Water Outlaws

The Water Outlaws by S.L. Huang

This book has some great themes that sold me on wanting to read it. Lin Chong is an arms instructor who gets targeted when a powerful man decides she'd be better off dead. Her options are to die, or to run from the law and its corruption. As an outcast herself, she reluctantly begins to understand what drives the bandits who live at the margins of the Empire. She is recruited by them, and a story of stubbornly trying to right injustice and claw their way to a more equal society unfolds. It's a tale of anti-heroes becoming legends.

Some elements that I particularly enjoyed were the alchemy and the scholar's skills that explored super-human capabilities in fighting and channeling power. I also found the camaraderie and intense loyalty between the bandits to be compelling, as well as all the detail in their governance and operation. The characters surrounding Lin Chong were vibrant and complicated, and there was a good amount of growth and change through the tale for many of the central characters.

I also found the author's note at the beginning to be really helpful, both to understand the origin of what I was reading (especially as someone who has seen a few wuxia films, but isn't terribly familiar with the genre beyond that). And I would also say to take the content warnings about potentially disturbing content to heart. This is a violent read, and it took me a while to make my way through it. Part of this was because the beginning of the book is a lot of character development and set up, and the action picks up in the final third. And the other part was because I am pretty sensitive to violence. I knew this wasn't going to be my usual fare going in, and I expected to take my time with it. That said, I am very glad I finished it. You can feel the care and detail that went into writing it, and the result is a really well written, moving, and adventurous read.

Violence was never the way. Anyone skilled enough in the fighting arts to be a master arms instructor knew that to her bones.

I've always had words. Always... I have no right words tonight. I have no poetry for our kindred.