Heart Divided (Legends of the Condor Heroes, 4)

If you are a fan of Chinese Sword/Martial Arts Fantasy movies, I highly suggest these books. I have really enjoyed reading them. I find the change in storytelling as the writer progresses writing the novels interesting. It's kind of in the mode of the Elric books in that you can really see the impact of it being created as a serialized product and/or (in Elrics case) written as short stories and then combined. I'm unsure if the later books in this series were written as full length novels or if it was serialized the whole way through and then combined in books over times (the way that manga is generated through a weekly combination product and then whatever is popular has books published containing the original installments as a stand-alone product). The book mainly focuses on a male character, but it seems that there must have been a good bit of female feedback on the title, as a stronger female character is added that rivals for main character status for the book series. The stories take place when there is a great impact on China from the Mongolian Empire and the Great Khan himself. Large focus is given to both the learning, practice, and combat with martial arts techniques and the groups/societies/clans/temples/alliances that use and teach the various style of Martial arts. I'm looking forward to when the next book comes out. I guess I better go search to see again ....

One of my favorite series of all time. Very lucky this has been translated into English. Great ending to the series, outstanding translations made it easy to read. Would recommend for anyone who likes fantasy and hasn’t dipped their toes in the Wuxia genre.

In the conclusion of the Legend of the Condor Heroes we see what happens between Lotus and Guo Jing, we meet the final Kung fu master King Duane, we finally see the battle at Mount Hua, and we go back to Mongolia. It’s an adventure that is truly epic. We rejoin the heroes as they are traveling to try to heal Guo Jing from the Iron Palm Strike she received at the end of A Snake Lies Waiting. This sends them searching for the last master of the wulin from the original battle at Mount Hua that we’ve yet to meet, King Duane. The path is difficult and it takes Lotus’s intelligent and almost sinister thinking to reach the top of the mountain to have an audience with King Duane. From here we learn more backstory of other characters. Once Lotus is healed they head to Peach Blossom Island where something awful has happened. This sends Guo Jing into a rage with that anger directed towards Lotus and her father. This leads to a number of issues at the battle during the moon festival. With lotus and Guo Jing on the outs we return to Mongolia to see Guo Jing use ancient writings and advice from the beggar clan to become a successful war general. Eventually leaving Mongolia to go to the Kung fu contest at Mount Hua. This section was a bit disappointing. The way that the deadly venom is depicted is very strange. It’s also strange to me how quickly people forgive and forget certain infractions. This big Kung fu contest that we’ve been building up to falls flat in my opinion. Overall the ending was so so for me. I also didn’t realized that this was just part of the whole story. I had no idea it continues into another saga. I hope the next books get translated into English as I’ve really enjoyed The Legend of the Condor Heroes series.

What a wonderful surprise these books are. They have given me a much needed perspective on the deep history of China and the soul of a people. As an American living in the 21st century I had little understanding of China and much misunderstanding. Surprisingly this wonderful story opened my heart and mind to realize our nation is just a child to the deep history of the Chinese people. I am very grateful for these books and strongly recommend reading!

Much moodier and more epic than the previous four volumes, "A Heart Divided" is a fitting end to the saga of Guo Jing and Lotus Huang -- although you can tell more is to come! This novel follows up on the story threads opened earlier, with (finally) the introduction of martial arts master King Duan, a surprising backstory on "Hoary Urchin" Zhao Botong, constant but colorful conflicts with the Eastern Venom, epic military campaigns under Genghis Khan, and the long-awaited contest between the greatest masters of the martial arts world on Mount Hua. It's all much more emotional and philosophical than the previous volumes, and an enjoyable read.

I had never heard of this book series until running across the 3rd book at the store. The art caught my eye and I was intrigued by the summary on back. After reading, I absolutely fell in love with the characters and story.

I like this part of the series because many moral dilemmas are finally explained. I was annoyed at good characters for always saving the bad ones, but in this novel, I got an explanation about why doing good to everyone is so important. At the same time, the evil characters finally met their deserved fate.

Thank you for taking care of this book. It arrived in excellent condition.

With the lead characters are coming of age, the author dives into introspection on death, longing, honour, repentance, love - all superbly put in with lot of Wuxia action. Special shout out to the translators for their florid prose and poetry. Waiting for the next one.

Who doesn’t know the story or Guo Ching and Huang Rong? It’s classic, just like the Lords of the Rings in the western world. I have all 4 volumes of this story (Legend of the condor heroes) and they are a must read for every Asian descendants.

Super !

Pretty fast delivery. The package was just a thick envelope. Small wear and tear at the corners that I am not happy with but as I have been searching for this for a while I can accept that. For you who want to buy the book, note the dimensions. This version is 23cm, NOT 19.6cm. The exactly same book has 2 versions with different ISBNs with different sizes. Be aware of which one you are seeking for :)

I really love all of the books and I am sad that this was the last one! I really enjoyed the series.