Rating: 
Summary: lacking of something...comepleteness, thats it.
Review: Why would anybody write an abridged version of this book? the abridged version lacks cohesion and will lose you at times throughout the book. Eventually, if u actually enjoy reading or aren't lazy, you will want to read the full blown edition, which is far better then a rehash, as it will actually feel like a novel instead of just clifnotes, as many parts i found, didnt stand out as they should have. i feel that if u get this book, get the full, unabridged version.
Rating: 
Summary: Awesome story and translation - poor publishing values
Review: the other reviews probably say enough about the Three Kingdoms for me not to repeat them. I came to this novel after playing the old Koei games, and I loved reading it.My only problem with the box set is that the books' format seemed very poor to me. After paying 50 bucks (with shipping), it was a little disappointing to realize I only got three (yes three, though the entire novel was there. I have no idea why it says "4-Volume Boxed Set") little paperbacks, with a very very small typeset on filmy paper that is very easy to smudge and smear. Also, there are more typos than there are hairs in Cao Cao's beard. Distracting. I don't think you should let this deter you from reading the three kingdoms. But perhaps, if you know you're going to love it, you might want to wait until a much higher class version comes out than the one from the university press I got.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the greatest stories ever written
Review: This is one of the best books that I have read in all my life. It tells a very good translation of the events of the Three Kingdoms Era in China during 220-280 A.D. Fans of the various Koei games who are interested in the history of the Three Kingdoms will definately love the novel. Though it is quite long it is worth the time spent to read it. This book has been recognized in China for over a 1000 years and is a good read for anyone.
NOTE:When I recieved my edition it DID have 4 volumes.
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Summary: A classic that is overlooked by most Americans..
Review: I am sure that I couldn't extol this epic's virtures moreso than the other reviewers have already. I would just like to point out that the unabridged version is the only way to go - some of the other reviewers who claim certain parts are left out/translation errors are referring to the abridged version. For example, Zhuge Liang's taming of the Man in the South is represented in full in the unabridged version, and all the ideas are present and translated. Get this version if you can afford it - if you can't, save up until you can. It's as simple as that, really.
Rating:
Summary: My review of a great historical moment in history
Review: I first was introduced to this story by first playing the the game Dynasty Warrriors 2 for Playstaion 2.... Even though I am not finished with the three volumes so far it has been excellent and very detailed for an a historical story that happened about two millenia ago. I am now on the second volume and won't stop till I get to the end. One thing about these books is that it is very difficult readed and not that easy to follow at times because the names of the people can get confusing the chinese has their names, last name first and given names following and also the people in this story sometimes are called by a second name which is common in the chinese culture. One would have to read these books at least two more times after the first to get the story down because according to my mother my grand father had read the same story in China and told my mom that he had to read it a few times to fully understand this complex time in the history of pre-feudal China and a story still being studied militarily and historically to this day. In a nutshell dispite the difficult read and complex story which I found to a challenge it is excellent and did not before starting expect it ot be easy, is excellent for someone who wants to be challenged whether or not they have played the game or who just is intrigued by an important time in the history of China. It is good for people just learning about this country or for some who like me have played the game and is caught by the intriguing story that the game was based on.
Rating:
Summary: The Archetypal Adventure, Chinese Style
Review: [This review is actually for the unabridged Moss Roberts translation] This book lives up to its reputation as a source-book for Chinese adventure, politics, history, culture and just plain swashbuckling fun. For the translator, it is a work of a lifetime - this comes from an amateur sinologist who remains daunted by the original texts of works such as Three Kingdoms. Roberts joins David Hawkes in the all-time Chinese translation hall of fame. For those interested in an introduction to the drama and adventure that provide the framework for Chinese thinking about large issues such as nation-building and nation-destroying, love, honor, war and peace, this is the ultimate guidebook. Long before Gibbon wrote the "Decline and Fall ..." and Asimov wrote the Foundation series, the Chinese were obsessed with the process of dynastic change and transformation in their own country. It is impossible to overstate the role of this work in Chinese culture -- it is as if everyone in the West actually grew up reading -- and loving -- the Iliad and the Odyssey. In the sweep of history, though, the personal is not lost. Personalities large and small march across the scene and the reader is swept up in their strivings to find a place and something to strive for as the structure of the world turns upside down. For the great Han Dynasty is falling, and no one knows what new configuration will take its place. Military and political geniuses, opportunists, men (and woman, who play a significant role) of cruelty and vision emerge to strive in a chaotic arena, seeking to make their mark on the new order to come. In this sense, Three Kingdoms is a human story which repeats itself again and again, but this is one of the bejewelled versions. Roberts' translation is accompanied by extensive endnotes, which are fascinating to the Sinologist, but which cannot help but distract from the action. Reserve them for later perusal. Finally, the translator has done a tremendous job of translating the poetry in the book - often used to eulogize heroes and martyrs who give their lives out of loyalty to their leaders or who go down fighting in a losing cause. These bits of verse help to cast the necessary sense of the futility of human strivings which pervades this work and the Chinese sensibility generally. The heroes see their own deeds as tiny drops in a great river of history, and their names to be forgotten in years to come. If Cao Cao, Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang only knew how Luo and Roberts have extended their memory in times and worlds they could never have imagined.
