The War Arts Saga

This is a series that I find myself recommending a lot recently. Epic Fantasy meets Wuxia featuring steampunk Mongols is a really attention grabbing hook, and the series lives up to that promise admirably. I finally got around to finishing book 3 (somehow despite reading more than ever I find myself reading precious few sequels), so figured I’d do a write up for the entire trilogy. I left the series with mixed feelings, but definitely enjoyed the ride. 

Elevator Pitch:
Jian is the chosen one, the child foretold to defeat the Eternal Khan and bring peace to the Kingdom. Unfortunately, he’s also been spoiled rotten, and is mostly a useless and self-absorbed teenager. Taishi is a one-armed grandmaster who fires all Jian’s teachers. The Wind Whisperer takes over his training right as the five Dukes begin to see Jian as more a liability than an asset. And then there’s Salminde the Viperstrike, elite warrior of the Horde who wants to see the Chosen One dead to prevent the prophecy from coming true and killing her Khan and childhood friend. The three share the spotlight as they traverse two countries, many battles, and their actions threaten to tip both nations into chaos.  

What Worked for Me:
Chu’s action scenes are unlike anything I’ve ever read. As a book weaving together epic fantasy and martial arts elements, the action needed to be high quality to sell the book as a success. At times he sticks to more traditional combat descriptions, but other times he condenses entire sequences of blows into flowery names of blows, leaving the specific visuals to the mind of each reader. These scenes aren’t so dense as to be cluttered, but are consistently evocative and interesting. In this element, it lived up to all expectations. Match this with the strong traditions of honor amongst the war-artists of the series, and the martial arts elements of this series really sung beautifully.

Another highlight were the steampunk Mongols, living in modular rolling cities on an ocean of towering grass and flowers. It’s so unlike any other depiction of a Mongolian-inspied culture I’d seen, but it was really delightful. Despite ⅔ of our main cast calling the Horde their sworn enemy, Chu was careful to never place either culture in the ‘right’. In fact, the series was more at home criticizing bad leaders than cultures as a whole. Salminde was probably my favorite character over the course of the whole series, and her travels let us see a diversity of viewpoints within her culture.

Speaking of characters, this book came at the same time as a few others that have been embracing casts of diverse ages and skill ranges. I loved that we got to see two different grandmasters at work, placed in contrast with the Chosen One who is leagues behind them (and never catches up). Salminde is in her prime, while Taishi is aging and clinging to the last dregs of her power as she heads into her sunset years. The interpersonal relationships that develop (especially between Jian and Taishi) are really excellent, and the fourth main character POV added in book 2 layered yet another personality and level of skill into the mix, and consistently fought for a spot as my favorite character. 

What Didn’t Work for Me:
I don’t know that I love Jian’s character-arc in these books. While book 1 does a fantastic job of humbling the spoiled brat – and his status as chosen one never quite stops going to his head – books 2 and 3 didn’t take him anywhere particularly interesting, including when the prophecy is fulfilled. For example, in book 2 we are told many times over that Jian is ready to take over Taishi’s lineage, but the final two books of the series never really show Jian as a competent fighter. His friends, whom are supposedly at a similar skill level, all show glimmers of greatness. Jian just kind of remains pathetic the whole series. While I didn’t need to see him achieve grandmaster status, I would have liked the books to feel like he had more growth as a martial artist. The ending of book 3 didn’t help things much, and I ended the series feeling like he would have been better off not getting POV chapters. He just felt like a side character the entire time. 

Speaking of book 3, the ending really didn’t stick the landing. The series shifts from action to politics a bit more each book, but Chu didn’t manage to wrap things up in a satisfying way. There were a lot of twists that didn’t feel foreshadowed at all. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that Chu pulled a deus ex machina, but I think he could have resolved the various conflicts in much more interesting ways that stayed true to the groundwork he laid. I’m not alone in feeling this either, and the Goodreads rating for the final book is significantly lower than the rest of the series, which is fairly unheard of. I think the series is still worth recommending despite this, but it wouldn’t have been hard to craft something much more enjoyable. 

I also have a bone to pick with how the author (or perhaps publisher) chose to handle ‘previous book recaps’. It was provided in a separate section of the book, instead of being worked into the prose of the first two chapters. I like this approach a lot, and hope it continues to spread in popularity. However the summary of previous books in the final installment – which I read after at least 18 months between books – was not only unhelpful, but actively confusing. It was written in the style of a pulp action/romance from the perspective of none of the main characters. It was really confusing as a decision, and left me struggling to remember where I was picking up the story at. Give me the facts in a plain, straightforward way, and immediately soured me on the start of book 3.

Conclusion: engaging characters and gorgeous fight scenes in a vividly imagined setting. Book 3 was a letdown however.

• Characters: 5
• Setting: 5
• Craft: 4
• Themes: 3
• Enjoyment: 5/4/3 (for books 1/2/3 respectively)