3.5 stars, but not quite feeling willing to round up to 4 for this.

You might read the words “bandit” and “martial arts” in the description and think, “Oooh! Action! Fantasy! Sounds like a page-turner!” And you would be mistaken.

This is a very understated, quiet, and fairly slow little novella that meanders and reveals itself in unexpected ways. There were some truly pleasantly startling moments! But in general, I felt like I just didn’t quite grok what all was going on - it felt like I was missing context, some language, I’m not sure what - I just felt a bit adrift.

I enjoyed it - it is a warmhearted little group of bandits, and there are broad strokes of found family - but it never quite grabbed me emotionally, and the plot felt very...incidental.

Not every story is for every reader - I feel like this one was not quite for me. But I have warm feelings about it, nonetheless.

Beautifully written, has the feel of a great martial arts story. I loved all of it, from characters to the storyline. Well worth the read, and a change from the 'usual'. Unique, unusual and lyrically crafted.

Thank you to Netgalley for connecting me with the publisher and giving me the chance to review the book.

I'm not a stranger to the wuxia genre, and I was looking forward to more over-the-top wuxia fun based on the blurb. What I got instead was unexpected, but not unwelcome. Instead of kung fu moves and long, drawn out, bombastic fight dialog, we get a surprisingly quiet and thoughtful story about motives, relationships, theology, and what makes a family.

The plot brings the relevant characters together quickly. We meet a host of side characters that are never fully fleshed out but provide some amusing fireside moments and some conflict, and there's enough unexpected moments to keep my interest. The author even incorporates some LGBT themes in a thoughtful way, which is unexpected for the wuxia genre.

Other than the side characters not being fleshed out well, I also felt that the book was light on details in general. Descriptions are brief, jargon is used but requires context to understand, and some of the character developments take place more rapidly than maybe is believable. It is a novella, however, so I found it easy to overlook.

In short, this was a fun, quick read that I enjoyed for reasons I wasn't expecting when I started it. I won't spoil the ending, but I found it both touching and satisfying.

I didn't know what to expect from this "book" but it definitely wasn't my cup of tea. The story wasn't captivating as I expected, and it lacked in world building and character development. Not a particularly interesting story. At least ,not for me

Overall Rating: Recommended (How I Rate Books)

Personal Rating: A pleasant story of friendships, adventure and intrigue

Spoilers below. You've been warned!

I got this book early for free for the purpose of an honest review. The book comes out in late June, if you are so interested.

This is the third story by Zen Cho I've read, so it's safe to say I'm something of a fan. I read parts of this story while donating blood platelets during this whole coronavirus nonsense, so this novella helped keep me relaxed while I was about it.

Now let's get this review started!

'The Order of the Pure Moon' is a wuxia fantasy story set either in China during the Tang era, or in an alternate earth which happens to use some naming conventions similar to our own. What is wuxia? To quote wikipedia, "Wuxia (武俠 [ù.ɕjǎ]), which literally means "martial heroes", is a genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China." I don't have much a background in this sort of storytelling, asides from a few old movies and one or two books I've read like 'The Poppy War' which I think qualify. Basically, the main tenant I see of wuxia in 'the Order' is the use of some martial artistry and mysticism to advance the plot and storytelling.

Sound interesting so far? But wait, there's more!

The plot of this story revolves around the nun Guet Imm who has recently fled the destruction of her 'tokong,' aka her nunnery, where she was in seclusion. She is secretly strong with the mystical arts, but due to the persecution of her religious sect she's forced to get a job working as a waitress. The story starts when she has a run in with a local group of smugglers, gets fired from her job, and decides to tag along with the smugglers as they go about their smuggling. Run ins with the law naturally follow, as they seek to crack down not only on Guet Imm for being an illegal nun but also the smugglers for, you know, smuggling.

