Customer Reviews
Wrong Translations - By: Spanton, 23 Jun 2008 
The story & history itself is great however this particular version of the book is filled with incorect translations with Liu Bei being Liu Pei, Cao Cao being Ts'ao Ts'ao & not only is pretty much every name slightly wrong but even items such as Kuan Yu's (properly translated Guan Yu's) weapon being refered to as the Black dragon when its the green dragon so dont let my review put you off the book just dont buy this edition
Beats Iliad - By: , 03 Jul 2005 
As a military history fan I picked up this book several months ago & I must say it's one of the best purchases I've ever made.
Romance of three kingdoms focus on arguably the most chaotic & ruthless period of the acient China (220-280 AD), shortly after the collapse of eastern Han dynasty, over a dozen warlords rose to power in the name of 'Restoration of Han', this book is based on three major power, Shu, Wei, Wu & their constant struggle for power. Instead on focusing on warfare itself, this book gives absolutely brilliant account on deceptions, trickery, use of intelligence, as well as cunning diplomatic solutions behind the warfares. Clearly, Sun Tzu's Art of war has infulenced the author greatly.
The only problem about the book is the character names, as the translated Chinese names seem to running to each other every two paragraphs, it takes alot of memorization. But if you have the patience, it will pay off soon.
However, some famous battles mentioned in this novel was not well chronicled, it's highly likely many historical details are simply made up. And the purpose of Shu is probably not as noble as the book portrayed. But as a novel, it's unparallleled.
Read, if you want to know what deception means.
China's best loved epic - By: , 05 Apr 2005 Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a fantastic story about the struggle of the Han empire. The first novel concentrates on the rise of the "Three Kingdoms" period, which begins life as a strategy for balancing power between the three main rivals. I use the word fantastic because the stories in this book were recorded by those who were there at the time, but they were also passed through word of mouth alll around China. Therefore parts of the story are exaggerated & twisted in the telling (or writing). There are also spectacular observations of shamanistic type magic & very advanced healing methods, Hero's of epic proportions & might, & characters with very interesting traits. This book contains a great balance between an epic dialogue concerning the main protagonists & several short moral stories about specific characters. It also gives you a great sense of Chinese culture, the story being about the re-uniting of the three factions in order to re-form China.
ROTK - By: M, 09 Nov 2004 
This review is looking at both books one & two as they are meant to be read together.These books are a good blend of History & Fiction. Focusing on the major powers in the 'Three Kingdoms' period, it looks mostly at the eponymous kingdoms, Wu, Shu & Wei. The fact that the novelist lived at the time is a mixed blessing. On one hand he has a keen insight into the events & the context surrounding them. Unfortunately, his early ancestors sided with Shu's leader Liu Bei (or Pei). The bias placed on the Shu characters can get a little grating at times & it places questions on the texts overalll validity. However, it remains a good read & highlights an intruiging clash of ideologies, each faction representing one style of rule. You'll soon find yourself siding with one side or another, & when you do the books become difficult to put down.
One of the worlds oldest, and greatest novels - By: , 29 Jul 2004 This is undoubtedly the greatest of alll books. It focuses on three men who lived at the end of the China's Han dynasty & displays their struggle to prevent its downfalll. It is very long, however is definitely worth the money & effort.
