The Art of Prophecy

April 11, 2022
Bestseller Chu (The Lives of Tao) opens his ambitious War Arts Saga series with one-armed, aging Ling Taishi, the “greatest war arts master of her generation,” taking on a new student, Wen Jian. Jian is the Chosen One, prophesied to defeat the Eternal Kahn, immortal god-king of the Katuia Hordes, and Taishi offers to prepare him for this task—just in time to learn that the Kahn is already dead. Taishi, desperate not to repeat the failures that lead to her son’s death, hides Jian in a war arts school while she travels across the Enlightened States to discover why the prophecy fell through. Though Act I seems like by-the-numbers wuxia built on the tired trope of an unqualified man unbelievably surpassing a skilled woman at her life’s work, things pick up as the focus shifts from bland hero Jian onto a number of fascinating female characters, including two who want to kill him: Salminde “Sali” the Viperstrike of the Katuia, who seeks both her missing sister and the reincarnation of the Khan; and the mercurial Maza Qisami, an expert assassin known as a shadowkill. The epic scope of the worldbuilding, along with the sheer number of fight scenes, will delight Chu’s fans. Agent: Russell Galen, Scovil Galen Gosh Literary.

July 1, 2022

Magic, martial arts, prophecy, and fallacy all contribute to one young man's attempt to rebuild his life's worth. Wen Jian has known his entire young life that he is the Hero of Prophecy, foretold to defeat the Eternal Khan and save the kingdom. Every person around him has told him that it was his destiny to be the greatest warrior to the Enlightened States, to live at the Celestial Palace, and be trained and celebrated by the greatest masters. Except Jian has never won a battle--the prophecy was wrong, and he is sentenced to death. After being saved by a former magical grandmaster, Jian finds himself on a new journey, one that will be the opposite of the indulged and opulent life he had, but which could actually lead him to be the hero his realm needs. VERDICT Chu's (The Fall of Io) wry prose and characters are a delightful counterpoint to the physical and emotional demands undertaken by Jian and his allies, while the subplots build a vast panoramic view of this incredible world in the first of a new series.--Kristi Chadwick

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2022
A prophecy is unexpectedly foiled and a chosen hero cast adrift in this first of a fantasy trilogy inspired by Chinese martial arts films. Elderly, one-armed, but still incredibly able war artist Ling Taishi is invited to view the progress of the Champion of the Five Under Heaven, prophesied to be the doom of the Eternal Khan, foe of the Zhuun Empire. Taishi discovers that the so-called hero, Wen Jian, is a poorly trained spoiled brat; nevertheless, she sees some potential in him and resolves to train the boy herself. Then a Zhuun foot patrol blunders into the naked, profoundly drunk Khan and kills him themselves, turning Jian into a political liability and forcing the new master-disciple team to go on the run. Under an assumed name, Jian toils resentfully as a novice and servant at a war artist school; Taishi dodges assassins and searches for the temple where the prophecy was made to learn how and why it failed. Meanwhile, Salminde, an elite warrior and close friend of the late Khan, looks first for her sister and then for some way of helping her people, forced into indentured servitude in the aftermath of the Khan's death. Author Chu uses his knowledge and experience as a martial artist, stuntman, and actor to craft an exceptionally easy-to-visualize work with expertly blocked fight sequences; it's impossible not to picture how everything would look on screen (of course, the trilogy has already been optioned for television). This novel is squarely directed at kung fu, wuxia, and wire-fu fans who adore Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Hero; The Legend of Drunken Master; Kung Fu Hustle, and the like, providing a story with an epic sweep punctuated with dashes of humor and sharp-edged banter. Although Jian provides the initial spark for the plot, the novel is marvelously dominated by strong women, including the hot-tempered and fierce Taishi, who occasionally learns that rudeness is not always the best policy; the passionate, grieving Salminde, searching for meaning after her world has ended; and the mercurial, psychopathic shadow assassin Maza Qisami. Dramatic, fun, thoughtful, clever, and (literally) punchy.

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