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Summary: certainly worth starving over
Review: I came across Roberts's translation of Three Kingdom a year ago and was surprised how good it is. Other than being lucid and close to the original, it reads astonishingly well, reproducing the fast-paced narrative as well as the intimate vernacular which Lo wrote his Chinese. Few Chinese prose classics has been as well done as this (certainly, of all translations of Three Kingdom, this must be the best, far better than Brewitt-Taylor's), and it's worth starving yourself to get the full version rather than the abridged one. Three Kingdoms needs very little introduction. In China, Japan, Korea and elsewhere it has spanned countless dramas, operas, serials, comic strips, video, Nintendo games etc., and it boosts by far the most well-known pantheon of characters in East Asian literature: Guan Yu, epitome of loyalty, deified in China; reckless Zhang Fei; their ruler-brother Liu Bei; the supreme strategist Zhuge Liang; the villain-ruler Cao Cao (used as a foil for Liu Bei but also portrayed as a cunning tactician); Sun Quan and his fellow advisor Zhou Yu; lion-hearted Zhao Yun...the list goes on. But Three Kingdoms is worth reading not just because its pantheon of wonderfully vibrant characters, but also as a strategem and for its masterful blend of history, culture, political insights and popular storytelling. Lo embellished and at times changed history, but always for the sake of heightening the dramatic effect.
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Summary: Three Kingdoms
Review: It is an excellent novel and the translation is great. When I read the story, I felt like I traveled back to the history, and witnessed the events unfolding in front of my eyes. The story depicts the loyalty, integrity, sacrifice, friendship, betrayal, treachery and human fragiltiy. Today, I can not imagine someone can match the characters of Lord Guan and zhao Zilong for their loyalty, integrity, courage, and sacrifice. I was also amazed , perhaps, intrigue about the Emperor Xian who somehow could not seek the service from Li Xuande and his people. Perhaps, the Chinese history would have a new twist if Emperor Xian had used Li Xuande to protect the Han dynasty. Sum it up, the reasons or culprits that led to the collapse of the Han dynasty or any other dynasties later in Chinese history were due a weak ruler, abuses of power from eunichs, or misuse of talents in the court. The irony is nobody could imagine that, in the end, the entire realm was united by Sima Yan to found the Jin dynasty but not by Cao cao, or Li Xuande or Sun Quan as the three main characters in the story of the three kingdoms that fought against one another.
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Summary: dang....that was good
Review: this book was probably the best ive read in a long time. The military tactics and the swift movements of the battalions/division were so smooth. As a military enthusiast, i felt obliged to read this book, but after reading it, i knew this was a book to read over and over and over again. After studying the Chinese dynasties in sixth grade, i had somewhat of a clear view of the Han dynasty. As the three kingdoms rage in battle and buracreacy, this story holds not only adventure, but important morals in life.
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Summary: A fantastic fable summarised in a wonderful way
Review: I read the 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' for the first time in 1992. I never finished it because the books were so thick. This condensed version is wonderful, because you can read the important sections in the book and finish the book in no time. The translation is also very clear and fluid. It is a pleasure to read this book. On the content, the book outlines the story of the three warring kingdoms at the end of the Han dynasty (about 200 AD). The hero of the novel is Liu Bei, the leader of one of the three kingdoms. The novel is imbued with various elements, such as: heroism, loyalty, history, combat strategies and tactics (which you will marvel on), good (justice) versus evil (tyranny), and even romance. It is an amazing book, which is a must read for all businessmen in the Asian region. The book also include the editor's commentaries at the end that include a discussion on the authenticity and sources of the novel.
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