Status
Available
Call number
Call number
F Hug
Collection
Publication
New York : Doubleday, 1991.
Description
The third book in the Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox series When a resepcted mandarin is murdered in the heart of the Forbidden City, Master Li and his sidekick, Number Ten Ox, are called in to investigate. Thus begins a Sherlockian adventure that takes Master Li and Number Ten Ox--accompanied by a scarred puppeteer and his shamanka daughter--on a wild chase across China. With murder, mayhem, and magic aplenty, and Chinese folklore and literary references thrown into the mix, Eight Skilled Gentlemen is a hilarious romp through Ancient China.
Original publication date
1990
User reviews
LibraryThing member WinterFox
This one is the third one in the series, and was written only one year after the previous one. Compared to the previous two books, this one was a somewhat lesser effort, in that the story wasn't as crisp and things didn't tie together as nicely, and you could fairly easily tell the direction of the
Still, this book was still quite enjoyable. The style, with all the references to real and fake Chinese legends and characters and landscapes, is still very fun to read. The dialogue, as well; the characters are just as fond of puns, poetic phrasings and alliteration as the real Chinese people I've dealt with, and since I enjoy those things myself, I get a kick out of seeing them here. The characters, well... if you like the two leads, you're not going to find anything to object to here, although the act is wearing a bit thin. Ox will always fall in love with the main female lead, Master Li will always find clues somewhere and play the charlatan half the time, etc. A little development wouldn't hurt.
The plot isn't as well thought out as the previous two books, but on the whole, it played nicely. It just wasn't as tight, but it's a high order to get that. Here, we have high-level mandarins, Chinese vampires and a series of amusing gods, ape-men, and ancient, mysterious cages, and all of it has to be worked out fairly quickly. It's still imaginative, but just not all tied together quite as well.
Anyway, it's definitely still good, and I'd still recommend it if you're already in the series. It's just sad it's the last one; there really should have been a few more. Stupid publishing companies.
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twists based on the way the previous books had worked (something that bothered me about the Harry Potter series, as well).Still, this book was still quite enjoyable. The style, with all the references to real and fake Chinese legends and characters and landscapes, is still very fun to read. The dialogue, as well; the characters are just as fond of puns, poetic phrasings and alliteration as the real Chinese people I've dealt with, and since I enjoy those things myself, I get a kick out of seeing them here. The characters, well... if you like the two leads, you're not going to find anything to object to here, although the act is wearing a bit thin. Ox will always fall in love with the main female lead, Master Li will always find clues somewhere and play the charlatan half the time, etc. A little development wouldn't hurt.
The plot isn't as well thought out as the previous two books, but on the whole, it played nicely. It just wasn't as tight, but it's a high order to get that. Here, we have high-level mandarins, Chinese vampires and a series of amusing gods, ape-men, and ancient, mysterious cages, and all of it has to be worked out fairly quickly. It's still imaginative, but just not all tied together quite as well.
Anyway, it's definitely still good, and I'd still recommend it if you're already in the series. It's just sad it's the last one; there really should have been a few more. Stupid publishing companies.
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LibraryThing member jnicholson
This mystery resonates less with me than Hughart's earlier works, but contains some of the most engaging characters. The mad puppeteer and his beautiful daughter are delightful and simultaneously melancholy. The plotting is, once again, very tight, and the boat race is captivating.
LibraryThing member drneutron
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
Highly recommended, but read the other two first to get the full effect.
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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.
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LibraryThing member iayork
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
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.
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
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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.
