Sword, A Novel
By Da Chen
Sword is a story set in ancient China. According to the author, it is actually a retelling of a tale told to him by a man named Ar Kin. Ar Kin was an old man when Chen was a boy. He was a bit of an outcast in his village and lived on the banks of a river. In the evenings, people young and old would come from the village to listen to Ar Kin tell his stories of ancient times. This story of a daughter of a widow, Miu Miu, tells of how she came to journey many miles from her village to avenge her father’s death at the hands of the evil Emperor Ching.
Miu Miu’s father was a renowned sword maker and sought out by the most important warriors and rulers in China. When Emperor Ching, though incredible means, came in possession of a rare metal that seemed to glow from a magical source, he had Miu Miu’s father brought to the Palace to make a sword for the Emperor out of the metal. This sword, when completed, glowed with a blood-red hue. It was a very special sword that gave the Emperor special powers when it was wielded. Miu Miu’s father was killed after the Emperor was given the sword because he did not want him to make another one like it for any of the Emperor’s enemies.
When Miu Miu reached her fifteenth birthday, she was not prepared in the way of most young girls formarriage. She was, by permission of the town elder, turned into a boy so that she could make the solo journey to the Palace to seek revenge for her father’s death and kill the Emperor. Before she was dressed as a boy and sent on her way, her mother revealed a small sword her father had made for her that glowed in a magical blue light. This sword was made for a girl and contained the same powers as the red sword the Emperor possessed.
This story has many wonderful elements that middle school students may find attractive. The heroine is a young girl that is forced to take a path untraveled by other’s her age. She is working on saving her family name and growing into an independent, free-spirited woman. There is quite a bit of martial arts in this story, which will delight those who take Kung Fu or similar martial art disciplines. The journey is filled with dangers and love. She is able to reach the end of her objective, but not in the way she anticipated. The ending of this story is both sweet and tragic, and will undoubtedly surprise the reader.
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Hi,
ReplyDeleteYour choice of books is a far cry from horse stories. You pick some really different and graphic pieces that are intriguing. This book though, I like because it has a different twist than many books geared toward middle school students. I like this for my middle school students. Thanks for sharing!