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nisanatreads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
One person online summed this novel up very astutely in one sentence: Ming Tsu rides horses and he kills. There's a lot more to it than that, of course, otherwise Lin wouldn't have won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, nor would it have been possible to fill three whole pages with quotes from people who adore this debut novel. But this person wasn't wrong either, because that's essentially the whole plot.
Ming Tsu falls in love and elopes with a rich white girl. Her father sends his henchmen after them, however, and Ada is married off to someone else, while Tsu is conscripted into the service of the Central Pacific Railroad. The thing is, Tsu, orphaned at a young age, was trained to be a deadly enforcer for a crime syndicate, and he wants revenge. With the help of a blind prophet and a troupe of supernatural magic show performers, he sets out to find Ada and the men who destroyed his happiness.
I've never been a fan of the western genre, but I've never really thought about why. And as it turns out, it's because Western heroes are typically people I wouldn't consider my heroes. They're colonists and racists and there's this weird romantic aspect to killing indigenous people. Not in this book, though, because our (anti)hero is a 'Chinaman', which lends credibility and necessity to his murderous actions. The book is not very explicit about this, but I think it does raise the question of identity. Of course, racism is rampant in the characters' interactions with each other, as it is in the genre, but it actually stings more because you get to see what it's like for a person who doesn't see himself as a foreigner and at the same time uses this perceived foreignness to his advantage.
It's also a brutal read and you should look out for trigger warnings. I'd say it's the perfect book for anyone who loves Tarantino films, but with a bit more depth and a touch of magical realism.
Find me on Instagram @nisanatreads
Ming Tsu falls in love and elopes with a rich white girl. Her father sends his henchmen after them, however, and Ada is married off to someone else, while Tsu is conscripted into the service of the Central Pacific Railroad. The thing is, Tsu, orphaned at a young age, was trained to be a deadly enforcer for a crime syndicate, and he wants revenge. With the help of a blind prophet and a troupe of supernatural magic show performers, he sets out to find Ada and the men who destroyed his happiness.
I've never been a fan of the western genre, but I've never really thought about why. And as it turns out, it's because Western heroes are typically people I wouldn't consider my heroes. They're colonists and racists and there's this weird romantic aspect to killing indigenous people. Not in this book, though, because our (anti)hero is a 'Chinaman', which lends credibility and necessity to his murderous actions. The book is not very explicit about this, but I think it does raise the question of identity. Of course, racism is rampant in the characters' interactions with each other, as it is in the genre, but it actually stings more because you get to see what it's like for a person who doesn't see himself as a foreigner and at the same time uses this perceived foreignness to his advantage.
It's also a brutal read and you should look out for trigger warnings. I'd say it's the perfect book for anyone who loves Tarantino films, but with a bit more depth and a touch of magical realism.
Find me on Instagram @nisanatreads
bookwyrm76's review against another edition
4.0
Wierd in all the best ways. Incredibly violent and sometimes described very graphically. Not sorry I read it, but unsure who or how to recommend it. A bit magical realism or maybe eastern spiritualism mixed with a heavy dose of western?
fionahull2's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.5
Interesting story with tons of potential, plateaued with a predictable end.
daumari's review against another edition
4.0
Short Western revenge quest with magical realism elements. Ming Tsu has a pretty high body count (thus the title), but what I really enjoyed were the descriptions of the arid intermountain west.
I do feel like the MRAzn crowd might like this book, because of the masculine violence as Ming kills those who wronged him in effort to get back to his white wife.
Skimming through some other reviews, some felt he should be "more Chinese", which... feels odd given there's no one singular way to be something? The character was orphaned at a young age and raised/trained by a white man, which would be different from the laborers coming predominantly from southern China, but he knows he's different from the majority because of how they treat him. Maybe Ming can spend some time musing on his identity after going through his vengeance list, but I do think there's something inherent in how the traveling circus became a found family of sorts, as they were all people out of time in a way.
I do feel like the MRAzn crowd might like this book, because of the masculine violence as Ming kills those who wronged him in effort to get back to his white wife.
Skimming through some other reviews, some felt he should be "more Chinese", which... feels odd given there's no one singular way to be something? The character was orphaned at a young age and raised/trained by a white man, which would be different from the laborers coming predominantly from southern China, but he knows he's different from the majority because of how they treat him. Maybe Ming can spend some time musing on his identity after going through his vengeance list, but I do think there's something inherent in how the traveling circus became a found family of sorts, as they were all people out of time in a way.
mammajamma's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
briannap's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
missbreathing's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
spooky_simon's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I love a nasty crusty miserable character that just kills a lot of people.
The story is pretty cut and dry and the plot railroads the book. The protagonist is halfway through a revenge pree and finishes it at the end of the book. The "twist" is telegraphed by chapter two. That being said it was a blast. I love the looney tunes rooting tooting logic of the world. The prophets adoration for geology and geologic time scales is delightful and an interesting moral setting for the grotesque violence we watch Ming deal out. My main complaint is that I wish it was longer.
The story is pretty cut and dry and the plot railroads the book. The protagonist is halfway through a revenge pree and finishes it at the end of the book. The "twist" is telegraphed by chapter two. That being said it was a blast. I love the looney tunes rooting tooting logic of the world. The prophets adoration for geology and geologic time scales is delightful and an interesting moral setting for the grotesque violence we watch Ming deal out. My main complaint is that I wish it was longer.
lornabee's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
ekarcha's review against another edition
4.0
Magical realism meets western isn’t a combination one finds very often, but it works perfectly in this stunning debut novel. Looking forward to Tom Lin’s next book already.