Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
A Hero Born
A Hero Born | Yong Jin, Anna Holmwood
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
Pick icon
100%
review
IReadThereforeIBlog
A Hero Born | Jin Yong
Pickpick

This is the first ever English translation from Chinese of Jin Yong‘s classic historical fantasy tale of kung fu masters and evil empires by Anna Holmwood. Originally published in 1958 (the first in a quartet), it has an action-driven, energetic plot and although the portrayal of grumpy kung-fu masters seems stereotypical now, it was innovative at the time and there‘s a lot of fun to be had in seeing the various masters compete with each other.

review
Kaag
A Hero Born | Jin Yong
post image
Panpan

This book was significantly lighter than I was looking for, not a fault of the book necessarily but it didn‘t really do a lot for me. Everything felt rather flat, maybe a translation issue or maybe it just wasn‘t trying to be what I want it to be. On the surface the story seems decent but when reading it I just didn‘t care all that much. At the time I read them I preferred Conn Iggulden‘s conqueror series about this historical time period.

review
SassenachTheBookWizard
A Hero Born | Jin Yong
post image
Pickpick

This was incredibly well translated. I am very impressed considering you not only have a translation but a completely different alphabet and culture to think about during that translation.

The world...feels big and despite not being a giant book itself, there are a lot of characters but i really liked that we got so many perspectives and loved the adventure.

71 likes2 stack adds
review
llcoolnate
A Hero Born | Jin Yong
post image
Pickpick

Great start to an awesome series!

bthegood Great to hear from you! 4y
llcoolnate @bthegood thanks! And same to you! Great to be back! 4y
64 likes1 stack add2 comments
review
akaGingerK
Hero Born | Jin Yong
post image
Pickpick

An online friend fell hard for danmei novels and tv shows, and somehow dragged me into wuxia in their wake. Without having much cultural background, I frequently had the feeling that allusions had gone over my head - but the range of characters & interesting fight scenes kept me from feeling too lost. I‘m *extremely* glad I bought book 2 before I‘d quite finished the 1st. It‘s not a cliffhanger, but Tuesday is a long wait for “then what happened?”

akaGingerK The appendix contains *some* explanations of events/peoples/poems alluded to in the text, but far from all of them, at least in my #ARC 4y
6 likes1 stack add1 comment
review
Angeles
Hero Born | Jin Yong
Bailedbailed

I could not get into it. It is a bit too fantastic for me (I cannot believe I am writing that) and somehow It didn‘t work for me. I still recognize how original the work is and the quality of the writing, but it is just not for me

blurb
pasiphae_reads
A Hero Born | Jin Yong
post image

#currentlyreading 📚
“A Hero Born” (Legends of the Condor Heroes # 1) by Jin Yong
#jinyong #fiction #aheroborn #chineseliterature #fantasy #legendsofthecondorheroes

review
Sensitivemuse
A Hero Born | Jin Yong
post image
Mehso-so

It's a great start to a well known series but the translation is just not so good. It bogs the story and by the time I was nearly finished, well I really couldn't wait until it was over. It dragged a lot throughout the book. Good Translation is crucial for novels like these to be successfully read and enjoyed.

review
Quirkybookworm
Hero Born | Jin Yong
post image
Pickpick

Seriously! This book should‘ve been translated YEARS ago in English. I can see why it‘s one of the most beloved classics all over the world. It belongs up with my Hobbit, Lord of the Rings series, Dunes, many classics on my shelves. I CANNNOT wait for the next book to come out here in USA!!!

Ruthiella Sounds good. I am loving the general interest in translated Sci-Fi and Fantasy just now! Worlds to discover!😀 5y
Quirkybookworm @Ruthiella it is more of a historical fantasy. 5y
Nute You captured me with this recommendation! Stacking!🙂 5y
55 likes4 stack adds3 comments
review
TheSpineView
A Hero Born | Jin Yong
post image
Bailedbailed

Billed as a Chinese epic tale a kin to LOTR. Unfortunately it didn't live up to my expectations. It was a DNF at 27%. A lot got lost in translation. The prose was lacking and there was no character development. Lots of action but not good enough to make up for the shortcomings

TheSpineView See my full review on my blog at www.thespineview.com. 5y
sisilia I watched the series when I was a kid, and I loved it! Beautiful story, but I won‘t be reading this book. Something is definitely lost in translation, and I heard the second book is worse 5y
erzascarletbookgasm Yup, lost in translation, I guess. The original text in Chinese is supposed to be fantastic! I watched the tv series too, it was great. 5y
TheSpineView @sisilia @erzascarletbookgasm I was super disappointed. By the description I thought I would devour the book and it would become a favorite. Oh well on to the next adventure. 5y
57 likes4 comments
review
underground_bks
Hero Born | Jin Yong
post image
Pickpick

With a following compared to LotR, GoT, and Harry Potter COMBINED, it‘s wild that this is just now being published here. I‘ve never been into kung fu fiction (wuxia) but with all the hype, I had to try. A Hero Born is just so much fun. The fights are thrilling, the writing riveting & historical, the characters complex & engaging. I can‘t wait for the rest of the series, blessedly coming out over the next two years. Wuxia has won this reader over!

15 likes5 stack adds
blurb
rachelk
A Hero Born | Jin Yong
post image

Novelist Jin Yong, known as the ‘Tolkien of Chinese literature‘, died today at 94. This book is the first in a highly rated four part series that is said to appeal to fans of George R.R. Martin, J.K. Rowling and J.R.R. Tolkien. #TBR

31 likes1 stack add