I loved Treasure Island as a kid, reading it several times, so I was excited to see a retelling. Having it be a retelling set in ancient China makes it even better. Lee did a wonderful job with developing the characters of Xiang and Anh, with developing their relationship, and it was a wonderful addition to the adventure.
While the other characters were not developed quite as much, they were not left as stereotypes or cardboard cut-outs. Indeed, Lee went against the grain with many characters, not the least of which is the fact that the notorious pirate, the one who united all of the smaller pirate groups and took on the emperor, was a woman. Then to learn, in the afterward of the audiobook, that she was an actual historical figure was amazing.
Of course, there is still the filial pressure that is so culturally important, and the relationship between Xiang and her mother, with Xiang's desire to make her mother proud yet having no idea how to attain it, drives so much of what Xiang did.
With as much fun as this retelling was, I do hope that Lee writes more retellings of the classics, seating them in different cultures from the original as this one was. It colors the story so differently and enhances the original story in a wonderful way.
For this novel, I also had a chance to listen to the audiobook, which was narrated by Emily Woo Zeller. Her performance was great, and I appreciated listening to someone who knows how to pronounce the names and various Mandarin and Viet words that were used. The short section when Anh translates the poem Xiang is talking about into Viet was wonderful to listen to; it definitely would have short-changed the story to have it narrated by someone who couldn't speak those languages themselves.
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From the Publisher
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| A Clash of Steel | So Many Beginnings | Travelers Along the Way | What Souls Are Made Of | Self-Made Boys | My Dear Henry | |
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| Price | $15.99 | $12.50 | $11.35 | $18.99 | $14.82 | $14.10 |
| Read them all! | Two intrepid girls hunt for a legendary treasure on the deadly high seas in C.B. Lee's remix of the classic adventure novel Treasure Island. | Four young Black sisters come of age during the American Civil War in this warm and powerful remix of the classic novel Little Women from national bestselling author Bethany C. Morrow. | A ragtag band of misfits gets swept up in Holy Land politics in this thrilling remix of the classic legend of Robin Hood from Aminah Mae Safi. | From British Fantasy Award-winning author Tasha Suri comes a masterful new take on Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights that will leave readers breathless. | Stonewall Honor recipient and two-time National Book Award Longlist selectee Anna-Marie McLemore weaves an intoxicating tale of glamor and heartache in this remix of The Great Gatsby. | In misty Victorian London, a teen boy tries to discover the reason behind his best friend's disappearance—and the arrival of a mysterious and magnetic stranger—in Kalynn Bayron's gothic remix of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. |
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Reviews with images
For anyone who has ever wanted more.
C.B. Lee’s “A Clash of Steel” was a breath of fresh air. It hooked me right from the opening paragraph. Lee’s writing is so descriptive that you could imagine you were watching a movie instead of reading. It was a little slow-paced for me, but maybe it was because I was also reading back-to-back slow-paced books. I wished that I could listen to the book rather than read it because although I know Vietnamese, I can understand it more through hearing rather than reading. I can talk and understand Vietnamese but cannot read or write it. Other than that, I enjoyed my experience reading “A Clash of Steel”.Growing up, my parents never told me Vietnamese stories. Which is something I wish they had done. Maybe it’s either because they didn’t have the time to, or I never asked/shown any interest. I believe that part of my Vietnamese culture was lost to me because I was raised in America. We go back every few years because most of my family are still there, but you can only learn so much in a limited time.I didn’t know anything about Treasure Island, but what caught my attention about “A Clash of Steel” was the representation of Vietnamese, Chinese, and queer characters. There weren’t many books that had it when I was growing up. But I am glad that more and more representations are present in today’s books. People can be seen through our media today. It’s slow, but at least it is still progress.Xiang wants more than the life she has. Her mother is never there, and she doesn’t know her father. All Xiang seeks is to have her mother notice her and be proud of her. She isn’t your typical Chinese girl who imagines having a husband and being a wife. She wants more.She found a family who loves her on her journey, even if they aren’t her blood. Not only that, but she found love and herself along the way as well.
