I've loved everything Zen Cho has written so far, but I couldn't get into this at all. I felt like I was constantly grasping at straws to work out what was going on, and I didn't connect with any of the characters. I appreciate the choice to throw the reader into the story without pausing to make long explanations, but in this case, it left me feeling disconnected - I kept waiting for the hook that would get me invested, but it never came. I found the dialogue very hard to understand, as people seemed to be making individual statements most of the time rather than having connected conversations. Just not a book I could click with, at all.

The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water was my first foray into wuxia, and overall I enjoyed the book. It wasn't as martial-arts-heavy as I'd anticipated, instead offering a fantasy tale with interesting themes and fairly deep reflection on matters like identity, belonging and the fight for survival. Guet Imm was a fun character, and all the bandits had their own personality quirks, developed to just the right level to give them clear identities without slowing the pace of the story. It's hard to say more without risking spoilers, but I recommend this book to fantasy fans looking for a quick but different read. I would certainly read more by Zen Cho in the future.

(This review will go live on my blog and on GR/social media on 9 June 2020.)

I think it would be fair to say at this point that I will read anything Zen Cho ever writes. This novella has firmly cemented her as one of my favourite authors.

The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water is a wuxia fantasy novella, following a group of bandits and a young nun who joins up with them. It reads a bit like the start of a whole world, like there could be more follow-up adventures, but one of the strengths of it is that it doesn’t feel like you’ve been dropped in, middle of the story, and are floundering. Zen Cho has this way of worldbuilding in a way you almost don’t notice because it flows so well within the story. There’s no point where you’re like, okay this is an exposition section, because it all fits together so seemlessly.

The book is, though, probably carried on the strength of its characters (that sounds like the rest of it is weak, but that’s not what I mean, really). The whole cast is wonderful and will have you laughing out loud at times. It’s the cast who will leave you wanting more of the book, not least because it ends (seemingly, to me) abruptly. You’ll read the book and you won’t want it to ever end, because the characters are that good.

Probably the reason I didn’t give this novella five stars is really the ending. Like I mentioned, it feels a little abrupt, as if it’s stopping almost in the middle of the narrative. You can see how it’s a good place to pause, sure, but it does leave you thinking, okay, what next? And then there’s what the ending actually consists of, but that’s spoilers. Just know it’s one of my least favourite things to do with a found family.

But anyway. Be ready for when this comes out because I will be making everyone I know read it.

This is a fun, quick read that I read through in a few commutes on the train. It feels like the first episode of a wuxia series, and one I’d love to read more of. There’s a nice dash of queerness but in a way that’s not immediately obvious, and a huge dose of found family dynamics, which I’m definitely a fan of. There’s room to continue this if Cho would want to, and given her other work (Sorcerer to the Crown, the True Queen), I’m definitely here if she’d choose to do that. This comes out in June, pick it up when it does.

Zen Cho returns with a found family wuxia fantasy that combines the vibrancy of old school martial arts movies with characters drawn from the margins of history.

A bandit walks into a coffeehouse, and it all goes downhill from there. Guet Imm, a young votary of the Order of the Pure Moon, joins up with an eclectic group of thieves (whether they like it or not) in order to protect a sacred object, and finds herself in a far more complicated situation than she could have ever imagined.- Goodreads

This novella packs a lot of punch. First and foremost, I hated Guet Imm. She wasn't written badly. I just didn't like her. Also, the summary is a bit misleading. You are reading from the perspective of the bandit, not Guet Imm, which probably would have changed my entire perspective of her if I saw things from her point of view. But none the less, with what I read she wasn't my favorite character.

However, the story is beautifully written  and I loved the historical aspect of it. There are also twists that I did not see coming and it added a depth and complexity to this novella that some longer books have a hard time achieving. This is the first book I have read by Zen Cho and it won't be the last.

Overall,

3 Pickles

The way that Zen Cho's new novella The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water began was a major feint. It seemed like it was going to lean into an action-oriented saga of black magic and banditry, bounty hunting and showdowns. Instead, it throws a massive curveball and tells a powerful story of identity and how it evolves across different people, customs, and lands. An underlying theme I took away is discovering your true self even though circumstances around you are in a constant state of change.

Cho deftly weaves elegant prose, quite a few eyebrow-raising moments, and many thought-provoking themes throughout this story of a nun who joins a group of roving bandits who are much more than they seem. The nun has been in solitary seclusion for over a decade, and her earnestness is akin to a newborn when she emerges into this new, 'silent war'-torn era. She forms fragile bonds with the bandit group -- some more delicate than others -- that threaten to shatter as histories and intentions come to light. What follows is a beautiful and tragic sequence of events that extinguishes long-held beliefs while kindling new fires of hope.

Vague enough for you? I realize I sound a bit like a movie trailer, but since I hate spoiling anything of importance in a review, just take my word for it and go into this story blind. The most you'll miss is an afternoon, but there's some wonderful perspective to gain, not to mention a marvelously talented author you could start adding to your future book searches.

Highly entertaining fantasy-adventure novella. The writing flows beautifully and the dialogue is on point.

Would love if Zen Cho would expand this into a series because I would really enjoy to follow these characters on another adventure.

The writing style in this was beautiful and despite its shortness, the characters thrived and grew over the pages. Everything was written with such astonishing use of words, creating a wonderful story

The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho, not a bad book, simply wasn't a style that I enjoyed. Thank you for giving me a chance with this book.

Where to begin? This novella from Zen Cho is a sublime, funny, and dashing introduction to wuxia. It's full of adventure, distinct characters, and a lovely subtlety. The dialogue is a high point in this work; each character has a voice all their own, and the way they bicker back and forth is hugely enjoyable.

I adored learning about the conflicts at play through both the eyes of jaded quasi-criminals and through the lens of a nun emerging from isolation.

This is technically a historical fantasy, but I would recommend it to readers who enjoy folklore or who aren't huge fantasy buffs. It's excellent for readers who also like works by JY Neon Yang or Naomi Novik, as well as for readers looking for a less traumatic narrative than the (excellent and atmospheric) Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan, and for viewers of The Untamed.

Highly, hugely recommended: it's fun and captivating, and I hope Cho writes more

Netgalley review.

Zen Cho's dialogue is just... *chef's kiss* perfect. She has a style that doesn't sound like anything else I've ever read, but it's so much fun to read. It's hard to say what this particular novella is about without spoiling things -- it's about bandits, sort of, and also nuns, sort of, and also the effects of civil war on civilians and cultural institutions. It's queer in a way that's also hard to talk about without spoilers. Mainly it's about two very different but incredibly endearing characters, Tet Sang and Guet Imm, and if I could get a seven-volume series about their continuing adventures I would devour every single one.