Wuxia and Xainxia novels

[mcstringer]

I have noticed Wuxia and Xainxia novels have not been highlighted on this forum.

I just finished reading Coiling Dragon by I Eat Tomatoes. It a pretty amazing series about a boy that wants to grow strong enough to live up to his family legacy, There are love and revenge subplots that drive the main character through harsh life choices and hopeless situations.

I have started reading his other works Desolate Era, the Nine Cauldrons, and Lord Xue Ying.

I also read other translated novels like I Shall Seal the Heavens, Martial God Asura, Tales of Demons and Gods, The Chef of Ice and Fire, Descent of the Phoenix, and Stunning Edge.

[mcstringer]

Coiling Dragon by I Eat Tomatoes

Coiling Dragon.. how do I put this... If you like Die Hard or Taken, look this book up. It is absolutely an action story with a whole lot of heart. It is about a young boy's journey of recognition, redemption, revenge, meaning of life. He experiences victory and defeat, heartbreak,and he feels human. Yah you know heroes win in their stories, but this one is able to keep the question there.

Unfortunately, our main hero does become a "man with special skills", but that is partially because you feel his confidence as the story moves, which is where the comparison to Die Hard and Take come in. Action with heart. Also as you follow his journey...it does get..absurd. The heroes and enemies, near the end, have to fight in different planes of existence besides their own, because when you are a walking @$@# mountain stuff tends to go bye bye.

Thankfully, the significant heroes and villains have enough motivation and personality that you care about them to some extent. You wonder a little bit how the friends and family of the main hero are doing when he is off saving the world. The villains are unfortunately villains after the first few. Meaning they lose their human like motivations beyond POWER ALLL THE POWER. Because the story starts the "go big or go home" snowball.

Hopeful you will enjoy the story about young boy that becomes a well skilled warrior for himself and others. The peaceful breaks in the story go well with the action. Maybe more people will take a look.

[StormWolf]

"Black Wolves" as the series that follows is quite enjoyable. The main protagonist is something of an everyman who is heaped with status and responsibility he doesn't really want, making an inverse of what we commonly see in wuxia (chosen wan, etc etc). What caught my eye with "Black Wolves" is the small details. Cultural and artistic nuances that make something oriental, rather than an poor westerners impression of the orient because they saw an Anime once.

The author did her homework, and it shows.