Reddit reviews Three Kingdoms: A Historical Novel (One Volume)
We found 2 Reddit comments about Three Kingdoms: A Historical Novel (One Volume). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
After years of playing DW games, I finally did, and really enjoyed it. I read this abridged version (~$30) initially, and it was alright. Some pretty big pieces are cut out, although it does make for a considerably shorter read. However, if you really want the full experience, I'd recommend this 4-book set (~$25) that I picked up later. I can't really say if it's better or worse than others, as it's the only full copy I've read, but it seemed good to me, and I've seen it recommended by other people as well. You could also check out this website, which has the whole thing available to be read. I don't think I could manage that much reading online, though.
If you do start reading, good luck. It can be quite a daunting task, as the scope and style of it can be off-putting. It took me a couple years of off-and-on reading to get through it, and I'm someone who enjoys reading (although I was younger at the time). Have fun with it though, it's a great read, and you'll likely have an easier time than most, as you're already familiar with many of the names.
Hope that helps!
There are two I'd recommend: Three Kingdoms and Monkey.
Three Kingdoms is obviously what you and I slightly discussed. It's a period in China after the fall of the Han Dynasty where three kingdoms fought for unified control. The Han Dynasty was so significant Chinese people still refer to themselves ethnically as Han, among other groups like Hakka, Uighur, etc. And the Japanese term kanji comes from the Chinese han ji = "Characters of the Han". Anyway, the book I referenced above is a novel written about the three kingdoms. If you've seen the movie Red Cliff, that was about a decisive battle during this period.
Monkey is my favorite Chinese novel. It's also known as Journey to the West. Historically there was a Chinese monk named Tripitaka who traveled to India to fetch scriptures for his people. He made it back and succeeded his journey. Now this book, however, was written about 100+ years since this monk and the author threw in some really esoteric and crazy shit. Using the monk's journey as a backbone for his story, the author actually writes about an extremely intelligent monkey who learns the ways of the gods, wages war against the gods, and somehow found himself becoming Tripitaka's bodyguard on his journey to India. There are two other characters that follow on the journey, but it's mostly focused on Monkey. It's amazing how much more human Monkey seems than the gods/people he meets.
Even though Monkey was a fictional character, some Chinese people actually worship him now. Strange, I know.
I'll be honest, Three Kingdoms is a bit more dry. It jumps back and forth and goes on and on about certain characters and events. If you've read the Iliad, it's along those lines but not as bad. Well, I read the unabridged English translation of the Iliad which was a challenge.
Monkey is an easier read and it still inhibits some lengthy scenes but it's more comical and fun. All the Chinese gods are involved in this book. From Buddha to the Bodhisattva, they're in here.
Fun fact: The Bodhisattva was originally a male in Indian Buddhism. As Buddhism traveled east other cultures changed the Bodhisattva to a female. If you ever come across Korean Buddhist paintings you might just notice she'll have a mustache.
tl;dr