Review: The Magnolia Sword: A Ballad of Mulan

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The Magnolia Sword: A Ballad of Mulan The Magnolia Sword: A Ballad of Mulan by Sherry Thomas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I picked this up at lunch and came up for air hours later. What a delightful reading experience! Friendship, honor, courage, martial arts, intrigue, Chinese history and romance all combined into one wonderful volume.

Yuan Kai and Mulan Hua have spent their lives knowing they'd have to fight a duel for their families' honor and to reclaim a pair of matched swords, now divided between their two families. But war interferes and when the emperor demands a male from each household, Mulan goes in place of her crippled father.

It's an old tale but Thomas buts a new spin on it with fresh characters, fast action, martial arts sequences that would look right at home in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. It's a great story and in the hands of a master storyteller it comes alive. I loved it from start to finish!

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