Reviews

A Hero Born by Jin Yong

bosermoki's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I'd give the story itself a 3 or 3.5ish stars. It's a bit meandering, a bit overly padded on unnecessary detail/ancillary characters with some weird pacing but that makes sense given that it's a serialized story. My beloved Count of Monte Cristo has some of the same so I'm more than willing to forgive it. It's a straight-up martial arts action story, so the characters are straightforward, and the plot is very linear and fairly predictable. 

The translation itself however is poor. A solid 1-star and it drags down the story. There is inconsistency in what gets translated and what doesn't. There's no reason to use neigong when you're also saying martial arts or in one sentence refer to someone's shifu and in another, their master. What is particularly unpleasant is that the translator obviously used a mandarin copy for their translation. Considering this is a story by a Hong Kong author, it's some weird gross Cantonese erasure that I just can't get behind. Very disappointing

pkadzi's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.5

capnhist's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

cdoors's review against another edition

adventurous challenging medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

timburbage's review against another edition

5.0

I loved this book.

It is a story that is set 800 years ago, and it feels timeless.

The characters are three dimensional, tricksy, funny and have honour. The action is intense, and I can visualise all of the kung fu very easily. It uses a method of explaining kung fu in a way very similar to The Princess Bride, where they simply name the move and allow our imagination to fill in the gaps. The story is epic in scope, and this is only the first volume of the first book.

Overall, I loved the style. I loved how evey page felt like an epic kung fu movie. One of my favourite reads and I can't wait to get the next volume.

katekoda's review against another edition

5.0

Kung Fu, duels, villains, lost children, revenge, love lost and found, honour in battle, martial masters, taoist monks, rival schools, Mongols, evil dynasty, mysterious beauty in possession of great skill and a hero pure of heart whose nei gong is only surpassed by the goodness of his character. If this doesn’t sound to you like ten thousand bags of awesomeness, then this book is not for you.

gaulien's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

emilybryk's review against another edition

3.0

I think that there's a lot, culturally, that I'm missing here. I also felt like the translation put us as readers at some remove. Or maybe I felt like I as a reader just was held at some remove, and maybe that's true even when it's not in translation because, once again, I was missing something, culturally. I don't know.

wyrmdog's review against another edition

4.0

There is something vaguely operatic yet quaint about this book, epic scope not withstanding. Maybe that's true of all classic wuxia fiction, but this is my first authentic foray. With prose that gets right to the point, the narrative moves fast and packs an immense amount of story into its lean (for fantasy) presentation. At times the naming of an action rather than describing it can be off-putting, with only some descriptive enough in English to really convey what's going on, but the florid labels lend a distinctive and unmistakable character to it that help make it an oversized good time.

I think what I love most about it isn't even the martial arts mayhem or the sweeping, theatrical story, but the modern mythmaking that's clearly layered over extant legends and historical figures. I am looking forward to more!

fpsatya's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

Best read in the original Chinese Simplified/Traditional if you can. This English translation has quite a few inaccuracies in the translation, and some parts are not even included. As a result, I think you will misunderstand what the author is trying to convey with this english version of the book.