The Water Outlaws

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By S. L. Huang

Publisher Description

A Best-Of Pick for Vulture | The Washington Post | Publishers Weekly | Men's Health | IGN | Polygon | Goodreads | Amazon | Nerd Daily | WeAreBookish | Paste | Books, Bones & Buffy | The Escapist | Paste Magazine | SciFixFantasy | Distractify | Gizmodo | Ms. Magazine | Booklist | Popsugar | Book Riot | Autostraddle | The Mary Sue & others

Finalist for the American Library Association Carnegie Medal | British Science Fiction Association Award for Best Novel | Nebula Award for Best Novel | Ignyte Award | Dragon Award | Locus Award

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.

"This wuxia eat-the-rich tale is a knockout."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

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.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

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The Water Outlaws Reviews

3.5

ana

Created 4 days ago

“The book took a bit to really get into it, but in the end it was hard to stop reading. The magic system was easy to understand until it wasn’t?? Anyway, it was an okay book.”

Kevin’s Corner

Created 7 days ago

“4.5/5 stars The Water Outlaws is a feminist genderbent reimagining of the Chinese classic Water Margin. When arms instructor Lin Chong earns the ire of her male superior after rejecting his advances, she is branded a traitor and forced to flee. With no better choice, she is then recruited by the infamous Liangshan Bandits, a group of mostly female outlaws and outcasts determined to change their lot and reshape the Empire. But in the Capital, a Chancellor is working towards building a weapon of immense power and will not allow the Bandits to get in his way. This book was far more fun than I was expecting even with some intensely dark moments. I am completely unfamiliar with the Chinese classic source material so I cannot speak on the changes made. But with the gender swapping, the book adds another layer to its commentary on systemic oppression as well as some fantasy elements to the otherwise historical story. There are big wuxia action set-pieces, political maneuverings, and clandestine missions along with some pretty grotesque elements including cannibalism and torture (not just by antagonists and not just references). The book is propulsive and quickly paced, never lingering too long on depressing moments, allowing it to maintain its exciting and fun tone. I did still tear up at those emotional moments though. Told from three women’s perspectives, it gives a vast array of personalities and viewpoints. I liked Lin Chong best, a woman who has been honorable if willfully blind to injustices until it affected her personally. She is forced to juggle her own honor code while knowing not everything about the Empire is honorable. Socialite turned scholar Lu Junyi was both frustrating and completely understandable as a woman who throws money at problems while being comfortable in and upholding the system. When forcefully conscripted into building an evil weapon, she makes excuses for going along with just tiny bits of cowardly defiance. While I would not describe both protagonists as truly morally grey, they are certainly tainted by their complicity. That cannot be said about the third protagonist Lu Da, a cheerful and loyal but likely psychopathic monk turned bandit. The Water Outlaws is a fun action-packed feminist wuxia fantasy.”

Aimie ⟡

Created 21 days ago

DoubleRock

Created 23 days ago

Kara Black

Created 26 days ago

“I dont know perhaps if this one is just ill-suited to audiobooks, or if I didn't pay enough attention or what....but I did not love this. It felt very jumpy with the POVs and I had a hard time following what was happening, or why it was happening. I also didnt find the characters very compelling or have any emotional connection here 🙃 maybe this one was just not a good audiobook for me.”

About S. L. Huang

S. L. Huang is a Hollywood stunt performer, firearms expert, Nebula Award finalist, and Hugo Award winner with a math degree from MIT and credits in productions like “Battlestar Galactica” and “Top Shot.” The author of the fantasy novella Burning Roses as well as the Cas Russell novels including Zero Sum Game, Null Set, and Critical Point, 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.