A heart divided by Jin Yong

 

Name of Book: A Heart Divided

Author: Jin Yong, Gigi Chang, Shelly Bryant 

ISBN: 978-1-250-25013-1

Publisher: St Martin's Griffin

Part of a Series: Legend of Condor Heroes

Type of book: China, politics, 1200s, duty, filial piety, martial arts, Mongols, Genghis Khan, blood, the Greats, fighting, contest, determination

Year it was published: 1956 (2021)

Summary:

A Heart Divided is the next in the high stakes, tension-filled epic Legends of the Condor Heroes series, where kung fu is magic, kingdoms vie for power and the battle to become the ultimate kung fu master unfolds.

China: 1200 A.D.

In the fourth and final volume of Legends of the Condor Heroes, Guo Jing is at last forced to make a choice between loyalty to the land of his birth and keeping faith with Genghis Khan, who has been like a father to him. When it comes to matters of the heart, trouble waters stir there as well when Guo Jin's love for Lotus Huang is tested when he becomes convinced that her father has murdered someone dear to him.

As the Mongol armies descend on China, Jin Yong brings this most beloved of his novels to a thrilling conclusion, complete with vast battles, stirring heroism, heartbreak, triumph and loss.

Characters:

Main characters are Lotus Huang and Guo Jing. Lotus is a clever young woman who is intelligent, visual and dexterous. Lotus can come up with plots that will leave enemies spinning. Guo Jing often relies on her talents to navigate through myriad obstacles. Lotus is also a daughter to one of the five martial greats and dearly loves Guo Jing. Guo Jing is very talented with variety of martial arts styles and is a loyal and likable young man who tends to need a long time to understand the situation and what is going on. However once he masters something, Guo Jing makes use of it a great deal. There are a bunch of secondary characters, both old and new such as Venom Ouyang who desires to best everyone at a contest, then Heretic of the East, Lotus father who is peculiar but seems to have a change of heart, and of course, Beggar Hong who loves Lotus cooking and is seen as a respectable and amazing man. Of course Hoary Urchin makes an appearance as well in addition to Yang Kang, Genghis Khan and so on.      

 
Theme:

Have faith and belief 

Plot:

The story is in third person narrative from everyone's point of view, although the primary speakers are Lotus Huang and Guo Jing.  Reading the previous three books in the series is definitely a must because the author expects one to remember those events. ( Would also be nice if there could be a timeline and where those events are located in the books.)  Also like previous books, the women are very powerful and aren't one dimensional characters who wait for happily ever. Each character is memorable and strings and odds and ends are definitely tied up neatly, with enough to possibly begin the next series, THE RETURN OF THE CONDOR HEROES. 

Author Information:
(From goodreads)

Louis Cha, GBM, OBE (born 6 February 1924), better known by his pen name Jin Yong (金庸, sometimes read and/or written as "Chin Yung"), is a modern Chinese-language novelist. Having co-founded the Hong Kong daily Ming Pao in 1959, he was the paper's first editor-in-chief.

Cha's fiction, which is of the wuxia ("martial arts and chivalry") genre, has a widespread following in Chinese-speaking areas, including mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and the United States. His 15 works written between 1955 and 1972 earned him a reputation as one of the finest wuxia writers ever. He is currently the best-selling Chinese author alive; over 100 million copies of his works have been sold worldwide (not including unknown number of bootleg copies).

Cha's works have been translated into English, French, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, Burmese, Malay and Indonesian. He has many fans abroad as well, owing to the numerous adaptations of his works into films, television series, comics and video games.

Opinion:

Oh boy, can I just mention that I am feeling sad that the first quartet of novels are over and I am also wondering when THE RETURN OF THE CONDOR HEROES quartet shall begin? Just like the previous three novels, A HERO BORN, A BOND UNDONE and A SNAKE LIES WAITING, this novel is filled with non stop action, martial arts battles and, of course, high stakes with well drawn and amazing characters. A lot of favorites ( and not so favorites) make a comeback, and we also meet amazing new characters such as The Southern King Duan Zhixing, Madam Ying Also a  lot of secrets are uncovered and Lotus and Guo Jing had done a lot of growing up. For those who have been reading this wonderful series, A HEART DIVIDED does not disappoint but enhances.  

This was given for review 

4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)