The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho
The way that Zen Cho's new novella The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water began was a major feint. It seemed like it was going to lean into an action-oriented saga of black magic and banditry, bounty hunting and showdowns. Instead, it throws a massive curveball and tells a powerful story of identity and how it evolves across different people, customs, and lands. An underlying theme I took away is discovering your true self even though circumstances around you are in a constant state of change.
Cho deftly weaves elegant prose, quite a few eyebrow-raising moments, and many thought-provoking themes throughout this story of a nun who joins a group of roving bandits who are much more than they seem. The nun has been in solitary seclusion for over a decade, and her earnestness is akin to a newborn when she emerges into this new, 'silent war'-torn era. She forms fragile bonds with the bandit group -- some more delicate than others -- that threaten to shatter as histories and intentions come to light. What follows is a beautiful and tragic sequence of events that extinguishes long-held beliefs while kindling new fires of hope.
Vague enough for you? I realize I sound a bit like a movie trailer, but since I hate spoiling anything of importance in a review, just take my word for it and go into this story blind. The most you'll miss is an afternoon, but there's some wonderful perspective to gain, not to mention a marvelously talented author you could start adding to your future book searches.
This The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water book review was written by Adam Weller
Have you read The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water?
We've found that while readers like to know what we think of a book they find additional reader reviews a massive help in deciding if it is the right book for them. So if you have a spare moment, please tell us your thoughts by writing a reader's review. Thank you.
The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water reader reviews
8/10 from 1 reviews
There are currently no reader reviews for this book. Why not be the first?
Write a reader review
Thank you for taking the time to write a reader review for The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho; it really helps other readers find that perfect next read. Kindly enter your name, country and review below and click the 'Submit your review' button to send.
More recommended reading in this genre
Circe
Madeline Miller
"A bold and subversive retelling of the goddess's story," this #1 New York Times bestseller is "both epic and intimate in its scop...
The Once And Future King
TH White
Once upon a time, a young boy called “Wart” was tutored by a magician named Merlyn in preparation for a future he couldn’t possibly imagine. A future in w...
Tender Morsels
Margo Lanagan
Liga raises her two daughters in the safe haven of an alternative reality, a personal heaven granted by magic as a refuge from her earthly suffering. But the real world can...
The Brides of Rollrock Island
Margo Lanagan
Rollrock island is a lonely rock of gulls and waves, blunt fishermen and their homely wives. Life is hard for the families who must wring a poor living from the stormy seas...
Stardust
Neil Gaiman
Life moves at a leisurely pace in the tiny town of Wall - named after the imposing stone barrier which separates the town from a grassy meadow. Here, young Tristran Thorn h...
Dreams and Shadows
Robert Cargill
The Limestone Kingdom, a parallel universe where whisky-swilling genies and foul-mouthed wizards argue over the state of the metaphysical realm. Having left the spirit worl...
The Girl with No Face
M H Boroson
The adventures of Li-lin, a Daoist priestess with the unique ability to see the spirit world, continue in the thrilling follow-up to the critically-acclaimed historical urb...
The Forgotten Beasts of Eld
Patricia McKillip
Sybel is just sixteen when she is given a baby to raise. Born and brought up on Eld Mountain, with only the fantastic creatures called there by wizardry as playmates, she k...
Runemarks
Joanne Harris
Maddy Smith has always been an outsider. Born with a rusty-coloured rune on her hand - what the villagers call a ruinmark - she is scarred by this symbol of the old gods, a...
Great books also published in 2020
The Unspoken Name
A K Larkwood
A. K. Larkwood's The Unspoken Name is a stunning debut fantasy about an orc priestess turned wizard's assassin.What if you knew how and when you wi...
The Girl and the Stars
Mark Lawrence
Only when it's darkest can you see the stars.East of the Black Rock, out on the ice, lies a hole down which broken children are thrownOn the vastness of t...
A Time of Courage
John Gwynne
Heroes shall rise and fall, the earth shall be stained red, and the fate of the Banished Lands will be decided once and for all in A Time of Courage, the final book in...
Along the Razor's Edge
Rob J Hayes
No one escapes the Pit.At just fifteen Eskara Helsene fought in the greatest war mankind has ever known. Fought and lost. There is only one place her enemies wo...
The House in the Cerulean Sea
TJ Klune
Linus Baker is a by-the-book case worker in the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. He's tasked with determining whether six dangerous magical children are likely to...
Blight Marked
Josh Erikson
Gabe escaped the Ether with the ultimate prize, and he thought that meant he was done with deadly cosmic games. But the nightmares infesting his life have different plans, ...
Shorefall
Robert Jackson Bennett
As a magical revolution remakes a city, an ancient evil is awakened in a brilliant new novel from the Hugo-nominated author of Foundryside and the Divine ...
The Lessons Never Learned
Rob J Hayes
I am the weapon. Eskara is free of the Pit, but far from safe. She is beset by the ghosts of those she has killed, and plagued by the ancient horror that p...
The Midnight Lie
Marie Rutkoski
Where Nirrim lives, crime abounds, a harsh tribunal rules, and society's pleasures are reserved for the High Kith. Life in the Ward is grim and punishing. People of her...
Looking for more suggestions? Try these pages:
