Rating: 
Summary: Excellent translation of boring novel
Review: I give the translation a 5 and the novel a 1. No matter how good the translation, it cannot make this Chinese "classic" palatable. While it is revered in China for its depiction of a justly famous era in history, and even though its heros are even more famous in China than Robin Hood or Luke Skywalker, the writing is insipid and formulaic. What was great story-telling in 1600 no longer has the power to move us. The characters are unbelievably flat, the cliff-hanger format is tiresome, and the moralistic blather comes off as hypocritical. If you must read it for a class, or as background for a game, you have my pity. If you picked it up at the library or bookstore expecting a rollicking good read -- as good as Dune, or Lord of the Rings -- you will be sorely disappointed. I initially had hopes that, by reading these 1500 pages, I'd get a better picture of the Chinese psyche. After reading half-way, I've learned that Chinese readers have an unbelievable stamina in the face of unlimited boredom. To be fair, though, I know that the vast majority of Chinese have never read the original, as it's in a literary language akin to Latin. Instead, they get their inculcation through movies and comic books. Perhaps that would be the best approach for English readers as well.
Rating: 
Summary: good history that doesn't seem like it
Review: The book is set an ancient china from 184a.d. to 236a.d. or something like that. the reason i got into this is because of Koei's Dynasty Warriors series especially 3. It has political features and also has a bunch of betrayals.
Rating:
Summary: A great work
Review: This is certainly one of my favoriate books. Liu Bei is pretty much the main character, although some will certainly dispute this. Some might dispute that cao cao could also be viewed as the main character, but logic says he's the bad guy....as demonstrated by his countless acts of evil, such as having the emperors pregnant wife strangled to death with silk rope. It's good to have someone such as cao cao in a book. a person you can hate without a second thought makes the good guys struggles your own struggles. You become wrapped up in a book such as this. unfortunately, an emperors descendents constantly prove incompetent. cao cao had weak descendents, as did Liu Bei and Sun Quan. this is an excerpt from a poem i read at the end of one of the many versions of the story. All down the ages rings the note of change, for fate so rules it; none escape its sway.
The three kingdoms have vanished as a dream, the useless misery is ours to grieve. I also recommend reading "Outlaws of the marsh" and "The deer and the cauldron".
Rating: 
Summary: for those interested in Chinese history...
Review: Now that I finally finished the book, I will say a few words about this book. It's a long story and it took me over 3 months to finished it. I did enjoy this historical novel which is said to be 70% based on history and 30% fiction. The characters in the book are more alive in the reader's imagination than in the book itself because there isn't much character developement. The book doesn't flow or read smoothly instead it feels almost mechanical. But the events and the actions take a life of it's own in the reader's imagination. I don't know the Chinese language but maybe there were some essence that was lost in the translation. The events and the strategy that were used in that era of history were brilliant. Even though this happened hundreds of years ago, I have to remind myself these people were not simple, ignorant farmers. Instead they were manipulative, calculating and deceptive as much as, if not more than the politicians that we have now. Of all the events in the book, what I still remember is how people are killed so easily and at a whim of those in authority. No wonder so many people were in fear of their lives and what they said and did because they were at the mercy of the authority. Another thing I marvelled at was the scale of the wars and battles they had where hundreds of thousands of people would fight and die just because their king wanted ot attack their neighbor. All said, I would reccommend this book for those who have some interest in China or that era of Chinese history. I give this book 4 out of 5 stars because of the lack of the character developement which would have made this historical novel much more enjoyable and readable.
Rating:
Summary: Know what you are getting into
Review: Let us start with the edition. I am talking here about the paperback Foreign Language Press, Beijing edition tanslated by Moss Roberts. You will find his name on the back of the title page spelled Roborts. This common problem with proofing will be a minor irritant in some cases and a major snafu in others--in places parts of sentances are dropped.
In spite of the need for an English speaker to go over the galleys, this translation is the one to buy. If you want to dip into the Brewitt-Tuttle translation set your browser to Romance of the Three Kingdoms; you will find a slightly modified version on the web. Robert's version is superior in style, and the translator tries to help reader out by regularizing all character names.
This edition provides useful helps to the reader maps, illustrations, a list of principal characters, and notes. The notes are at the end of each volume, a foolish modern practice. So if you want to really understand the text you will need to do a lot of flipping back and forth.
Reading this novel can be compared to diving into the Iliad for the first time, many strange names and some reoccuring formulaic action. The resemblance to any Western epic is only superficial. The basic plot line is episodic with sometimes long exposition punctuated by vivid episodes. It is a story of war and political intrigue, and like the Iliad women figure in as victims or calculating sex objects (interesting ones) that lead men to their doom. Political correctness in The Three Kingdoms is from a different time and culture.
I find the whole tale superb, but I first read the Iliad when I was nine so figure that into your judgement. If traditional literature fascinates you buy, but be ready for four volumes much tougher than Tolkien, David Weber, Laurell K. Hamilton, Harry Turtledove, or Mary Gentle to mention a few writers of modern multi-volume series approaching the magnitude of The Three Kingdoms.
Finally, The Three Kingdoms is "literature" and if that genre scares you, stay away.
Rating: 
Summary: BORING and $$$
Review: The characters are lifeless, the action mired in quicksand, and the price outrageous. What were the other reviewers thinking??
Rating:
Summary: The three kingdoms is awesome
Review: I have been interested in Asian history ever since I learned about the Sengoku Jidai in Japan, where many different clans were vying for control. My favorite is the Takeda clan who were constantly at war with the Uesugi clan. Then I studied about Mongolia, and learned about Genghis Khan, a name that at that time struck fear into everyone's hearts and sometimes a sword. Genghis Khan led the Tar Tars, or the horde as it is usually called, Genghis led the chinese to build the Great Wall which unfortunatly did not succeed in keeping the horde out, the Mongols then took over china and led to the Yuan Dynasty. But finally in my readings, I stumbled upon the Three Kingdoms a time when hundreds of heroes rose up to claim the greatest prize of all for their leaders, China, and many of them were willing to sacrifice everything. Liu Bei, Cao Cao, and Sun Quan, were fighting for the control of China. When I got the book I soon realized I couldn't put it down. There was action, drama, everything in real life. And there were heroes Zhao Yun, Guan Yu, Dian Wei, Xu Huang, are just a few of many heroes who rose up in this time of need. The Three Kingdoms is truly a timeless tale of epic proportions.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Story on Many Levels - mediocre printing
Review: This book is a truly epic tale of ancient civilization. It is a historical fiction of roughly 180-280 AD (the period of the fall of the Han dynasty), with Liu Bei and "Peach Garden" brothers set as the heros. The plot of this 2000+ page tale centers around the political and military exploits of various leaders of the age. The dissolving the dynastic rule, the rise of warlords, and the subsequent consolidation into three major kingdoms. The story telling is superb, in echoing themes from earlier chapters, and for thematically bonding disparate events and characters. The story also mixes in many different observations into the nature of morality, politics, leadership, and loyalty. This translation seems to be based on the Mao edition, the footnotes are helpful for understanding the historical allusions and identifying where the fiction differs from history. This printing has a fair number of typos, that are sad, but not very detracting from the story.
Rating:
Summary: Read this before buy!
Review: This is a great book! But, before you buy this, you have to remember that it is 2000 some pages long. This isn't a book that you can't just sit down to read for the heck of it. I suggest you should be fimilar to some of the names, like Cao Cao, Sun Jian, Liu Bei (or Xuande as Moss Roberts translates it in the Paperback edition, the one I'm refering to). I am fimilar with the Dynasty Warriors series and other games related to this subject. Even if you don't know that many names, don't let what I said stop you from buying this book. If you have [money] to spair, some free time, and don't get fusterated when the book has its boring moments, because every book does. Believe me though, this is a good book, and you get your monies worth.
Rating:
Summary: HowGood???Well!!!!
Review: This Book is one of the best books ever you know...
Since i got the games by koei man I know alot about what happens in the game and I got a English-Korean-chinese-Japanese translated.. thats how much i like the book...
It my ship like in 3 weeks...well on a scale of 1-10 i give it a 13...Seehow good it is...I don't Like reading only games but this book i read about 6 times it sooo gooooddddd....
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