Eight Skilled Gentlemen

Rating:
Summary: Another Hughart Winner
Review:
No surprise, another entertaining and delightful Li Kao and Number Ten Ox fantasy-adventure. The grisly murder of a prominent mandarin by a mysterious ghoul provides the catalyst for this duo to go delving into China's ancient mythology searching for the answers. Along the way, author Barry Hughart creates some of the most curious and imaginative heroes and villains you will ever encounter. Just superb.

Sadly, as noted by previous reviewers, this is the third and last book that the author has written in this series. On the bright side, the books he did write were all sparkling 5-star reads. Eight Skilled Gentlemen is a winner - just read it.


Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: Barry Hughart's Master Li may have a slight flaw in his character, but the three novels he appears in have no flaws (except maybe they aren't durable enough. I'm reading them to pieces). They have it all. Read one, you'll be hooked too.

Rating:
Summary: More, please
Review: I can't give this one five stars, the way I did _Bridge of Birds,_ but I can still heartily recommend this...this...mythological, poetic, mystery-fantasy? I don't know what else to call it. It's not as funny or luminous--indeed glorious!--as _Bridge of Birds,_ but it's still very much worth reading just for the fact no one else write like Hughart. From what I've heard, the author was supposed to write seven novels about Master Li and Number Ten Ox. One hopes that someday he will finish the series.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding, funny and heartwarming
Review: I have loved Mr Hugharts books more than any I've ever read. I do have a question and I hope someone knows the answer. Where is Mr. Hughart? Why hasn't he written something new? I'm always on the search for a book he's written. A talent like his needs to live on.

Rating:
Summary: Almost....
Review: I have written about Barry Hughart before ('Bridge of Birds') and how much I enjoyed his mock Chinese, tongue-in-cheek writing. This is the third novel (and the last) in his series about Number Ten Ox and Master Li, detectives, trouble-shooters, and general mischief-makers. The middle volume, 'The Story of the Stone,' is not presently in print, although chances of finding it used are still good.

The two find themselves in attendance at the Peking execution day, where the current royal execution is going for a record 1,071 clean decapitations. At the very last moment, a vampire ghoul makes a daytime appearance in hot pursuit of the city guard. This causes the Devil's Hand to miss his stroke, and Master Li jumps at the opportunity to investigate. Finding that one of the vampire's victims appears to be an august resident of the Forbidden City, Master Li confronts the Celestial Master (the wisest Confucian in the realm) and is invited to investigate what appears to be an impossible series of events.

Befriending a roving puppeteer and his beautiful daughter, Master Li and Number Ten chase across China looking for clues in what appears to be a complex smuggling plot that uses magical, golden cages as telephones. However, the cages are more than etheric portables, and the present holders of them keep meeting horrible fates at the hands of weird monsters and an ape. Who these creatures are, the purpose of the cages, and what any of this has to do with the annual Death Birds Ghost Boat Rain Race are the mysteries that Master Li has to solve.

This is a plot that sends the reader careening across the pages like a pinball in a bumper factory. The sense of the tale is always just beyond the reader's grasp as Hughart unfolds Number Ten's narrative at high pace. Readers who relish an orderly progression of development and characters that make dependable sense may find this a bit unsatisfactory. Hughart seems determined to exceed the more controlled chaos of 'Bridge of Birds' and this is not all for the good. I found the confusion a bit too ... confusing.

This is more of a burlesque, compared to Kai Lung's wry sarcasm, but it still works. Beware taking the plot for granted, since almost nothing is really what it seems. Hughart's ability to make impossible characters work is undeniable, and he has either a vivid imagination or access to a large collection of Chinese myths. While this tale is not up to the standards of 'Bridge of Birds' it is still a genuinely enjoyable read. And a pleasant change of pace for people for those who spend too much time with weightier tomes.

Rating:
Summary: Almost....
Review: I have written about Barry Hughart before ('Bridge of Birds') and how much I enjoyed his mock Chinese, tongue-in-cheek writing. This is the third novel (and the last) in his series about Number Ten Ox and Master Li, detectives, trouble-shooters, and general mischief-makers. The middle volume, 'The Story of the Stone,' is not presently in print, although chances of finding it used are still good.

The two find themselves in attendance at the Peking execution day, where the current royal execution is going for a record 1,071 clean decapitations. At the very last moment, a vampire ghoul makes a daytime appearance in hot pursuit of the city guard. This causes the Devil's Hand to miss his stroke, and Master Li jumps at the opportunity to investigate. Finding that one of the vampire's victims appears to be an august resident of the Forbidden City, Master Li confronts the Celestial Master (the wisest Confucian in the realm) and is invited to investigate what appears to be an impossible series of events.

