Eight Skilled Gentlemen (1990)

It's a bit disappointing that this trilogy goes from a strong start, in the shape of Bridge of Birds, to something that certainly doesn't match up to that. There were parts I liked about Eight Skilled Gentlemen, but I do think the trilogy got weaker with each successive book. Probably a good thing that it stopped being published, or so wikipedia tells me. On the one hand, I've become fond of Number Ten Ox and Li Kao -- on the other, not much new is being done with them. Again, I don't know exactly how, but I guessed who the bad guy would be, just like with The Story of the Stone. It's pretty much, "Who do you like most and want to be a good guy? It's him."

There were some beautiful parts, as in Bridge of Birds, but I felt like a lot of the humour and beauty was confined to that first book. Which is sad. ( )

Another Hughart Winner:
No surprise, another entertaining and delightful Li Kao and Number Ten Ox fantasy-adventure. The grisly murder of a prominent mandarin by a mysterious ghoul provides the catalyst for this duo to go delving into China's ancient mythology searching for the answers. Along the way, author Barry Hughart creates some of the most curious and imaginative heroes and villains you will ever encounter. Just superb.

Sadly, as noted by previous reviewers, this is the third and last book that the author has written in this series. On the bright side, the books he did write were all sparkling 5-star reads. Eight Skilled Gentlemen is a winner - just read it.

This is the last of Hughart's Ancient China stories, and he somehow managed to get me teary-eyed at the end there (bastard;)). It wasn't as good as the second book, but only because I've grown wise to his plot twists. The theme of all the books was definitely that appearances are deceiving and people are always in disguise. Even the narrator wears his peasantry like a cloak. The last part of this book was an amazing ending to a fascinating and beautiful trilogy. ( )

Eight Skilled Gentlemen is the third and last of Hughart's Master Li and Number Ten Ox stories. Which is unfortunate, because these are some really great books. Hughart's prose is just as lyrical here as in the previous volumes, and the incorporation of Chinese folklore is just as fascinating as always. Even though the plot is a bit weaker here than in the previous two volumes, Eight Skilled Gentlemen is still better than most and high n my list of keepers.

Highly recommended, but read the other two first to get the full effect. ( )