OK, the DAGGER LEE saga leads into BORDERTOWN WANDERER (what was that about? I know that Ah Fei is involved in it) and THIRD YOUNG MASTER'S SWORD (not directly, but we know it's connected due to the connection of a character in ROUND MOON CURVED SABRE that had connections back to DAGGER LEE). THIRD YOUNG MASTER'S SWORD leads into ROUND MOON CURVED SABRE. Is that it, or does the saga continue?
Working Gu Long continuity can be quite a challenge...
Yeah... it can be quite a challenge. :)
The connection in Full Moon, Curved Sabre is rather circumstantial. It's like saying White Jade Tiger is connected because of Old Man Sun's descendant, or Righteous Blood Cleansing Silver Spear is connected because of Shen Lang's descendant. But no, the saga doesn't continue after Full Moon, Curved Sabre because GL died not too long after.
The latest novel to be directly related to the Dagger Li saga is probably Return of the Flying Dagger, which follow the story of both Dagger Li and ShengGuan JinHong's descendants.
You can read more about Dagger Li's student Ye Kai and the return of Ah Fei in Bliss' translation of Bordertown Wanderer.
What about Flying Eagles in the Ninth Month that's currently beeing translated by fastclock? Ye Kai is the main character (eventhough he hasn't shown up in fastclocks translation yet), and judging by what I know about the ending of Bordertown Wanderer it seems to take place a relatively short time after the end of it, so I think the timeline is:
(Wu Lin Wai Shi) which doesn't directly share any characters with the rest of the storys but has characters that are directly referenced later on in Dagger Lee -> Dagger Lee -> Bordertown Wanderer -> Flying Eagles in the Ninth Month -> Full Moon, Curved Sabre -> Return of the Flying Dagger (which may not directly share any characters with the other novels but have their descendants?)
Is that correct so far? And where does Third Young Masters Sword fit in exactly?
WuLin WaiShi
Sentimental Swordsman, Ruthless Sword
Bordertown Wanderer
Eagles Flying in the Ninth Month
Horizon, Full Moon, Sabre
Return of the Flying Dagger
Full Moon, Curved Sabre is technically not strongly connected but should come after all of them. Third Master's Sword is connected to Full Moon, Curved Sabre and takes place about 30 years before.
I don't understand a single thing. :p
What on Earth should I read first?
As I recall Ah Fei only makes a cameo appearance in Bordertown, kinda like Obi-wan in Return of the Jedi. Some of the later ones are known to be written by Gu Long's disciples instead of himself, or at least in part.
Sentimental Swordsman, Ruthless Sword
Bordertown Wanderer
Horizon, Full Moon, Sabre
I'd recommend the above three as must-read. The other ones in the same sequence are not at the same level of quality.
How about the following novels ?Quote:
Originally Posted by TigerWong
The Sword & The Exquisiteness
Xiao Shiyi Lang
The Jade Tiger
The Tale of Refining the Sword like Cleansing the Flower
The Flower Guarding Bell
Does Sword of the Third Master happened before Return of the Flying Dagger ?
IcyFox - stick to JY lar :D
Must read up on GL stories so that I can debate with those GL fanatics who keep trying to prove that GL characters are superior to JY characters, like those Carmen fans always trying to prove how beautiful she is and what a wonderful XLN she portrayed. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Tazzy1972
I would say these come before the Sentimental Swordsman:Quote:
Originally Posted by chickenfeet
The Sword & The Exquisiteness
The Tale of Refining the Sword like Cleansing the Flower
The Flower Guarding Bell
And these came after:
Xiao Shiyi Lang
The Jade Tiger
It is unclear about Third Master and Return, but my guess is they're close. Besides, it's not really that important.
These are the ones I like from GL's work :Quote:
Originally Posted by IcyFox
Horizon, Full Moon, Sabre
The Legendary Twins
It's times like these I really admire the Chinese language. It takes so many English words to accurately translate five simple Chinese words. It's like what my preacher friend told me - he finds preaching in Chinese absolutely wonderful because there are phrases that sound so good and smooth in Chinese, which can barely be captured in English without sounding clumsy. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by chickenfeet
yeah it's probably not related. However, the tv adaptations seem to like to have them related to each other. For example anyone saw the 2001 chu liu xiang series where li xun huan was part of the story and was made into the person who taught chu liu xiang everything and even taught him his flying dagger which he used a few times in his stories. The chu liu xiang story line wasnt altered too much, but him having flying dagger against the few tough opponents was pretty cool
xiao li fei dao>jiu yue fei ying> bian cheng lang zi>tian ya ming yue dao>bian cheng dao sheng>fei dao you jian fei dao.
xiao li fei dao: talk about li xun huan, and a fei. main story line character does focus on bai xiao sheng's weapon ranking:
1st sun tian ji
2nd shang guan jing hong
3rd li xun huan
4th guo chong yang
5th lu feng xian
7th ximen rou
8th zhuge gang
9th yi ku
others: a fei, jing wu ming, lin xian er, long xiao yun
other books focus on ye kai and fu hong xue, with previous characters disciples occuring
fei dao you jian fei dao features li xun huan grandson and son, but do note that at that time, the flying dagger technique is no longer unbeatable.
bian cheng dao sheng features fu hong xue and ye kai again, but gu long only finished the starting few chapters, the rest is being finished by gu long's deciple, ding qing. the main villain wang lian hua is from another book with zhu 77 and shen lang.
Bian Cheng Lang Zi should precede Jiu Yue Ying Fei. There were massive spoilers in Jiu Yue Ying Fei that give away the ending of Bian Cheng Lang Zi.Quote:
Originally Posted by ibelieveindevil