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A review by valjeanval
Eight Skilled Gentleman by Barry Hughart
4.0
The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox are what would happen if Terry Pratchett decided to write a Sherlock Holmes style mystery series right after he finished reading a messload of Chinese folklore. I'm sure if I were a bit more of an expert on Chinese folklore, I'd find ways to pick the series apart, but I'm not, so I'm just going to enjoy them at face value. The tales are wonderfully twisty, full of funny non-sequiters, and rich in imagery.
Eight Skilled Gentlemen follows the same format as the previous two books, and admittedly that's sort of a problem. If you've read the first two, you can pick out the Big Bad basically from the moment of said Big Bad's appearance. That said, it's still fun figuring out exactly how Big Bad is pulling off his scheme and what exactly that scheme is. It's also fun to just hang out with Number Ten Ox, watching all the craziness that comes with unraveling ancient mysteries with Master Li.
Not my favorite of the series, but well worth it to spend a little more time with these characters.
Eight Skilled Gentlemen follows the same format as the previous two books, and admittedly that's sort of a problem. If you've read the first two, you can pick out the Big Bad basically from the moment of said Big Bad's appearance. That said, it's still fun figuring out exactly how Big Bad is pulling off his scheme and what exactly that scheme is. It's also fun to just hang out with Number Ten Ox, watching all the craziness that comes with unraveling ancient mysteries with Master Li.
Not my favorite of the series, but well worth it to spend a little more time with these characters.