The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water

A quick, light-hearted, and entertaining romp through a unique fantasy world inspired by Malaysian culture, lingo, and wuxia dramas. An easy 5 stars for me, for so many reasons.

Guet Imm accidentally incites and gets involved in a coffeehouse brawl that loses her her job as a waitress, so she decides to fall in with the gang of bandits, led by Lau Fung Cheung and Tet Sang, who had began the brawl defending her honour. She is also a votary of the Order of the Pure Moon, a nun inducted into a Buddhist-esque religious faith. Although falling in with Lau's gang had been an impulse decision, Guet Imm isn't so sure that the Goddess of her Order isn't sending her on a mission along the way.

As a Singaporean, I was already strongly impressed and pleasantly surprised in Chapter 1 of this book. For those who may not be familiar with this region of the world, Singapore and Malaysia are geographical neighbours and share a lot of history and culture - and slang. I had gone into this book expecting an East Asian/Chinese-inspired setting which would've been par for the course for such a premise. But instead, I was treated to something completely unique in all the fantasy/wuxia books I've read - and something so unexpectedly close to home.

Being ethnically Chinese, I enjoy reading East Asian or Chinese voices in literature as the closest approximation to my own lived experience. But being born and raised in South-East Asia, which has a very populous Chinese diaspora, my actual lived experience is very much different. I never expected to see anything close to that because it's so niche. Order of the Pure Moon is the first time I've ever felt seen in a fairly mainstream fantasy book that's entertaining in its own right and isn't just about history or politics. The vernacular used by the characters (the syntax and some jargon) is common in this region, known as Malaysian or Singaporean-English, and is what I use on a daily basis to everyone around me. I just never expected to read it in a book like this, wielded in dialogue by wuxia-like characters. It's an amazing feeling to finally feel like these characters are just like you and speak like you - something I had never even entertained any hopes of reading in mainstream lit.

Aside from all of this, Zen Cho builds a compelling world that's clearly inspired by an immediate post-WW2 Malaysia, with thinly veiled historical references like the Protectorate being colonial Britain, the Yamatese occupation being the Japanese Occupation, and the Reformist probably being an approximation of the Communist guerillas. The book also had a surprisingly nuanced take on LGBTQ+ characters and relationships; it never felt like the topic was shoehorned in for diversity points, or that it was put on some kind of pedestal to be objectified. Gender fluidity and identity is dealt with in a sensitive manner - it never felt like the author had an agenda to promote, but was simply put across like a matter of course, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

My only issue with the book was that the ending felt a little abrupt, although to be fair the characters' stories are unlikely to come to any final conclusion while the war in the background is still ongoing. This is one of those uncommon books where I wouldn't have minded if it had gone on for another 400 pages, or if it had developed into a whole series.

This is my very first time reading anything by Zen Cho, and I'd certainly be checking out more of her works.

Reread Review

I don't think my thoughts about this novella have changed much since my first read except I'm upping my rating to a 4. But I do have some things I noticed this time which I seem to have missed before.

I really liked how feminist this book is without ever overtly spelling it out. Right from the first moment Guet Imm hexes a customer because he can't keep his hands to himself, she is a character who exercises her agency and never lets anyone reduce her to her gender. She is smart and resourceful and and when she has ideas, she is bold enough to bring them forth. The author also makes a point to mention how some religious orders are accepting of transgender people but it's all said in a very matter of fact way, which makes it an integral part of world building without putting emphasis on it. I also liked how when the group is in trouble, it's an independent wealthy woman whom they turn towards to for help and who is brave enough to help despite some dangerous times.

After having read more wuxia novels and watched quite a few cdramas, I think I appreciate this story now much more. I can very much see the Jin Yong Condor Heroes vibes this time and that made for a lovely read. While I also enjoyed the author's Black Water Sister, I hope she will also write more books like this.

First Read Review

It's more of a solid 3.5.

To tell the truth, I've not read any of the author's previous novels nor have I ever felt interested to. But this novella instantly captured my interest with that gorgeous cover, and maybe that's me being vain, but I was captivated and the premise also sounded quite promising. So I was very happy when I got the ARC and even more when I picked to read it on the first day of Asian Heritage month.

I have to admit I felt slightly misguided by the blurb. I'm a huge fan of martial arts movies, so I went into this book expecting a lot of fun action sequences but I was disappointed because it isn't that kind of a story. It was much more of a found family type situation, with lots of humorous banter and a perilous journey for survival. I won't say I got bored, but the plot did feel mundane at times; but I was much more fascinated when the discussions turned towards the effects of war and its collateral damage, the innocent lives lost, the loss of faith amounting from such experiences and how it changes a person. I also loved that despite the world building not being the strong suit here(probably because it's such a small book), it's very queernormative.

It's an eclectic group of characters but we only get to know two of them very well. I don't want to talk details and give away spoilers, but they were all on a spectrum from naïveté to shrewdness, patient to temperamental, and it was fun reading their conversations. But I also found it interesting that the author didn't shy away from showing us that survival came first to these characters, and even their bond might strain if circumstances go unfavorable.

In the end, I had fun reading this little novella and the ending in particular was a very nice emotional touch, leaving us with just enough speculation for a possible sequel. I only wish I had gone into it with the right expectations so that I could have appreciated it more.

