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Review: Louis Cha - The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber (倚天屠龍記) (1963)
I am finally finished this incredibly long novel! This book was harder to get through compared to Legend of the Condor Heroes and Return of the Condor Heroes. The story didn't draw me in and after about the half way mark, I was mostly skimming the story. As a book, I'd say that this one was the weakest of the trilogy.
Spoilers.
Story
Like I said, I checked out from the story about half way through the book, when Zhang Wuji was in adulthood. For the LOTC and ROTCH, romance was often a plot device to get to the Wuxia aspects of the stories, namely, fights and defending honour, and all that. But in HSDS, the Wuxia aspects were plot devices to get us to the romance. So much of this book was focused on romance, including the climax. It was hard to feel much sympathy for Zhang Wuji as he was a person in such a high-ranking political position and yet we spent most of our time reading about him feeling bad because he couldn't marry all four of his lady loves.
There were a lot of characters, and honestly I don't remember a lot of them. Many of them slipped in and out of the story, but without having made a big impact. But most of all, I think the side characters in this book just weren't as charismatic as the characters in LOTC or ROTCH, even the villains.
When I was young, I rather enjoyed the HSDS 2001 TVB drama. I think that I enjoyed the series because it was easier to get a feel for all of the sects and the side characters.
The story was still engaging up until Zhang Wuji was a teenager. When he was young, the characters around him were pretty strong (Xie Xun, his parents Zhang Cuishan and Yin Susu, etc.). And when he was a teenager, Zhang Wuji was actually kind of bright. As an adult, he had goals (in theory), but his mind was far too clouded by romance and it was pretty annoying to read. Furthermore, in the final pages of the story, we got loads and loads of narrative and dialogue of Zhang Wuji sorting out his love for Zhao Min, Zhou Zhiruo, and Yin Li. Meanwhile, his leave of the Ming Sect was described in a number of paragraphs in a very factual manner. It just made it really difficult to see this as not a romance-first book.
Characters
There are a lot of characters in this book but I'm just going to talk about a few.
Zhang Wuji
Like I said, this dude is just a weak character overall. He was always thinking about who to marry, which wouldn't be as big of a problem if he wasn't a literal Sect Leader with responsibilities. I definitely prefer him less as a protagonist compared to Guo Jing and Yang Guo.
By the time he was an adult, all of his merits didn't seem to matter anymore. We knew that he was a skilled healer, but he was barely in any situations that required his healing. And he did get pretty good at martial arts, but it didn't feel like a trait that he was revered for.
Overall, I'm pretty disappointed with adult Zhang Wuji.
Zhao Min
I feel like Zhao Min was supposed to be like Huang Rong lite. She was a bit mischievous and cunning, but the difference was that Zhao Min had actual political power, being a Junzhu of the Yuan Dynasty.
Of the second generation of characters, I feel like Zhao Min was probably the one that appealed the most to me. When she was accused by Zhang Wuji of doing all those terrible things she was framed for, Zhao Min took a calm approach, insisting that instead, he seek out his Yifu because he'd know the truth.
She did have to leave the royal family because she wanted to marry a Han man, and it's clear that it was a huge blow to both her and her family. In fact, her father was pretty worried for her well-being.
Anyway, I felt like she was the only character of the younger ones who had some nuance.
Zhou Zhiruo
Zhou Zhiruo was not a character that I loved. She was portrayed as being very pure, which is kind of par for the course for Jin Yong's Wuxia heroines. She became the Emei sect leader, taking on the roles and responsibilities left to her by her Shifu. At this point, Zhou Zhiruo started being more interesting. Actually, I find Jin Yong's female villains (such as Li Mochou) to be rather interesting because while they usually retain some of the "pure beautiful young woman" features, they are after something that makes them do heinous things. Zhou Zhiruo obviously did some heinous things.
But at the end of the book, Zhang Wuji took one look at Zhou Zhiruo again and fell for her pure and innocent face again. That just ground my gears because they were turning Zhou Zhiruo back into a one-dimensional character who just did bad things because she was confused. And of course, her biggest question for Zhang Wuji was who he loved the most.
To be fair, Zhou Zhiruo did try to take on her Zhangmen duties for a period of time, but at the end, I struggle to say that she was any better than Zhang Wuji at prioritizing.
Yin Li
Yin Li was Zhang Wuji's younger cousin who was also in love with him. She was kind of loud and brash, and showed up at the very end not dead (surprise!). I don't really have much thoughts about her to be honest.
Xiaozhao
Xiaozhao was actually quite a capable person, both in terms of fighting and in her intellectual ability. I remember being intrigued by her character when I'd watched the drama as a kid. But she was also...a bit bogged down by her love for Zhang Wuji. In the end, she used her lineage to assume the role of the head of the Persian Ming Cult in order to save Zhang Wuji. If it wasn't necessary, she wouldn't have done so. I feel like it was kind of a waste of her character, because she could've brought so much to the table with her unique lineage and skillset.
Xie Xun
Xie Xun was a character that left a big impression on me when I first watched the drama, and he continued to do so in this book. He'd obviously done some bad things, but there was a part of him that was good and cared for those around him. Also, his aesthetic is kind of cool.
Overall
Sorry that this review was so half-assed. I just didn't care enough about most of the characters to write about them. There were characters I liked but I just have no other comments to say about them other than "they were cool." (i.e. Zhang Cuishan, Yin Susu, Yang Xiao, Yang Buhui).