Reviewing the plot on an analytical level, the story is heavy on the talking and light on the action. I found this to be surprising, given that this was advertised as a wuxia story. While to be sure there was fighting, it was used with restraint. And honestly, I don't think the story needed the missing combat. The story didn't need it.

Instead the plot was moved along by the main characters interacting with one another. As more and more personal secrets are revealed, the plot moves faster and faster, until the climax when those secrets directly lead to the conclusion of the story. It's hard to describe without spoiling, but suffice it to say I enjoyed it.

The characters, Guet Imm and Tet Sang in particular, were well fleshed out. Of the two, I think Tet Sang was the star of the show: he had multiple points of conflict in and out of himself. Internal and external conflict is compelling to read about. I really don't want to spoil his character arc, so I'll just say go read this book.

Now for a bit of constructive criticisms.

The book's pacing was a bit slow. I never felt that there was a massive amount of tension driving the book forward. Tension and suspense is the feeling in a reader which is best described as 'I don't know what's about to happen and I'm afraid about what could happen.' In this book there were a good amount of deus ex machinas flying around, which reduced the tension because after a certain point I felt that Guet Imm's magic would solve their problems.

When writing a book it's important to make the bad guys seem UBER powerful for the sake of making the good guys seem like underdogs. In this story the bad guys never got fleshed out enough for me to tell whether or not they were an actual threat to the protagonists. The more dangerous the villains, the higher the tension because the reader can't tell how the good guys are going to get out of this situation. Because they were never completely fleshed out, I didn't think they were too dangerous.

Taken in summation, this is a pleasant story about friendship, hardship and loyalty to higher ideals. I can recommend this story broadly to just about anyone interested in the fantasy genre. Above all, I found this to be a relaxing story. Check out the free pages on amazon to see if you like the way it reads, and if so give it a buy. The book comes out on June 23rd.

This is a book that is tough to talk about without spoilers! I'm always going to enjoy a found family story, and this one was no different. Rich, fully imagined world building for such a slim book. I thought the characters could have been developed more, I didn't feel like I got to know all of them well. I think that might be the cost of it being a novella rather than a novel, and as many people say about any good book, I wish it were longer. One small thing I appreciated about this book was menstruation on the page! It's one weird way of feeling seen as a reader, but it's something that is a part of many people's lives, and I really love how it was treated here. I'm excited to read more from Zen Cho.

I have been reading a larger number of novellas lately, but I wouldn't say I've read enough to be able to quite put a finger on why some things really work for me and others...don't. Sadly this was in the latter camp.

Don't get me wrong, I think the writing in this is beautiful, and the characterisation was definitely there -  I really enjoyed Guet Imm as a character and I'd love a longer piece from her perspective.

But I didn't quite feel there was enough meat to this story - and that might just be my own reading of it - for me to truly fall in love with it. That's not to say I wanted this to be a full novel, I'm a big fan of the way the novella format means you can dive straight into the story - but there was some narrative element that just stopped me from fully falling through the pages of this book.

I think I wanted a deeper relationship/exploration of relationship building between these characters, I liked that there is an amount of trust built (and lost) across the pages but I feel as though there could have been more done.

I'm wondering if a re-read of this, knowing how the story goes, would yield more than a first reading - and I'll definitely be keeping this on my 'revisit at some point' list. But this is similar to how I felt about Sorcerer to the Crown - which felt similarly lackluster - while I loved The True Queen. So perhaps Zen Cho, for me, is just one of those authors where I like some of their books and not others?

Novellas are always going to be fairly subjective, personal taste things - for me this didn't quite hit the mark. I think there are some interesting elements and the overall character development and story is good - but I needed just a little more bite to the book for me to really love this.

(worth saying the usual 'I am a white lady so odds are I missed a fair amount of the nuance in this story please seek out own voices reviews' here)

My rating: 3/5 stars

I received a free digital advanced review copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley - all opinions are my own.

The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water is out June 23rd!

