Description
Inspired by a classic of martial arts literature, S. L. Huang's The Water Outlaws are bandits of devastating ruthlessness, unseemly femininity, dangerous philosophies, and ungovernable gender who are ready to make history or tear it apart.
In the jianghu, you break the law to make it your own.
Lin Chong is an expert arms instructor, training the Emperor's soldiers in sword and truncheon, battle axe and spear, lance and crossbow. Unlike bolder friends who flirt with challenging the unequal hierarchies and values of Imperial society, she believes in keeping her head down and doing her job.
Until a powerful man with a vendetta rips that carefully-built life away.
Disgraced, tattooed as a criminal, and on the run from an Imperial Marshall who will stop at nothing to see her dead, Lin Chong is recruited by the Bandits of Liangshan. Mountain outlaws on the margins of society, the Liangshan Bandits proclaim a belief in justice for women, for the downtrodden, for progressive thinkers a corrupt Empire would imprison or destroy. They're also murderers, thieves, smugglers, and cutthroats.
Apart, they love like demons and fight like tigers. Together, they could bring down an empire.
About the Author
S. L. Huang is a Hollywood stunt performer, firearms expert, and Hugo Award-winning writer with a math degree from MIT and credits in productions like "Battlestar Galactica" and "Top Shot." The author of the Cas Russell novels (Tor Books), including Zero Sum Game, Null Set, and Critical Point, as well as the fantasy novella Burning Roses (Tordotcom Publishing), Huang's short fiction has also appeared in Analog, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Strange Horizons, Nature, Tor.com, and more, including numerous best-of anthologies.
Reviews
"Non-stop action that will thrill you with its feminist heart. This tale's legendary gathering is the birth of true heroes: those with the imagination to understand how the world could be different for the downtrodden, and the courage to make it so. What skill it takes to turn a cornerstone of the canon upside down and yet have it feel so convincingly classic! S. L. Huang doesn't put a foot wrong in this magisterial epic."-Shelley Parker-Chan, author of She Who Became the Sun
"This queer retelling of a Chinese classic is a fantastic and entertaining blend of action, humor, profanity, social justice, delightfully larger-than-life characters, and so many magnificent fight scenes!"-Kate Elliott, bestselling author of Unconquerable Sun
"Rogues with hearts of gold, the motley rebels of Liangshan will warm your heart as quickly as they'll cause it to race, thump and break."-Suyi Davies Okungbowa, author of Son of the Storm
"S. L. Huang is a literary genius, and this book proves it. Breathtakingly researched, tightly plotted, and cunningly written, this book is full of delicious vengeance and sharp humor. I laughed, I raged, I was swept off my feet and I loved every minute of it!"-Jesse Q. Sutanto, bestselling author of Dial A for Aunties
"With strong characterization, immersive worldbuilding, strong resonances with the original text, and vivid action scenes, The Water Outlaws encapsulates all the power and strength in Huang's writing."-Paul Weimer, Hugo finalist
"Huang has delivered an exciting martial arts adventure!"-Book Riot
"This wuxia eat-the-rich tale is a knockout."-Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Reimagining the famed Chinese novel Water Margin, this epic wuxia fantasy will blow you away ... Huang's dynamic prose and animated action will keep you hooked 'til the very last page."-IGN
"At once a boisterous martial-arts epic, an intricate heist story, and an all too timely tale of resistance against tyrannical institutions"-Vulture
"Spectacular. A whip-smart rollercoaster of a book with action scenes that knocked the wind out of me."-Sarah Gailey, author of Just Like Home
"A refreshing, engaging interpretation of a cornerstone of Chinese literature for contemporary readers around the world."-Xueting C. Ni, editor of the British Fantasy Award-winning Sinopticon: A Celebration of Chinese Science Fiction
Book Information
ISBN 9781837860173
Author S. L. Huang
Format Paperback
Page Count 576
Imprint Rebellion Publishing Ltd.
Publisher Rebellion Publishing Ltd.