Most of all, I'm just kind of glad to be done this series. As you may know, the three books in this Condor Trilogy were all written as serials in the newspaper, so that's why all three of them are so insanely long. But this one definitely felt the most like a chore.
Spoilers.
Story
Like I said, I checked out from the story about half way through the book, when Zhang Wuji was in adulthood. For the LOTC and ROTCH, romance was often a plot device to get to the Wuxia aspects of the stories, namely, fights and defending honour, and all that. But in HSDS, the Wuxia aspects were plot devices to get us to the romance. So much of this book was focused on romance, including the climax. It was hard to feel much sympathy for Zhang Wuji as he was a person in such a high-ranking political position and yet we spent most of our time reading about him feeling bad because he couldn't marry all four of his lady loves.
There were a lot of characters, and honestly I don't remember a lot of them. Many of them slipped in and out of the story, but without having made a big impact. But most of all, I think the side characters in this book just weren't as charismatic as the characters in LOTC or ROTCH, even the villains.
When I was young, I rather enjoyed the HSDS 2001 TVB drama. I think that I enjoyed the series because it was easier to get a feel for all of the sects and the side characters.
The story was still engaging up until Zhang Wuji was a teenager. When he was young, the characters around him were pretty strong (Xie Xun, his parents Zhang Cuishan and Yin Susu, etc.). And when he was a teenager, Zhang Wuji was actually kind of bright. As an adult, he had goals (in theory), but his mind was far too clouded by romance and it was pretty annoying to read. Furthermore, in the final pages of the story, we got loads and loads of narrative and dialogue of Zhang Wuji sorting out his love for Zhao Min, Zhou Zhiruo, and Yin Li. Meanwhile, his leave of the Ming Sect was described in a number of paragraphs in a very factual manner. It just made it really difficult to see this as not a romance-first book.
Characters
There are a lot of characters in this book but I'm just going to talk about a few.
Zhang Wuji
Like I said, this dude is just a weak character overall. He was always thinking about who to marry, which wouldn't be as big of a problem if he wasn't a literal Sect Leader with responsibilities. I definitely prefer him less as a protagonist compared to Guo Jing and Yang Guo.
By the time he was an adult, all of his merits didn't seem to matter anymore. We knew that he was a skilled healer, but he was barely in any situations that required his healing. And he did get pretty good at martial arts, but it didn't feel like a trait that he was revered for.
Overall, I'm pretty disappointed with adult Zhang Wuji.
Zhao Min
I feel like Zhao Min was supposed to be like Huang Rong lite. She was a bit mischievous and cunning, but the difference was that Zhao Min had actual political power, being a Junzhu of the Yuan Dynasty.
Of the second generation of characters, I feel like Zhao Min was probably the one that appealed the most to me. When she was accused by Zhang Wuji of doing all those terrible things she was framed for, Zhao Min took a calm approach, insisting that instead, he seek out his Yifu because he'd know the truth.
She did have to leave the royal family because she wanted to marry a Han man, and it's clear that it was a huge blow to both her and her family. In fact, her father was pretty worried for her well-being.
Anyway, I felt like she was the only character of the younger ones who had some nuance.
Zhou Zhiruo
Zhou Zhiruo was not a character that I loved. She was portrayed as being very pure, which is kind of par for the course for Jin Yong's Wuxia heroines. She became the Emei sect leader, taking on the roles and responsibilities left to her by her Shifu. At this point, Zhou Zhiruo started being more interesting. Actually, I find Jin Yong's female villains (such as Li Mochou) to be rather interesting because while they usually retain some of the "pure beautiful young woman" features, they are after something that makes them do heinous things. Zhou Zhiruo obviously did some heinous things.
But at the end of the book, Zhang Wuji took one look at Zhou Zhiruo again and fell for her pure and innocent face again. That just ground my gears because they were turning Zhou Zhiruo back into a one-dimensional character who just did bad things because she was confused. And of course, her biggest question for Zhang Wuji was who he loved the most.
To be fair, Zhou Zhiruo did try to take on her Zhangmen duties for a period of time, but at the end, I struggle to say that she was any better than Zhang Wuji at prioritizing.
Yin Li
Yin Li was Zhang Wuji's younger cousin who was also in love with him. She was kind of loud and brash, and showed up at the very end not dead (surprise!). I don't really have much thoughts about her to be honest.
Xiaozhao
Xiaozhao was actually quite a capable person, both in terms of fighting and in her intellectual ability. I remember being intrigued by her character when I'd watched the drama as a kid. But she was also...a bit bogged down by her love for Zhang Wuji. In the end, she used her lineage to assume the role of the head of the Persian Ming Cult in order to save Zhang Wuji. If it wasn't necessary, she wouldn't have done so. I feel like it was kind of a waste of her character, because she could've brought so much to the table with her unique lineage and skillset.
Xie Xun
Xie Xun was a character that left a big impression on me when I first watched the drama, and he continued to do so in this book. He'd obviously done some bad things, but there was a part of him that was good and cared for those around him. Also, his aesthetic is kind of cool.
Overall
Sorry that this review was so half-assed. I just didn't care enough about most of the characters to write about them. There were characters I liked but I just have no other comments to say about them other than "they were cool." (i.e. Zhang Cuishan, Yin Susu, Yang Xiao, Yang Buhui).
Most of all, I'm just kind of glad to be done this series. As you may know, the three books in this Condor Trilogy were all written as serials in the newspaper, so that's why all three of them are so insanely long. But this one definitely felt the most like a chore.