A Thousand Li : The First Step

Book 1 of A Thousand Li

Hardcover, 332 pages

Published Jan. 16, 2020 by Tao Roung Wong, Starlit Publishing.

ISBN:
9781989458327

View on OpenLibrary

3 stars (1 review)

4 editions

Very, very slow

3 stars

This is one of those “not for everyone” type books. If you enjoy very slow-paced wuxia stories with a subtle tang of fantasy, this is for you.

Long Wu Ying is a son of a rice farmer, a peasant who has only a rudimentary understanding of cultivation. After being conscripted into the army, fate and circumstances provide an opportunity for him to join a cultivation sect. Will his humble upbringing hold him back from clawing up the ranks in-between coddled nobles and embittered elders?

Not much happens in this book, to be honest, and I wouldn’t blame folks for finding it boring. I find the plodding pace of it kind of relaxing, and I can’t help but root for Wu Ying’s success even if he has the personality of a crumpled paper bag.

Unfortunately, there isn’t much here to set this book apart from other cultivation-type stories, and for that, …