I received an advanced digital copy of this book from St. Martin's Press and NetGalley.com.

Good translations of Chinese literature are difficult to find. Great translations are even more elusive. A Bond Undone, the sequel to A Hero Born is a great translation. Story wise, it is a better tale than Book 1 and I found I needed to keep notes on characters, but it is worth the effort for this classic novel.

5 out of 5 stars. Recommended reading.

A story told in A Bond Undone to me was really more interesting than the one told in A Hero Born. I was truly invested in it. This story starts right after book one and it's like nothing happened in between, so trust me you want to be up to date.
Guo Jing is once again on the adventurous journey that will make him a target all the way around with what he can do and his Kung Fu way of life. The skills of the main characters are growing greatly here as well as their reputation precedes him. Parts of this story seem like a captivating wind that makes you follow the story like a bird on the wind! Yet in between, I found like I needed to get to the next action part really fast.
The translation of this book is MUCH better than book one it was smooth, and I could sink into the story with full pleasure. I have high hopes for the next book in the series as this one was GREAT and I hope that this story called Chinese Lord of the Rings is bringing memorable characters and plot on the pages of this book.

When I requested this novel I was into the ideal of reading this novel but I discovered that I was unable to provide feedback on this book due to the series being archived prior to download and file/download issues. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience of not being to review and thank you for taking the time to provide me an ARC of this novel.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this book, actually, I liked it better than the first in the series. Usually, I find sequels to be a lot of retelling but this one picked up right where the first one left off and just really had a better plot. It does start kind of slow, but the pacing quickly picks up.

Thank you kindly to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this review copy.

A BOND UNDONE

I have been looking forward to this read since I read the first book last year - A Hero Born from the Legends of the Condor Heroes series by what many has dubbed as the Chinese Lord of the Rings. This is the first time this has been translated to English since it first publication in 1959. The translation from Gigi Chang is truly impeccable and flows beautifully into the English language, and made for a great reading experience for me. Thank you for the explanations which helped in furthering my understanding and enjoyment of the story.

This second book continued right where the first book ended as Guo Jing is to be married but not to his beloved, Lotus Huang just as he learns the truth of his father’s death. Just like the first book, tis story continues to be filled with action pack fighting wuxia style – with fancy names for the moves, which I truly enjoyed reading about as well as the cultural idiosyncrasies. Guo Jing is a character I really loved as well as the romantic element with Lotus Huang.

I had fun reading this installment and look forward to next books in this epic adventure.

While I truly enjoy the experience of reading Chinese fiction so well translated into English, it can be an exhausting experience (as I previously mentioned in my review for A Hero Born).

The first part of epic focused on martial skills and a young boy being raised by six masters in Mongolia. Now we have moved to the romantic part of Guo Jing's life as he becomes a young man taking his first steps out in the world. For a bumbling idiot, he somehow manages to end up with three fiancees.

There is still some action to be had that is intensely exciting and very imaginative. The kung fu scenes are what I imagine inspired the movies, completely elaborate and over the top martial egos taking on battles to be the best. I'm loving every minute of it.

Unfortunately, I am struggling with the day to day life parts. Guo's relationship with Lotus is also a complete frustration.

I like stretching my mind with the Eastern concepts and most of the time I am entertained, but I'm a Western girl and that makes Legends of the Condor Heroes difficult reading that takes me longer than normal to finish. The books are worth the labor.

I liked this book. I thought that this book was more enjoyable than book one of this series. To start the story picks up seamlessly from the ending of the previous book which was nice. I'm not always a fan of time skips. I felt that this book more engaging and it held my attention better. Maybe this was because I felt that emotion played a much bigger part in this entry of the series or that the plot became more complex but whatever the case, this really worked for me. I also felt that the book was easier to get into and just overall felt less clunky to reading which I thought was a really big problem in the first book. Do not get me wrong, it is far from perfect but I thought it was better and consider that this is a translated book, I feel a bit of slack is deserved. Things do kind of start slowly but like a rock rolling down hill things do pick up and you will find yourself immersed in this tale of revenge, secrets, love, honor adventure, action, loyalty and morality.