The life of a bandit is not easy. The men of Lau Fung Cheung’s band not only have to work odd jobs for a bit of cash to keep them in rice but it seems like they can’t even walk into a town without getting caught in a brawl. Zen Cho’s brief novella, The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water, tells the story of what might be the gang’s most challenging job yet. Even though the novella is brief, it turned out to be a fun ride with surprising depths.

Lau Fung Cheung makes a fantastic entrance in The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water. All he wanted was something hot to drink at a coffeehouse but, when another customer accuses the waitress of hexing him, Fung Cheung decides to defend the waitress. After the inevitable fight, Fung Cheung’s second in command, Tet Sang, arrives with purses of cash to sooth hurt feelings. Tet Sang and the waitress, an ex-nun called Guet Imm, then proceed to steal the show from the devil-may-care Fung Cheung.

After the brawl and Guet Imm’s also-inevitable firing from the inn, Guet Imm tracks down the gang and refuses to leave. She offers to cook and clean for the bandits, but she mostly gets the job through sheer stubbornness. Tet Sang is very annoyed. He is so annoyed, in fact, that we have to realize that Tet Sang must have bigger reasons for wanting Guet Imm to disappear with a quickness. These reasons are slowly revealed at the same time we learn more about the job Fung Chueng’s band is working.

For such a short novella, The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water contains a surprising amount of backstory. Tet Sang and Guet Imm have astonishing stories behind them—so much so that the characters argue with each other about whether it was chance or divine Providence that brought them together. Cho also adds details about an ongoing war between a militant Protectorate and a defeated old order that had me longing for more pages. I really wanted more of this story and more of its characters. I suspect other readers will, too, given how imaginative this story is. Since its scant 176 pages might be all we get of the world of The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water, I have to be satisfied with what I got: nuns with strange powers, comic relief, oaths and bargains, double-crosses, gender-bending, and almost non-stop action.

I would definitely recommend this book to readers looking for a quick fantasy adventure.

I enjoyed this book a lot!
The plot sounds very serious, but there is a lightheartedness to the story, because the characters are very likable, and each one is distinctive. A young lady, (a kind of former monk), attaches herself to a group of thieves who claim to just be about making money, but are instead on a mysterious mission against the government. There are some zany chase scenes, which I wasn't expecting, that were a lot of fun. I was heavily reminded of the Wuxia/ comedy mashups of the Jackie Chan movies of the 80s, like Drunken Master. There are no martial arts in the story but the sensibility, the banter, and the odd characters is similar. I loved this book, which was a real joy to read. The pacing, characters, mood, and sense of humor ,were all very engaging, and I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water in exchange for my review.

The Order of The Pure Moon Reflected in Water is a complicated story to talk about due to massive spoilers. It is also short, so the story beats are pretty precise, and if I say anything specific, it will ruin the whole plot. However, there are a few observations I can make about this captivating story.

Firstly, let's talk about the cover; it is masterfully done. I thought it was a beautiful cover and one of the first factors in leading me to request the story to review. After reading the story, you can appreciate just how beautifully done the cover is and how well it works in concert with the plot.

"You hexed a customer?" he roared. He smacked her on the side of the head.
"I didn't say that, Mr. Aw," protested the waitress, rubbing her head. "I just said I didn't deny only."

Secondly, the protagonist and supporting characters are fun. Tet Sang runs a band of brothers. They are classic, morally grey independent contractors that are some times on the right side and sometimes on the wrong side. They are minding their business and witness a waitress lose her job and possibly hex a customer. This waitress, a nun in disguise, joins the band of brothers and goes on a bit of a quest. Tet Sang is a good leader with secrets of his own, the same with the nun. We know less about the other characters in the party except for the fun dialog snippets we get as they argue like a family.

