Wandering Warrior

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Summary: Kung fu and magic in the Gu Long and Louis Cha style.
Review: Da Chen has succeeded in writing a kung fu novel for kids that flies with the freedom of his prose. Martial arts novels are the popular genre of fiction in the Chinese speaking world. Da Chen is THE FIRST CHINESE WRITER to actually write his kung fu novel in English. Previous to Da Chen, English Kung fu fiction were action adventure yarns that hung on the coattails of the kung movie craze of the 70's.
My daughter is taking karate right now and I searched high and low for a book that could inspire her enjoyment of that particular martial art. Happily, Da Chen has delivered with an inspiring tale of freedom and magic that reads like a Harry Potter story but combines with the mystique of the far east. I adore the book and I look forward to more.

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Summary: First disappointment from Da Chen
Review: I am a huge Da Chen fan. I've read a couple of his other books and have been amazed at his ability to write so beautifully in his second language. I was excited when I first heard of Wandering Warrior since my 10 yr old son and I have been reading together for quite a while. The idea to get a "Chinese Harry Potter" which provided a male oriented story, with Harry Potter like fantasy, Da Chen's writing style and a Chinese flavor was very appealing to me. (We have very close friends from China.) Sadly, I was very disappointed. I didn't find the book to be at all magical and the language was a litte course. My son reads at a very high level and he's not sheltered. As for me, having read Da Chen's other works, I knew he didn't shy away from colorful language. Still, I saw no reason to be coarse in a book intended for children. We didn't stop reading it once we began but it certainly doesn't compare with the paging-turning impact of Harry Potter. One other indication was the fact that my son did not read it again on his own or recommend it to his sisters. My advice, life's too short and there are too many good books to spend time on marginal works. I'd recommend passing.

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Summary: Wonderful Book! What's wrong with you people?
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed Da Chen's "Wandering Warrior" and was surprised to find that many people on this site have given it scathing reviews. The story was very interesting. I know this may seem cliche, but I really couldn't put the book down. I just wanted to read more. And obviously some people agree with me. Critics have given "Wandering Warrior" excellent reviews and Warner Brothers is already planning a movie based on the book. They've set aside a budget similar to that of the critically acclaimed "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and are in talks with the likes of Ang Lee, Jackie Chan, and Chow Yun Fat to be a part of the project. If that doesn't show you how great this book is, I don't know what will. I would HIGHLY recommend this to anyone who can read. Really, it's that good.

In response to the third comment on this page, "Very Very silly," posted by a reader from Poughkeepsie, NY, I have one question: Did you even bother to read the book before you gave it such a bad review? For example, you said,

"when Luka gets his magic dagger in prison he is told that it has to be united with the brother dagger every 13 days or it'll never work... well... by this point the charcter and the dagger had been in jail for some 4 months yet it still works?"

If you had even bothered to read the book, you would have known that Atami tells Luka that the daggers must meet every thirteen YEARS, not DAYS. Before posting bad publicity for a book, please take the time to actually know what you're talking about. Oh, and a spell check couldn't hurt either.

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Summary: Very Very silly
Review: Ok I know that its meant for children and I unfortunately didn't realise this until the first few pages BUT I still fund several massive problems with the book.
1. If its set in anciet china, arent words like "cool" just silly
2. Are the Mogos meant to be the Mongols? Is this a traditional way of describing them or is it just some PC way of not pointing a finger at a particualrly nasty period in Chinese history.
3. The character are basicly cookie cut and the writing is so spotty that it seems as though Da Chen just lacked the confidence in his writing ability, or the readers patience, to explain thier motivations and histories better.
4. What sort of chinese name is Luka?
5. At times te characters seem invincible with their martial artsthen at other tmes they get knocked around as though they were nothing.
6. Also thier are several sloppy points that simply dont make sense. ie. when Luka gets his magic dagger in prison he is told that it has to be united with the brother dagger every 13 days or it'll never work... well... by this point the charcter and the dagger had been in jail for some 4 months yet it still works?

It had the potential for greatness but it just fails in too many areas.

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Summary: Magic, Adventure, Kung Fu, & Monsters
Review: This book was a wonderful blend of a traditional chinese adventure with all the magical antics that make Harry Potter great.
This is a story of a young orphan named Luka, trying to grow up and remain true to his destiny as the next emperor of China. However, he must face many difficulties and powerful enemies, but with the aid of true friends and wise mentors he becomes greater than any could have prophesied!
I enjoyed the fascinating references to Chinese culture and legend interwoven throughout the book, deftly mixed with classic storylines that are familiar to western audiences. However, I did feel that this rich plot was squeezed into too few pages and could have stood longer development of the some of the key characters introduced throughout.
All in all it was a wonderful story full of magic, adventure, Kung Fu, monsters, and plenty of good fun.

Rating:
Summary: awsome book to read non-stop
Review: Wandering warrior
This story is about two people who try to escape the terrible clutches of a terrible disease that has hit Ancient China, which is affecting and killing everyone in its path. Luka and his friend, Atami, luckily escaped the town before it hit. Now they must face may hardships such as cold weather, not enough food, and most importantly trying to keep their friendship together. If you have a friend you can always depend on being there for you, you are doing good in life and that is what Atami and Luka share. I rate this book as: ***** stars.

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Summary: Ever Hate it When the Dialogue's Cheesy?
Review: Yes, well...In that case, don't buy this book. Especially not in hardcover.

The book is about this kid, Luka, which has the moles on the sole of his foot to prove him to be the future-king of the place. The whole story is an endless spew of cliche storyline and horrible dialogue. This is not the kind of fun-to-read, imaginative theme - instead, it's is a painful-to-read, nonsensical-plot-type of story.
It's the classic boy-makes-friends-gets-arrested-meets-a-pretty-damsel-tries-to-find-his-guide-makes-more-friends-then-has-to-fight-this-monster-to-save-the-pretty-damsel-and-fight-his-dad kind of thing. Classic, really.
Yes yes, it's creative, but put together dreadfully. The dialogue really peeves me off. Throughout the whole book, I'm thinking "People do NOT say these things in real life." I mean, the book has these kids saying things like "cool", and this takes place in ancient China. ANCIENT CHINA. -ANCIENT-. Take my word for it - you do NOT want to buy this book in hardcover. Play it safe and borrow it from the library, at the most (but do yourself a favor and stay away).

If you like reading good books, this product is not for you.