A Bond Undone is the second book in the Legends of the Condor Heroes series by Jin Yong. Originally published in 1959, this reformat and re-release from Macmillan on their St. Martin's imprint is 544 pages and available in hardcover, audio, paperback, and ebook formats.

This is an action epic in the wuxia style. As such, it's a nonstop martial arts movie set against a lush background of honor, love, filial duty, power, moral obligation vs. personal desire and expectations. The story picks up immediately after the first book in the series and I wouldn't recommend it as a standalone. (In fact, this review was delayed because I tried to read it without having read the first book, and couldn't understand much of what was going on, so I had to go back and read book one).

It reads well in translation although the non-stop action and grandiloquent style can take some time to get into. I highly recommend the series to lovers of martial arts and campaign epic fantasy. It's nice to see these books being released in translation to a new generation of readers.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes

This may be book two but it's just as good as the first. It flows seamlessly and the writing is so vivid you feel as if you're part of the story. Definitely worth picking up. If you haven't read Jin Yong you're missing out. Happy reading!

Since I finished reading A Hero Born in March 2018 I have been wanting to read the following installements but never seemed to get the time.

I just love this series, and reading A Bond Undone felt like coming home.

We were (or at least I was) in much need of international Epics, in a market that seems to be monopolised by english writers. It is a blessing when translations start being more common.

I recommend this book!

This second book in the series is like watching an non-stop action packed superhero fly across your mind, instead of a movie screen.

There is little to compare to with this translated work. I can just imagine the flow in the original language. The martial art sequences require patience and concentration.

A Bond Second is the second volume in Jin Yong’s (aka Louis Cha) The Legend of the Condor Heroes series. Thus, don’t bother reading further unless you’ve read the first volume in St. Martin’s Press’s new translation, A Hero Born.

The Legend of the Condor Heroes initially published in instalments, later as a novel, and now in English in volumes, A Bond Undone picks up events directly where A Hero Born left off. Lotus Huang and Guo Jing continue their star-shaped courtship, fighting their way through a variety of kung fu masters and illusions. A good portion of their fight is through Cyclone Mei, the deranged woman looking to get revenge for her lover’s murder. Mei’s kung fu skills so powerful due to her knowledge of the Nine Yin Manual, a host of villainous characters follow in her wake, trying to get their hands on the manual to learn its invaluable contents. Naturally, it’s Guo Jing who unwittingly comes in contact with the sacred manual, and who must fight even harder to stay alive.

If A Hero Born was an action-packed novel, then A Bond Undone is practically non-stop. Scenes are introduced with the barest minimum of details before feet and fists start flying, page after page after page. While often approaching maximum capacity, Jin does a good job delineating the scenes so as not to confuse the reader. It is Hong Kong action films in written form (and likely much of their inspiration), but each scene, for as fast as it moves, remains focused. (It should come as no surprise the book has been adapted multiple times for Chinese television.)

I have read a lot of Chinese in English translation, and in A Bond Undone Gigi Chang continues rendering a high quality narrative. The specifics of the Chinese language making it not the easiest transition, Chang continues to show her skills at producing a narrative that maintains flow and navigates the extremely tricky disparity between the two languages, while still ringing natural to English speaking ears. I have read some truly bad translations, and this is anything but. There are, however, things that are untranslatable, which leads to:

It states in Wikipedia that Jin’s novels appeal to high and lowbrow tastes (I paraphrase). Given what comes across in the English translation, this is a bit of a puzzler. The books seem straightforward action-romance with a bit of the supernatural, nothing overtly literary about them. This means that the appeal to higher senses must be in the literary allusions and wordplay lost to English in translation. Any hint at a line uttered by an ancient Chinese poet, or subtle reference to a Confucian anecdote goes in one eye and out the other of 99.9% of English readers without their knowledge. Supporting this is the fact St. Martin’s press is marketing the Condor novels as Tolkien-esque. Thus, while reams of academic papers have been written on Tolkien’s oeuvre, that is not how his books are primarily read. The same mindset should be applied to the stories of Lotus Huang and Guo Jing, and their kaleidoscope kung fu battles through Chinese history.