Plot-wise, the story delves into quite a few critical issues. The strongest is that families can be found. This goes back to how the group argues like a family; they have that level of banter. There is a level of comfort and trust you can have with someone who is not related by blood. I found Cho's writing on this to be very authentic and effortless. The banter betwixt the members of the group was slipped into like a comfy pair of shoes. Secondly, again no spoilers, but Cho touches on transgender identity. Some of her characters' identities are not what we think. Once again, Cho slips these parts of the characters into the story without a lot of fanfare.

It is brilliantly done.

I loved this story and would have given it a solid 5-star rating, except I found the ending to be a bit jarring. It came out of the left-field for me, which took me out of the story. Aside from that, this is solid, wonderfully written, great characters, and cool backstories. Definitely worth checking out.

This novella was strange, but in all the good ways. It felt a tiny bit info-dumpy at some points, but for the most part I really enjoyed the pacing and the story. After a specific reveal it became all the more interesting, and I ended up really loving it! The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water is a fun novella that tells a story of identity and self-discovery through bandits and badass nuns. I mean, if that doesn't have you intrigued then I don't know what will. I honestly wish I could have a full book with these characters and this setting!

The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water is a very short novel, that is in itself very enjoyable. Even with such little pages, the characters felt quite real to me. The beginning really pulled me in, but sadly around the half point, I lost a little bit of interest. I expected the story to have more adventure in it, but it was really mostly about the dynamics in the group, especially between two characters and I didn't really feel a lot about that. The ending also felt a bit rushed and out of context to me.
Overall it was nice to dip my toes into a different genre for one and the writing is beautiful. I would still recommend this to anyone who is interested in trying out the genre or a quick read.

Thank you so much Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This novella tells the story of a group of bandits who come together, and they may find a family with each other. I appreciated that in this novella that every single word that the author wrote counts and contributed to the story. This novella is full of beautiful descriptions that I enjoyed reading. I loved the diversity and the LGBTQ+ representation that it has. It honestly made my heart so happy to read this story. It was a beautiful story of learning about characters and who they are and how they accept themselves and each other. My favorite character has to be Guet Imm. She is so awesome and powerful. She is tough and didn’t put up with the other men in the group. This was an excellent story that I couldn’t put down. I highly recommend everyone give this story a read. It was a fun read.

The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water follows a nun who joins a group of bandits trying to protect a religious relic from those who would destroy it. It's a novella, so that's really most of the book, but Zen Cho crams a ton of character development and plenty of plot into this short little read. The two main characters are so well drawn, and I absolutely fell in love with them. The banter between the bandits is loads of fun - I laughed out loud on multiple occasions. There are plenty of fight scenes. I got to learn the word wuxia (think Chinese martial arts heroes). It's very rare that I want a book to be longer, but I so wanted more of this. I'll be checking out Cho's backlist work, Sorcerer to the Crown. 4 stars - that was very good.

I requested this novella on a pure whim, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect. This was my first of Zen Cho’s works actually, and I really enjoyed it! The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water is a wuxia fantasy with found family.

One day, two bandits and a nun walk into a coffeehouse, and it all goes downhill from there…Okay, that’s not actually what happens (the nun works there) but it’s a great set up to the story. The two bandits, Fung Cheung and Tet Sang, do get into a fight with another customer at the coffeehouse, defending Guet Imm, the aforementioned nun/waitress. She gets fired because of them, so she decides to follow them.

Guet Imm worms her way into Fung Cheung’s band, much to Tet Sang’s chagrin. They’re attempting to sell something valuable, but that leads to some complications throughout the story.

I really liked the characters and their dynamics! Guet Imm and Tet Sang bicker like a married couple; he knows that there’s more to her than the naive, submissive mask she adopts and she knows there’s more to him than the others know. Meanwhile, Fung Cheung is just amused by them both. I also really liked the writing.

It’s hard to say much more about this book without spoiling it all. Also, it’s a novella, so it’s short and there’s not that much to expound on. I liked this story and hopefully this gives me the push to finally read more of Zen Cho’s works! Preorder The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water today.

