The Magnolia Sword: A Ballad of Mulan, by Sherry Thomas

[sophia_sol]

What an excellent book! A retelling of the story of Mulan, firmly located in 5th century China where the setting - the physical landscape, the cultures, and everything that goes along with these - is an integral part of the story being told. The author clearly did her research and it shows in the best kinds of ways.

I also loved the different kinds of themes running through the book - about intercultural interactions and prejudice, about loyalty and honour, about how to leave behind generations-old family conflict, and much more. I also liked how Kai, the male lead, seems to me to have an anxiety disorder, and this wasn't seen as him being weak or cowardly or less capable.

I loved the relationship between Mulan and Kai, but also the friendships amongst the small group they're traveling with. Although I always want crossdressing narratives to be queerer than they ever end up being, but hey, at least there are some queer secondary characters, even if the crossdressing itself goes as straight & cis as possible.

Comments

[genarti]

Ooh, I'd never heard of this one, and it definitely sounds intriguing!

[sophia_sol]

Yeah I'm so glad I happened to see this recommendation while rubbernecking the RWA situation on Courtney Milan's twitter, or I would never have heard of it either!

[lokifan]

Oh, I must check this out! Shame about the queerness but I LOVE Sherry Thomas and everything else you mention sounds right up my street.

[sophia_sol]

I mean, I don't feel like I can blame Sherry Thomas for not making the crossdressing queer, because there's such a long literary tradition of non-queer crossdressing stories, including the traditional story of Mulan she's working from.

What other Sherry Thomas books have you enjoyed? Anything you'd recommend? This was my first by her!