Befriending a roving puppeteer and his beautiful daughter, Master Li and Number Ten chase across China looking for clues in what appears to be a complex smuggling plot that uses magical, golden cages as telephones. However, the cages are more than etheric portables, and the present holders of them keep meeting horrible fates at the hands of weird monsters and an ape. Who these creatures are, the purpose of the cages, and what any of this has to do with the annual Death Birds Ghost Boat Rain Race are the mysteries that Master Li has to solve.

This is a plot that sends the reader careening across the pages like a pinball in a bumper factory. The sense of the tale is always just beyond the reader's grasp as Hughart unfolds Number Ten's narrative at high pace. Readers who relish an orderly progression of development and characters that make dependable sense may find this a bit unsatisfactory. Hughart seems determined to exceed the more controlled chaos of 'Bridge of Birds' and this is not all for the good. I found the confusion a bit too ... confusing.

This is more of a burlesque, compared to Kai Lung's wry sarcasm, but it still works. Beware taking the plot for granted, since almost nothing is really what it seems. Hughart's ability to make impossible characters work is undeniable, and he has either a vivid imagination or access to a large collection of Chinese myths. While this tale is not up to the standards of 'Bridge of Birds' it is still a genuinely enjoyable read. And a pleasant change of pace for people for those who spend too much time with weightier tomes.

Rating:
Summary: Glorious tale in the China that never was!
Review: I love all three Master Li and Number Ten Ox novels, but Eight Skilled Gentlemen is my personal favorite. This book is one to savor, from the hilarious opening chapter at a public execution to the thrilling race between the dragonboats. I join the thousands of Barry Hughart fans in *imploring* him to please publish another Master Li novel!

Rating:
Summary: First class from start to finish
Review: I read Bridge of Birds when it first appeared in 1984 (and I believe that title won the World Fantasy Award) and was, like all his other readers, captivated. The Story of the Stone followed with equal success. Eight Skilled Gentlemen was the third of the Master Li stories (and appears to be the last to date). It follows much the same path as the previous books - spoof Chinese mythology turns out not be quite so mythological after all, and Number Ten Ox gets to play Watson again - never quite as stupid as he appears, but nothing compared to the brilliant deductions of Master Li. What is the secret behind the wicker cages? Where does the puppetmaster and his beautiful daughter come from? Where does fake Imperial Tea fit into the plot? As usual, Hughart weaves a marvellous tapestry and wraps you in a fantasy world that is extremely real. Read it, if you get the opportunity. I cannot believe this book is out-of-print! Oh, and Mr Hughart - if you do read this - we want more!

Rating:
Summary: Farewell, Master Li
Review: I wanted to give this novel more than three stars, but I couldn't work up the enthusiasm. Maybe the problem lies in my expectations. After reading and loving Bridge of Birds, I looked forward to the Story of the Stone and Eight Skilled Gentlemen as the second and third books of a trilogy. I expected the second two books to grow from the delightful beginnings of the original. Instead, they are the second and third books in an aborted series, trying to repeat the performance of the incomparable first.

Eight Skilled Gentlemen contains many of the same ingredients that made Bridge of Birds so successful: the wonderful setting in mystical ancient China, the mixture of mystery with fantasy, and the two wonderful heroes. But Barry Hughart offers the same dish to us rewarmed, without adding anything new. For better or for worse, this is Yet Another episode in the Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox. For what it's worth, it's better than the Story of the Stone.

Rating:
Summary: Still fails to recapture the magic of Bridge of Birds
Review: I wanted to give this novel more than three stars, but I couldn't work up the enthusiasm. Maybe the problem lies in my expectations. After reading and loving Bridge of Birds, I looked forward to the Story of the Stone and Eight Skilled Gentlemen as the second and third books of a trilogy. I expected the second two books to grow from the delightful beginnings of the original. Instead, they are the second and third books in an aborted series, trying to repeat the performance of the incomparable first.

Eight Skilled Gentlemen contains many of the same ingredients that made Bridge of Birds so successful: the wonderful setting in mystical ancient China, the mixture of mystery with fantasy, and the two wonderful heroes. But Barry Hughart offers the same dish to us rewarmed, without adding anything new. For better or for worse, this is Yet Another episode in the Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox. For what it's worth, it's better than the Story of the Stone.