Three Kingdoms: A Historical Novel by Guanzhong Luo) Roberts Moss (trans)
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'd always wanted to read this classic ever since I played a video game years and years ago that seemed to be never-ending strategy and kingdom conquering.

Indeed, that's exactly what this is, in historical fiction. I assume it's better in the original Chinese, but I can't help but feel awed in reading the first third of the whole long tale for how many huge war arcs take place, how many names grace the page, and how many people come to glorious and inglorious deaths.

So far, however, a few really stick to my mind: Cao Cao the Prime Minister, Kongming the wily advisor, the Three Brothers. So many of the others have had such ignoble ends at the end of this dynasty. It's crazy to see the fall of an empire one betrayal and battle at a time.

But honestly, it's no easy read. The number of names is as (or more) daunting than the Iliad. The lack of proper context (since I only have a random spattering, although pretty decent, knowledge of Chinese history and geography) made me wish, more than once, that I had laid out a full map of China before me, drew battle lines and movements of troops out before me, and generally did a full mock-up to better SEE the movements, defeats, and regroups. It reminds me less favorably against the History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, back when I read that, as well, but mostly because it was simply harder for me to pin down ALL the names without little tools like personality traits or descriptions of any kind that we happy modern folk get with modern historical fiction. We're pampered, no? But, there IS a decent amount of that in Three Kingdoms. Just not enough for my ease of reading, alas.

So, it takes a lot more time to get through this than normal. Good thing I like my occasional challenge, no?

All told, it's brilliant for tactics and strategy and for anyone fascinated by history. And now, on to the next two volumes. :)


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