In the jianghu, you break the law to make it your own.
Lin Chong is an expert arms instructor, training the Emperor's soldiers in sword and truncheon, battle axe and spear, lance and crossbow. Unlike bolder friends who flirt with challenging the unequal hierarchies and values of Imperial society, she believes in keeping her head down and doing her job.
Until a powerful man with a vendetta rips that carefully-built life away.
Disgraced, tattooed as a criminal, and on the run from an Imperial Marshall who will stop at nothing to see her dead, Lin Chong is recruited by the Bandits of Liangshan. Mountain outlaws on the margins of society, the Liangshan Bandits proclaim a belief in justice for women, for the downtrodden, for progressive thinkers a corrupt Empire would imprison or destroy. They're also murderers, thieves, smugglers, and cutthroats.
Apart, they love like demons and fight like tigers. Together, they could bring down an empire.
A rollicking, epic fantasy queer and genderqueer retelling of the legendary classic, the Water Margin heroes its readers always deserved, giving this epic story bloody, funny new life, full of queer joy, competent women, and a found family you'll want to join.
About the Author
S. L. Huang is a Hollywood stunt performer, firearms expert, and Hugo Award-winning writer with a math degree from MIT and credits in productions like "Battlestar Galactica" and "Top Shot." The author of the Cas Russell novels (Tor Books), including Zero Sum Game, Null Set, and Critical Point, as well as the fantasy novella Burning Roses (Tordotcom Publishing), Huang's short fiction has also appeared in Analog, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Strange Horizons, Nature, Tor.com, and more, including numerous best-of anthologies.
Reviews
"Non-stop action that will thrill you with its feminist heart. This tale's legendary gathering is the birth of true heroes: those with the imagination to understand how the world could be different for the downtrodden, and the courage to make it so. What skill it takes to turn a cornerstone of the canon upside down and yet have it feel so convincingly classic! S. L. Huang doesn't put a foot wrong in this magisterial epic."-Shelley Parker-Chan, author of She Who Became the Sun
"This queer retelling of a Chinese classic is a fantastic and entertaining blend of action, humor, profanity, social justice, delightfully larger-than-life characters, and so many magnificent fight scenes!"-Kate Elliott, bestselling author of Unconquerable Sun
"Rogues with hearts of gold, the motley rebels of Liangshan will warm your heart as quickly as they'll cause it to race, thump and break."-Suyi Davies Okungbowa, author of Son of the Storm
"S. L. Huang is a literary genius, and this book proves it. Breathtakingly researched, tightly plotted, and cunningly written, this book is full of delicious vengeance and sharp humor. I laughed, I raged, I was swept off my feet and I loved every minute of it!"-Jesse Q. Sutanto, bestselling author of Dial A for Aunties
"With strong characterization, immersive worldbuilding, strong resonances with the original text, and vivid action scenes, The Water Outlaws encapsulates all the power and strength in Huang's writing."-Paul Weimer, Hugo finalist
"Huang has delivered an exciting martial arts adventure!"-Book Riot
"This wuxia eat-the-rich tale is a knockout."-Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Reimagining the famed Chinese novel Water Margin, this epic wuxia fantasy will blow you away ... Huang's dynamic prose and animated action will keep you hooked 'til the very last page."-IGN
"At once a boisterous martial-arts epic, an intricate heist story, and an all too timely tale of resistance against tyrannical institutions"-Vulture
"Spectacular. A whip-smart rollercoaster of a book with action scenes that knocked the wind out of me."-Sarah Gailey, author of Just Like Home
"A refreshing, engaging interpretation of a cornerstone of Chinese literature for contemporary readers around the world."-Xueting C. Ni, editor of the British Fantasy Award-winning Sinopticon: A Celebration of Chinese Science Fiction
Book Information
ISBN 9781837860173
Author S. L. Huang
Format Paperback
Page Count 576
Imprint Rebellion Publishing Ltd.
Publisher Rebellion Publishing Ltd.