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LibraryThing member isabelx
I wouldn't have believed anybody could scream loud enough to make the mob in the Vegetable Market shut up and pay attention, or make the Chief Executioner of Peking come to a halt with his sword raised high, but that is exactly what happened. All eyes turned to six figures that were racing into the
The third and last book in the series begins with a vampire ghoul interrupting a public execution in Peking, just as the executioner is about to beat the previous record for number of consecutive executions with a single blow of the axe. As the vampire ghoul has also decapitated a mandarin on an island, Li Kao and Number Ten Ox begin are asked to investigate, and find themselves investigating the link between the demonic murders, a monkey man who steals antique bird-cages, and some highly-placed criminals. Li Kao and Number Ten Ox are helped by a puppeteer and his shaman daughter, and if you have read the first two books you will not be surprised at how the relationships between the four main characters pan out, or that the investigation involves quite a lot of time spent underground. I slightly preferred this book to "The Story of the Stone", but it's probably good that the author stopped after three books, as the plots were getting a bit predictable.
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square through the Gate of Prolonged Righteousness. The five men in the lead had wide staring eyes, faces bleached white with terror, and mouths gaping like coal bins as they emitted one earsplitting scream after another. The sixth figure was the cause of the commotion, and one look was enough to freeze my blood. I had heard tales of vampire ghouls from Auntie Hua since I was five years old, but I had never expected to see one, and this ch'ih-mei, as Master Li later confirmed, was a specimen so classic it could have been used to illustrate the famous scientific study by the great P'u Sung-ling, Recorder of Things Strange.The third and last book in the series begins with a vampire ghoul interrupting a public execution in Peking, just as the executioner is about to beat the previous record for number of consecutive executions with a single blow of the axe. As the vampire ghoul has also decapitated a mandarin on an island, Li Kao and Number Ten Ox begin are asked to investigate, and find themselves investigating the link between the demonic murders, a monkey man who steals antique bird-cages, and some highly-placed criminals. Li Kao and Number Ten Ox are helped by a puppeteer and his shaman daughter, and if you have read the first two books you will not be surprised at how the relationships between the four main characters pan out, or that the investigation involves quite a lot of time spent underground. I slightly preferred this book to "The Story of the Stone", but it's probably good that the author stopped after three books, as the plots were getting a bit predictable.
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LibraryThing member mamzel
This was a fun murder mystery, part of a series featuring Master Li and his strong sidekick called Number Ten Ox. A Mandarin is found dead in the Forbidden City and Master Li is called upon to find the murderer. What makes this series fun is its different setting with its accompanying folklore.
LibraryThing member ladypembroke
I did not find this book as interesting as the first two. Maybe I read it too soon after the last one, but the twists and turns annoyed me. I felt like the story dragged more than the others as well. I still love the two main characters, but I can see why the author stopped writing the stories (I
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read somewhere that he felt he was getting repetitive, and I agree). Too bad Hughart didn't seem to publish anything else. Show Less
LibraryThing member Griffin22
I adore the first two books in this series, so the third was a bit of a let-down by comparison. Still a good fantasy, amusing adventure. But much less funny - in fact I can't really think of any funny moments. Pathos and a quest to solve a murder and end a drought. For me it was missing the overall
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feel of the earlier books. Each book is stand-alone with the same main characters. Show Less
LibraryThing member Phrim
Eight Skilled Gentlemen is the third story of Master Li and Number Ten Ox. Unfortunately, the first thing that hit me about this story was historical inaccuracies. The story takes place in the familiar environs of Peking (Beijing), but many of the referred-to landmarks such as the Forbidden City
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and the artificial lakes weren't built until hundreds of years after the story's Tang dynasty setting (in fact, Beijing was mostly a frontier outpost at the time). That aside, I found the story fairly compelling, as politically corrupt officials pitted themselves against a mysterious supernatural force, with our protagonists of course getting stuck in the middle. I found the big reveal at the end to be surprising, though in hindsight it was completely in line with the reveals in the other stories. The final boat race scene at the end was a bit odd, though, and not as satisfying an ending as I would have preferred. Show Less
LibraryThing member Eclipse777
An enjoyable read 3.5 but I thought the story tailed off towards the end but Ox and Mater Li make up for it as there a great duo
Pages
255