In the end, if you enjoyed what A Hero Born offered in terms of high-flying kung fu action spread across multiple characters and highly imaginative fighting styles, then A Bond Undone is the extremely consistent second volume of the larger novel, Legend of the Condor Heroes. Gigi Change has done a magnificent job rendering the Earth Shakes Heavens, Seven Dragon Palm, Lotus Sprouts Strong, and all the other specialty moves and ideas into English, making for another fast-paced, entertaining experience.

I loved the first volume of this series. It was all the best kung fu movie tropes in one book. This novel picks up where the last one left off with Guo Jing and Lotus Huang together after facing various martial masters. They defy Guo's shifus and run off together having many adventures and improving their kung fu.
This book really dragged through the first half for me. It focused on Guo and Lotus's relationship and didn't spend that much time on the kung fu. The second half picked up as Guo's kung fu becomes stronger and stronger through his interactions with various masters. The fight scenes still read like any 70's kung fu flick you've ever seen, and that's not a bad thing. If you liked the first book, you will probably like this one as well, it just needed more fighting.

I continue to be enthralled by the Legends of the Condor Heroes series. Book 2 here, A Bond Undone, totally exceeded my expectations. I've been interested in martial arts for a while (the Chinese schools in particular) as I find the fighting to have a sense of grace that Western styles fall short on. It was the promise of fighting scenes that drew me to this series but in Book 2 it becomes so much more than that as the characters develop into more complex, rich individuals and connections are formed that were only hinted at in Book 1. I really enjoyed delving into the history of Cyclone Mei in particular as I always love a good explanation behind a previously one-dimensional villain.

What's so interesting about this book for me is how it handles high action versus thought-heavy topics. There's poetry and war, fantasy and history, all somehow wrapped up in a way that nothing feels out of place. It's very philosophical as kung fu is itself. You have these high octane moments of battles between masters that flow right alongside slower sections of dialogue and training. Kung fu is in all things; it's more a way of living than just about the martial arts themselves. As an American reader not exposed to this before, it's thrilling to see the depth of it and learn so much while also enjoying an incredible story with great characters.

This series truly reads unlike anything I've read before and I love it. I've seen mentions of it compared to like a Lord of the Kings style but I think it's more fable than that, something closer to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon than anything I can think of in Western literature. But I really enjoy that about it because it's so totally unique to other stories I've read in the past.

It's pretty impossible not to root for Guo Jing. It's his heart, his goodness, that gives him a purity all the other characters lack. Sure, it gets him into trouble but he's never seeking to gain anything, he just wants to give every interaction his best shot and he's satisfied when he's done that. His simpleness is endearing to both the other characters and the reader. But other characters really come into their own in this sequel. Lotus in particular really grows in complexity with the addition of her father (I won't spoil who he is) and the addition of several other masters only hinted at in Book 1. I am hoping to see more of Yang (and Mercy) in the next book though, I felt his time in this book was much too short with him being Guo's sworn brother.

All in all, I really think Book 2 is even stronger than the first, which I also enjoyed e very much. I can't wait for Book 3 and hope for even more after that!

I was so excited to read this book because I absolutely loved the first book. The story picked right up and the fight sequences were spectacular. The ongoing character development is top notch and there is lots of drama building up in the background. I will being very interested in seeing what happens when Gau Jing finally has to admin he is betrothed to two women. Plus he will eventually learn the truth about Yang Kang's duplicity. There were a few spots were a little slow, but they were mostly setting up background for new characters. Overall, I enjoyed it every bit as much as the first book, and I'm eagerly awaiting the next.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book.

As with the first book (A Hero Born), this is a translated novel. However, this one seemed to be better. I don't know if it's because you know what to expect from the writing style, or maybe a different translator, but it seems more seamless.
Book 2 picks up immediately after book 1, you turn the page on the aftermath. You have to had read book 1 to read this one (and the upcoming books) to understand what's going on, and the events taking place.
Overall, written very well and no doubt will seamlessly go into the next book in the series.

This book was not my cup of tea, however; it was still a really good read, though I thought it was slow, the writing was fantastic and well written, so I have to give it a 5-star rating for that reason!