The first book was an underdog story. He rose from poor farmer to sect member, to inner sect member. He was harshly discriminated against for being poor, kicked down at every chance, and barely gained any respect. He was able to change expectations, and clawed his way up through hard work and determination. This book however, is mundane…
He learns a few styles, dabbles in smithing, pill-making, fighting, but never really does anything amazing or unordinary. Several times throughout the book he is told he has no talent for each subject, he is just average. AND he accepts that! He doesn’t find a unique style to throw himself into. His professions yield little fruit. It is so frustrating.
Why is he suddenly so ordinary? Why does he not have any true passion? Why does he progress so slowly? My biggest concern are the time jumps. There are several, skipping days, weeks, and months. For all the time that is passing, little is actually happening. I am disappointed. The first book was more more well done. This one is just “eh”.
The narrator is decent, being able to portray different male and female voices. Range doesn’t go high or low though. It is also very difficult to tell the characters apart when they have such similar voices. Not to mention I still have trouble with the traditional Chinese names. Being a single language speaker, it is difficult for me to latch onto names I can’t easily recognize. You may see this as petty or my fault for not being cultured enough, but it is a real concern that should be taken into account when selling to a specific audience.
Overall: I am not too pleased with how this book turned out. If I have to wait 6 hours for anything remotely substantial to occur then something is wrong. This book was still mildly enjoyable but the first book did it much better.. The narrator did a decent job. Characters and plot may be hard to follow if you are unfamiliar with Chinese culture.