I am so happy with all of the LBGTQ+ representation that I have been seeing lately in science fiction and fantasy novels. While it is perhaps a little more subtle in this book, it is still important to have more representation. When I read the synopsis about a found family wuxia novel, I just had to read it. However, I found myself in a world that could have used a little extra world building and character development. Even at the end of the novel, I did not feel that I quite had a good handle on the personalities of the various characters. However, I found the dialogue between the characters hilarious at times and I didn't have any problems with the plot (except perhaps wishing it was a little longer). Overall, I enjoyed it. I would recommend it for fans of period novels, monks or nuns, mysterious religious orders, LGBTQ+ characters, and quirky humor.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor for providing me with an e-ARC of this novel. However, this has not influenced my opinion in any way.

It is a a found family wuxia fantasy that combines the vibrancy of old school martial arts movies with characters drawn from the margins of history.
I really enjoyed reading this novella which is about a group of thieves and a young votary of the order of the pure moon who end up together in complicated situations.
I liked the writing and the atmosphere of the story. The found family aspect was very well done. It is a quite and character-driven story. I also liked that it included queer elements in it.
I would prefer it if it had more action as wuxia fantasy tends to be.

The Order of Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho delivers a heartwarming story of a found family set in the backdrop of a wuxia fantasy. When Guet Imm joins a band of bandits that dropped by her shop, neither she nor I expected a tale of spirituality and friendship to come of it.

I went into this book thinking it was an action packed fantasy, however I was pleasantly surprised to find that it's much more character driven and introspective as the majority of the book focuses on the band's journey and how Guet Imm fits into the group, as a cook at first and then as a healer. She also becomes instrumental in their business dealings as time goes on.
But all this pales in comparison with the relationship she develops with Tet Sang. What starts out as him considering her little better than a pest, develops into a deep friendship with admiration from both sides after the adventures they go through and their similar pasts.

One last thing worth mentioning is the exploration into gender identity this book goes into. As a cisgender woman, I don't feel comfortable questioning how well or not it was done, but I found it to be enlightening. Especially considering how central it was to one of the main characters.

My one issue with the book with the writing style. I found it quite complicated to get through, and as such the book took me longer than it should have.

All in all, I enjoyed The Order of Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho. It was a fun read with some unexpectedly thought provoking topics.

Overall, I think this was a fun, exciting story, but I only really connected with two characters in the group. I had a lot of fun reading this, but it fell somewhat flat for me.

It’s more of a solid 3.5.

To tell the truth, I’ve not read any of the author’s previous novels nor have I ever felt interested to. But this novella instantly captured my interest with that gorgeous cover, and maybe that’s me being vain, but I was captivated and the premise also sounded quite promising. So I was very happy when I got the ARC and even more when I picked to read it on the first day of Asian Heritage month.

I have to admit I felt slightly misguided by the blurb. I’m a huge fan of martial arts movies, so I went into this book expecting a lot of fun action sequences but I was disappointed because it isn’t that kind of a story. It was much more of a found family type situation, with lots of humorous banter and a perilous journey for survival. I won’t say I got bored, but the plot did feel mundane at times; but I was much more fascinated when the discussions turned towards the effects of war and its collateral damage, the innocent lives lost, the loss of faith amounting from such experiences and how it changes a person. I also loved that despite the world building not being the strong suit here(probably because it’s such a small book), it’s very queernormative.

It’s an eclectic group of characters but we only get to know two of them very well. I don’t want to talk details and give away spoilers, but they were all on a spectrum from naïveté to shrewdness, patient to temperamental, and it was fun reading their conversations. But I also found it interesting that the author didn’t shy away from showing us that survival came first to these characters, and even their bond might strain if circumstances go unfavorable.

In the end, I had fun reading this little novella and the ending in particular was a very nice emotional touch, leaving us with just enough speculation for a possible sequel. I only wish I had gone into it with the right expectations so that I could have appreciated it more.