I’ve read four of the novels of this series, thus I’ll be reviewing the series rather than this particular book.
To be blunt, what A Thousand Li truly lacks is characterization. It’s difficult to really make heads or tails of what Woo Ying actually believes. He’ll make a poignant observation such as the difference between a bandit and a farmer being a failed harvest but still kill them with reckless abandon despite a moment of sympathy. Boys interactions with people are simple – differance in the case of seniors, with most others being very surface. The fourth book is the most interesting, but supporting characters remain more interesting than our protagonist by a large margin.
The narrator is inconsistent with his pronunciation of Chinese names. Sometimes I would wonder who he was talking about only to realize he changed how he pronounced the name for that passage. I’m fairly certain you don’t even learn Woo Ying’s age until the third book.
I think this would be a good series for a young adult reader interested in Chinese martial arts fantasy, but it lacks depth and impetus to invest your time as an adult. I would instead suggest Legend of the Condor Heroes for older readers.
