Sunday, September 22, 2024

Fangs of the Black Tiger by JF Lee

 Fangs of the Black Tiger by JF Lee




JF Lee’s first novel, Sword of Sorrow, Blade of Joy, was a highly-entertaining wuxia adventure about the adventures of a swordsman, Li Ming, as he wanders about the (China-adjacent) empire looking for the elusive former general, Shazha Kui, who murdered his master, his wife, and his daughters, some years before. Joining him for the ride was a young girl named Shu Yan, who had sought his services and protection after fleeing the brothel she works at. The two grow into a surrogate father-daughter relationship as the story progresses. The story ended on a cliffhanger, with Li Ming and his martial brother, the magistrate Tao Jun, barely surviving an ambush, only discover that Shu Yan is missing.


The sequel, Fangs of the Black of the Tiger, picks up where the last book left off. Shu Yan has been captured by bounty hunters, led by a mysterious woman named Duan Cai. Joining Shu in her cage is an equally-enigmatic woman named Zemin. While resting in a bounty hunters’ village, an army of warriors descends upon the village and rescues Zemin and Shu Yan. Zemin is revealed to be the second-in-command of the Black Tiger gang, and Shu Yan is allowed to stay. There, she begins to come of age as a woman, finding family, acceptance, hidden talents, and even love…


Meanwhile, Li Ming and his friends are leaving no stone unturned in their search for Shu Yan. Their journey takes them into the hands of bandits, monks, and feuding crime bosses, ultimately ending in a showdown with the Black Tiger Gang and its leader…


Fangs of the Black Tiger is just as entertaining as the first book. It is just as episodic, although the episodes are both fewer and more developed. Moreover, Shu Yan’s experience with the Black Tigers follows a consistent character arc for our feisty female protagonist. And even Li Ming’s parallel journey has a more definite goal—find Shu Yan—than his vaguer journey in the last book. The narrative on the whole feels a lot less anthology-like than Sword of Sorrow, Blade of Joy


Most importantly, the stakes are much higher this time around. The villains play for keeps, Li Ming and his colleagues are sometimes outmatched, and our characters are often thrust into situations where their decisions are not clear-cut black and white. The numerous side quests of the first book were very much “fun,” in which it felt like our heroes were rarely in real danger, because Li Ming was such a badass. But this time around, being a good swordsman (or even a great one), is simply not enough for the challenges thrown at him.


As with the first book, the banter between the characters really makes the story. Their interactions are always entertaining, the characters stay within their established qualities, but enjoy lots of lively dialog that pushes the story forward while being entertaining to read. The book is recommended on that quality alone. But add some layered characterizations and suspenseful conflicts to the mix, and you have a wuxia story worth revisiting!


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