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A review by cassberrie
The Magnolia Sword: A Ballad of Mulan by Sherry Thomas
4.0
After the disaster that was the 2020 live-action Disney adaptation of Mulan, I needed a palate cleanser, and Sherry Thomas delivered everything that the Mulan movie should have been.
The story follows Hua Mulan who lives undercover as her dead brother Hua Muyang as she trains for the destined duel between her and the representative of the Peng family, as the Hua and Peng families have been martial arts rivals for generations. Her duel is delayed, however, when the emperor conscripts one man from every household to serve on the border to defend China from Northern invaders, and Mulan disguises herself as a soldier in the place of her disabled father.
First and foremost, I LOVE that this was written by an actual Chinese author, but, beyond that, it feels Chinese. As someone who's read and watched her fair share of historical martial arts drama, it was very refreshing to see the terms like "xiongdi" and "gu-niang" used in this book while the characters smoothly incorporated Chinese idioms into their everyday speech like a seasoned Chinese auntie.
Furthermore, despite how homophobic the Chinese government is right now, historically, ancient China was much more accepting of queer relationships, something that is reflected in this novel. It is explained how homosexual relationships are perfectly acceptable, as long as they do not distract you from your duties. (It is not relevant to this story, but unfortunately, lesbian relationships were frowned upon because a woman's duty was to bear children, something she cannot do in a same-sex relationship, and ancient China was still sexist against women). As Mulan and her love interest get closer, the rest of the male soldiers tease her goodnaturedly about the flirtation between them. Furthermore, two side characters are openly gay, and they are encouraged by their friends to pursue a romantic relationship with no judgment.
I truly appreciate how Thomas dives into ethnic diversity in northern China. At the time of the Ballad of Hua Mulan, around 500 AD, China was fractured and ruled in the north by the Xianbei, an ethnic minority group that was not well-received by the majority Han Chinese population. I was fascinated by how the Xianbei people, despite occupying the throne, were willing to go through sinicization (think "Americanization" but for China) and change their last names to Han-sounding names in order to integrate into society. Mulan in this book has to face her own internalized prejudices against Xianbei and Xiongnu (a Mongolian ethnic group that has occupied various Chinese states in the past) people and grow to accept a more accepting worldview. China is, after all, a BIG place that has always been full of diverse people, and in a time when the Uyghur minority population in China is being persecuted and forcibly sinicized, this hit different.
Beyond the themes mentioned above, this book was also just a well-paced action story with a simmering romance that hit just right. The romance is a lovely slow-burn built upon mutual respect and the two of them just being a battlefield power couple. The action was well-coordinated and fun, while the political intrigue balanced it out nicely.
I will say that the war and the duel plotlines did not weave together too smoothly, and the falling action + ending was a bit tonally inconsistent with the rest of the story. I also think that some of the character interactions and terminology might go over some people's heads if they're not familiar with Chinese wuxia media. And Mulan's character arc is ultimately satisfying, but it takes a while for her to get there since I found myself a bit frustrated with her at times near the beginning.
But overall, I highly recommend this to everyone who is looking for an OwnVoices Mulan retelling full of intrigue, action, and meaningful commentary. And lots of tasty Chinese food.
The story follows Hua Mulan who lives undercover as her dead brother Hua Muyang as she trains for the destined duel between her and the representative of the Peng family, as the Hua and Peng families have been martial arts rivals for generations. Her duel is delayed, however, when the emperor conscripts one man from every household to serve on the border to defend China from Northern invaders, and Mulan disguises herself as a soldier in the place of her disabled father.
First and foremost, I LOVE that this was written by an actual Chinese author, but, beyond that, it feels Chinese. As someone who's read and watched her fair share of historical martial arts drama, it was very refreshing to see the terms like "xiongdi" and "gu-niang" used in this book while the characters smoothly incorporated Chinese idioms into their everyday speech like a seasoned Chinese auntie.
Furthermore, despite how homophobic the Chinese government is right now, historically, ancient China was much more accepting of queer relationships, something that is reflected in this novel. It is explained how homosexual relationships are perfectly acceptable, as long as they do not distract you from your duties. (It is not relevant to this story, but unfortunately, lesbian relationships were frowned upon because a woman's duty was to bear children, something she cannot do in a same-sex relationship, and ancient China was still sexist against women). As Mulan and her love interest get closer, the rest of the male soldiers tease her goodnaturedly about the flirtation between them. Furthermore, two side characters are openly gay, and they are encouraged by their friends to pursue a romantic relationship with no judgment.
I truly appreciate how Thomas dives into ethnic diversity in northern China. At the time of the Ballad of Hua Mulan, around 500 AD, China was fractured and ruled in the north by the Xianbei, an ethnic minority group that was not well-received by the majority Han Chinese population. I was fascinated by how the Xianbei people, despite occupying the throne, were willing to go through sinicization (think "Americanization" but for China) and change their last names to Han-sounding names in order to integrate into society. Mulan in this book has to face her own internalized prejudices against Xianbei and Xiongnu (a Mongolian ethnic group that has occupied various Chinese states in the past) people and grow to accept a more accepting worldview. China is, after all, a BIG place that has always been full of diverse people, and in a time when the Uyghur minority population in China is being persecuted and forcibly sinicized, this hit different.
Beyond the themes mentioned above, this book was also just a well-paced action story with a simmering romance that hit just right. The romance is a lovely slow-burn built upon mutual respect and the two of them just being a battlefield power couple. The action was well-coordinated and fun, while the political intrigue balanced it out nicely.
I will say that the war and the duel plotlines did not weave together too smoothly, and the falling action + ending was a bit tonally inconsistent with the rest of the story. I also think that some of the character interactions and terminology might go over some people's heads if they're not familiar with Chinese wuxia media. And Mulan's character arc is ultimately satisfying, but it takes a while for her to get there since I found myself a bit frustrated with her at times near the beginning.
But overall, I highly recommend this to everyone who is looking for an OwnVoices Mulan retelling full of intrigue, action, and meaningful commentary. And lots of tasty Chinese food.