Wuxia, for the uninitiated (like me), is “a genre of Chinese literature featuring the lives and adventures of Chinese martial artists” (Leong). In my ignorance, I had to look up exactly what wuxia is (and also went down a rabbit hole of pronunciation guides for Mandarin characters-an approximation of how to pronounce this word is “woo-she-ah”). The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water is a novella billed as “a found family wuxia fantasy that combines the vibrancy of old school martial arts movies with characters drawn from the margins of history” ( ). To sum up, it’s a long title for a short novel. My one complaint is that it was short, and I was sad when it ended (although the ending was perfection). And while I liked Sorcerer to the Crown okay, I truly loved The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water. Much better than the generic Sorcerer to the Crown, which was the first book of Zen Cho’s that I read, on the recommendation of my friend and co-podcaster, Elisha. The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water is a win, IMHO. Some of my favourites are short, some are long, some are metaphorical or allegorical, some are literal. There is no rhyme or reason to my whims about book titles. If I hate it, well…I just might not read the book.
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