent from most current-year YA releases, but it also serves as an introductory piece into the Wuxia /Cultivation genres.
If you're like me you grew up in the west enjoying 'Kung Fu' movies (typically from that pre-unification Hong Kong heyday) but something like Chinese comic books or novels were rarely at hand. That inevitably leaves you wondering some riddles of the ages.
Sooo... yeah. All those Kung Fu Schools in the movies were essentially gangs. Like literally half protection racket half private security firm half privatemilitary contractor. Which adds up to 150%, and that explains how they can fly through the air and walk on lilypads.
Okay so gangstas everywhere just like Wu Tang. Deal with it.
But let's talk up this thoroughly enjoyable book- In my last blog post, I groused that in 3 hours of Immortal Swordslinger, there was no real clue about a central conflict, theme or antagonist. Wong introduces conflict(s) in Spades. Or even Euchre. The protagonist is the subject of a unified Chinese(esque?) Empire. One beset (of course) by conflict both within and without. The people are oppressed to one degree or another, there's barbarians at the border, and insurrections & treachery within. Basically, that fertile ground of "rivers & lakes" that means you're naturally going to be getting into a fight or three, so you best prepare.
The protagonist is conscripted from his humble peasant village, and then through an incident, sent from the common ranks of the army to a rare opportunity to attend a Hogwarts for booting people in the head, where he can become a real Cultivator. Rivalries, antagonistic teachers, school assignments that put him in harms way- even as Gamelit, Tao crafts a well-paced story that packs a variety of encounters & growth for our hero. Man versus society, man versus man, man versus self, man versus nature, man versus (really crazy) old man in the woods- just about every form of conflict is explored in the novel.
By the time he's returned from the liquor store in time for a martial arts tournament for class placement, you're ready to see him apply all that he's learned on his journey, and you're ready to root him on.
And like I said, this is Wuxia for a western eye, a wading pool to help readers understand the concepts that may be more obscure, or taken for granted in a translated Chinese work. As online novels increase in popularity, as Wuxia and Xien Xia make their way across the Pacific, some things may be confusing if a reader isn't prepared beforehand, and thankfully Wong's well crafted, action-packed story is here to break you into the saddle.
Not that our hero ever has access to a horse.
Well, there's always Dragon Steps...
Turns out there's even at least 1 YouTuber looking to explain the ins and outs of Wuxia And Hey! This DeathBlade Guy works in translating Chinese novels, and explaining the ins and outs of the books!