A Past Unearthed

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What to expect

THE CHINESE "LORD OF THE RINGS" - NOW IN ENGLISH FOR THE FIRST TIME.

THE SERIES EVERY CHINESE READER HAS BEEN ENJOYING FOR DECADES - 300 MILLION COPIES SOLD.

"Western fantasy has JRR Tolkien, but we Asian fantasy authors have Jin Yong's stories in our DNA. The debt we owe him is immeasurable" SHELLEY PARKER-CHAN

"If you haven't read Jin Yong's work, you haven't yet fully experienced the fantasy genre" FONDA LEE

CHINA , 1237 A.D.

Genghis Khan is dead, but the Mongolians, led by his son, continue their assault on the Central Plains.

A new generation of martial artists has emerged to face this threat, foremost among them Guo Jing and his wife Lotus Huang. And a new danger stalks the land, with all the fury of a woman scorned - Blithe Li, the Red Serpent Celestial.

It is an encounter with this pitiless foe that reunites Guo Jing with Penance, the son of his treacherous sworn brother, Yang Kang. He resolves to lift the boy from a life of vagrancy and initiate him into the martial world.

Placed under the care of the Quanzhen Sect at their temple in the Zhongnan Mountains, Penance stumbles across the mysterious history behind this most respected martial school. What he uncovers sends him on a journey that will force him to come to terms with his father's past and the secrets of his own heart.

Translated from the Chinese by Gigi Chang

(P) 2023 Quercus Editions Limited

Critics Review

[Jin Yong’s] work, in the Chinese-speaking world, has a cultural currency roughly equal to that of Harry Potter and Star Wars combined . . . With his combination of erudition, sentiment, propulsive plotting, and vivid prose, he is widely regarded as the genre’s finest writer . . . Holmwood’s translation offers the best opportunity yet for English-language readers to encounter one of the world’s most beloved writers

New Yorker.

The most widely read Chinese writer alive. His books have been adapted into TV series, films and video games, and his dense, immersive world inspires the kind of adoration bestowed on those created by writers like western worldbuilders such as JRR Tolkien, JK Rowling and George RR Martin.

Guardian.

This publishing phenomenon comes to us in a brisk and thrilling new translation . . . The tale is like every fairy tale you’re ever loved, imbued with jokes and epic grandeur. Prepare to be swept along.

Daily Mail.

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