Strike the Zither

What if Zhuge Liang was a young woman with an attitude larger than all of Chang An?

This was an imaginative and inventive fantasy with heavy influence from Chinese classics, like the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and Chinese mythology. 

The descriptive language especially carries a beautiful reminiscence to Chinese classical literature, while overall, the story still feels like a very modern fantasy. It’s blended and balanced so well; I thoroughly enjoyed it! 

The main character is so incredibly flawed, by turns distressingly and adorably so. I found it refreshing to have a main character that was frankly a bit unlikeable but written in a way that the story is still fun to read. It’s a difficult thing for an author to balance and for me at least, this author pulled it off. 

Lastly, I want to talk specifically about the audiobook experience, which I highly recommend. The narrator deftly created many distinguished and lively characters. The narrative voice feels slow and relaxing, at first, which feels at odds with this sort of action/adventure-heavy story, but it subtly builds and had a powerful effect when combined especially with the imagery. Overall, creating an engrossing performance.  

As a Romance of the Three Kingdoms lifetime fan, this story was also just thrilling!

I recommend this to Chinese history/classical lit nerds, fans of the long-running Dynasty Warriors videogame series, or anyone who wants to read a unique tactics-focused fantasy.