Good Wuxia Novels

[forteous]

There seems to be many forum members here very well read in chinese wuxia novels. Just wanted to see what everyone's favorite novels were and collect some recommendations on some wuxia reading, particularly some lesser known works. My favorites (of the limited I've read) so far are:

by Jing Yong:
Xie Au Gong Wu (Smilling Proud Wanderer) - The romance portion is not annoying
The Condor Trillogy - Memorable characters and a very rich, enjoyable plot

by Gu Long:
The Remarkable Twins - Interesting plot setup, though kinda dwindles at the end


Please help add more novels and comments.

[Siven]

Happy Heroes (Huang Le Ying Xiong), IMO the best of Gu Long's works. It's very different from traditional wuxia, in terms of characterization and the setup. The protagonists are four dirt-poor (by choice...) friends living in an abandoned villa.

The Chu Liu Xiang series and Adventures of Lu Xiao Feng are worth reading just for their colorful characters and gripping plot.

The Seven Weapons series is also good.

I recommend Demi Gods and Semi Devils (Tian Long Ba Bu) as the next Jin Yong novel to read, since you liked the Condor trilogy. Though it's only chronologically related to the trilogy, in terms of style and flavor I think it's the closest to them among the rest of his works.

There're many good authors besides Gu Long and Jin Yong of course, but they can wait until you have time left over. I've known Chinese for 20-odd years, but only starting last year did I start to devour wuxia novels.

[rayon]

I'm new to wuxia literature myself and the only author whose works I'm familiar with is Jin Yong. My favorite is Shen Diao Xia Lu but I hear that Deer and the Cauldron is a pretty good book too. It's got an interesting anti-hero for a protagonist.

[Du Gu seeking a win]

There seems to be many forum members here very well read in chinese wuxia novels. Just wanted to see what everyone's favorite novels were and collect some recommendations on some wuxia reading, particularly some lesser known works. My favorites (of the limited I've read) so far are:

by Jing Yong:
Xie Au Gong Wu (Smilling Proud Wanderer) - The romance portion is not annoying
The Condor Trillogy - Memorable characters and a very rich, enjoyable plot

by Gu Long:
The Remarkable Twins - Interesting plot setup, though kinda dwindles at the end


Please help add more novels and comments.

This discussion should be in the 'wuxia fiction' thread, not in the 'wuxia translation' thread, you should ask Noodles to relocate this thread.

[Bloodflowers]

Well, I only read a couple of the translations I found online, but so far the one I liked best were:

Jin Yong:
Smilling Proud Wanderer
Demi-Gods Semi-Devils [the first part is really nice, but only a small bit of this has been translated so far, so... ]
LOCH/ROCH [from the bit I read I like the ROCH better than LOCH]

Gu Long:
Xiao Li Fei Dao

From what I read I dont really appreciate Gu Long's style. Xiao Li Fei Dao is the exception, its truly marvellous. I find it amazing how he can captivate my attention despite the fact that any fight doesn't last more than a couple of lines, and that characters show up and disappear every other second. ^__^ I also feel he didn't create alot of wannabe-cool characters wich is someone I find truly annoynig about Lu Xiao Feng.

That said I really can't form a decent opining as I never really got to read the end of these novels, and what I read was from online translations. I dont really have any complaints, but I can't really judge the value of the translations as I know absolutely nothin' about chinese. The only thing I can judge, and poorly at that since I am neither native to the language nor someone who has studied it, is the english skills of the translator.

[jin_yong_fan]

i havent read a lot of wuxia and the ones i have read are all jin yong
my favorite:
return of the condor hero
legend of the condor hero
sword stained with royal blood (my mom was reading this to me, i havent finished yet but she read over half and i think it is wonderful)

[kidd]

i havent read a lot of wuxia and the ones i have read are all jin yong
my favorite:
return of the condor hero
legend of the condor hero
sword stained with royal blood (my mom was reading this to me, i havent finished yet but she read over half and i think it is wonderful)

Your mom is so good. I remember last time, when I was younger, I asked my mom to read an article from a chinese newpaper to me and she summarised the whole article into 1 sentence, and that's all I get.