Or, Gallant Ouyang Makes His Case to be the Biggest Jerk in the Story (spoilers ahead) Gallant Ouyang - Jerk Extraordinaire After Apothecary Huang and Lotus leave, the shattered remains of Zephyr Lu’s garden party are left to pick up the pieces. People are dug out from under the wreckage and dusted off. One of … Continue reading A Bond Undone – Read-along, Chapter 6

Once again, everyone ends up in the same room, and this chapter revolves around each group’s conflicting loyalties and goals. It’s at times confusing, but it is nice to see things happening, and the increased focus on Guo Jing and (I guess) Lotus helps keep the story grounded. Spoilers ahead! The Eastern Heretic, Apothecary Huang … Continue reading A Bond Undone – Read-along, Chapter 5

Or, Lotus and Guo Jing’s Lake Vacation. Spoilers ahead! Lake Tai - details on the real world lake at the end of this post! Satisfied with their matchmaking, Lotus and Guo Jing continue their travels, ending up at Lake Tai. (See the end for some interesting notes on Lake Tai.) They take a boat out … Continue reading A Bond Undone – Read-along, Chapter 4

In chapter three we see Guo Jing and Lotus advance their skills quite a bit due to the introduction of the Northern Beggar Count Seven Hong. Spoilers coming! The Northern Beggar Count Seven Hong, the Divine Vagrant Nine Fingers, Chief of the Beggar Clan So, this is the beginning of the chapter that I felt … Continue reading A Bond Undone – Read-along, Chapter 3

Woof. This was a really long chapter. To save my sanity, I'm going to break it up and this summary will cover sub-chapters 1-3. There's a ton of action in this chapter as every one shows up to the party! (spoilers! sssh!) Everyone in the pool for this week's chapter! Gallant Ouyang arrives, finding Guo … Continue reading A Bond Undone – Read-along, Chapter 2

As many people have noted, the Legends of the Condor Heroes was originally serialized and not intended to be read in long form, so we have that particular structure to thank for the odd breaks between the books. Thankfully, A Bond Undone picks up right where A Hero Born left us hanging... (spoilers ahead) Legend … Continue reading A Bond Undone – Read-along, Chapter 1

The (not so) thrilling conclusion! Well after a bit of a snoozer of chapter eight, the final chapter of the first book really delivers on the action. Lives are in peril! Secrets are divulged! Identities are revealed! The most spoiler-y of spoilers ahead! Lotus and Guo Jing, up to shenanigans again Guo Jing and Lotus … Continue reading A Hero Born – Read-along, Chapter 9

As I said in my post yesterday, it finally dawned on me that Guo Jing really reminds me of the star of another wuxia novel, Wei Shi Lindon from the Cradle series. If you haven't read these books, I highly recommend them! They are fast-moving, action-packed stories with wonderful characters and world-building. Guo Jing and … Continue reading A Hero Born – Read-along, Chapter 8

Oh man, things are getting meaty now! (Finally!) Let me preface this by saying that I am enjoying this book. But, giving myself a deadline to put up chapter summaries every Monday always makes me feel like I'm back in school again and I've put off my reading until the last night before class. Which, … Continue reading A Hero Born – Read-along, Chapter 7