A wuxia/found family novella. Mostly this was just plain fun. I have found myself really enjoying the new wave of Asian fantasy we are getting. It provides a refreshing change from the typically European fantasy that makes the bulk of the genre. Zen Cho is channeling nuns and bandits in a war torn Chinese style land - you get some of the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon vibes. The main part of this novella is a character study of a nun who somehow avoided a massacre and the leaders of the bandit group she joins and how she gains acceptance into the gang. A fun read

i really really liked this book. i wish it was longer!!!

i agree that it could've/should've been a full novel. some parts of the story deserved to be fleshed out more, and occasionally it felt a bit infodump-y. also, i really don't think it should be marketed as a wuxia LOL.

but i love the setting, love the dialogue, and love the characters!!! tet sang my beloved <3 great read. definitely something i'll reread again and again.

The Order of The Pure Moon Reflected in Water is a complicated story to talk about due to massive spoilers. It is also short, so the story beats are pretty precise, and if I say anything specific, it will ruin the whole plot. However, there are a few observations I can make about this captivating story.

Firstly, let's talk about the cover; it is masterfully done. I thought it was a beautiful cover and one of the first factors in leading me to request the story to review. After reading the story, you can appreciate just how beautifully done the cover is and how well it works in concert with the plot.

“You hexed a customer?” he roared. He smacked her on the side of the head.
“I didn't say that, Mr. Aw,” protested the waitress, rubbing her head. “I just said I didn't deny only.”

Secondly, the protagonist and supporting characters are fun. Tet Sang runs a band of brothers. They are classic, morally grey independent contractors that are some times on the right side and sometimes on the wrong side. They are minding their business and witness a waitress lose her job and possibly hex a customer. This waitress, a nun in disguise, joins the band of brothers and goes on a bit of a quest. Tet Sang is a good leader with secrets of his own, the same with the nun. We know less about the other characters in the party except for the fun dialog snippets we get as they argue like a family.

Plot-wise, the story delves into quite a few critical issues. The strongest is that families can be found. This goes back to how the group argues like a family; they have that level of banter. There is a level of comfort and trust you can have with someone who is not related by blood. I found Cho's writing on this to be very authentic and effortless. The banter betwixt the members of the group was slipped into like a comfy pair of shoes. Secondly, again no spoilers, but Cho touches on transgender identity. Some of her characters' identities are not what we think. Once again, Cho slips these parts of the characters into the story without a lot of fanfare.

It is brilliantly done.

I loved this story and would have given it a solid 5-star rating, except I found the ending to be a bit jarring. It came out of the left-field for me, which took me out of the story. Aside from that, this is solid, wonderfully written, great characters, and cool backstories. Definitely worth checking out.

Like a lot of people here, I was absolutely drawn in by the gorgeous cover. Let's just take a minute to admire it before I continue.

I'm not a stranger to the wuxia genre, and I was looking forward to more over-the-top wuxia fun based on the blurb. What I got instead was unexpected, but not unwelcome. Instead of kung fu moves and long, drawn out, bombastic fight dialog, we get a surprisingly quiet and thoughtful story about motives, relationships, theology, and what makes a family.

The plot brings the relevant characters together quickly. We meet a host of side characters that are never fully fleshed out but provide some amusing fireside moments and some conflict, and there's enough unexpected moments to keep my interest. The author even incorporates some LGBT themes in a thoughtful way, which is unexpected for the wuxia genre.

Other than the side characters not being fleshed out well, I also felt that the book was light on details in general. Descriptions are brief, jargon is used but requires context to understand, and some of the character developments take place more rapidly than maybe is believable. It is a novella, however, so I found it easy to overlook.

In short, this was a fun, quick read that I enjoyed for reasons I wasn't expecting when I started it. I won't spoil the ending, but I found it both touching and satisfying.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this novella in exchange for an honest review.

if you liked these, you'll like this: disney's mulan (1998), monstrous regiment by terry pratchett, and the legend of the condor heroes franchise (teenage me was mildly obsessed with one of the television adaptations and even accumulated most if not all of the manhua volumes, even though to this day i still haven't read either the wuxia novel or the manhua, oops). anything with a roving band of bantering adventurers in wartime, really, but especially if loyalties aren't straightforward.

this novella came up as a passing mention in book club a little while back, and now that i've read it, i'm compelled to hunt down more of zen cho's works. maybe spirits abroad, first, then black water sister? (after i make my way through my current library stack.)

stray thoughts:

• it baffles me how anyone could think this took place in tang dynasty china (per a zen cho interview in locus). even if it's got fantasy elements, it's very specifically southeast asian.
• i meant to write a bit about the english translation for the night of baba yaga and how i thought sam bett did a good job of deciding what to translate, what to put in romaji, and what to give footnotes for, but even though this wasn't translated, i had similar thoughts about the use of malay phrases (and some sentence structure quirks in dialogue) throughout. i had google in my pocket, but most meanings i could pick up from context. not all writers do this well, so i wanted to make note of it.
• it was a quick and relatively easy read, but i still kept going over the same paragraphs again and again, brain empty. not sure what to make of that.
• like my previous read, this is definitely queer but i really hesitate to drill down more or call any character this or that. i'm cringing at some goodreads reviews that assign identities to some of the cast; god forbid we have nuance or context?