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Aug 19, 2019susanchyn rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
I read Saints first and Boxers second, but I think either sequence would work since the two volumes are so perfectly dovetailed, both thematically and in storyline. Of the two, Boxers is longer, meatier, better developed and more cerebral. Unlike his brothers, Bao has a special affinity with the gods and demi-gods he has met while watching traditional operas: He talks with the Monkey King, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei—all heroes to emulate. But then foreigners come to his village and crops fail. Bao is pulled into the organization that would become Yihequan, the Righteous and Harmonious Fists.” Yet he sees inequity and injustice wherever he turns. Bao does not know the best way to lead. Author Yang shows how his thoughts are torn by juxtaposing Qin Shihuang, China’s repressive but effective first emperor who urges violence with the Goddess of Compassion, Mercy and Kindness, Guan Yin, who presses for peaceful solutions. Qin Shihuang, who looks very scary and is dressed in black, is adamant that Bao show no mercy in the efforts to keep China united. As in Saints, there is mysticism and magical realism in Boxers. Spirits fly and the dead are revived. Yet even with support from a pantheon of Chinese gods and demi-gods, Bao proves powerless to alter the tide of history.