The Magnolia Sword: A Ballad of Mulan

This book surprised me. I went in expecting a pretty standard YA retelling of the ballad of Mulan awash with the usual YA tropes, but this was more than that. While there were aspects of it that were a little contrived, a little too convenient, this book just felt more authentically Chinese than a lot of East-Asian-inspired YA stories out there now and it was a pretty good time. It did a pretty good job balancing being accessible to a modern 21st century English-speaking audience while also being somewhat true to the social mores and values of the time and of Chinese culture in general.

Although I grew up with Disney's Mulan, I also always knew that Mulan was much more than that, since I'm ethnically Chinese and my upbringing has been strongly influenced by Chinese culture. I knew Mulan's story was a lot more to do with military strategems and almost nothing to do with any kind of romance at all. The most memorable story of Mulan I had to learn in Chinese lessons was talking about when her (male) friends in the army drop by her home after the war is over to catch up with an old friend, and that's the first time they realise she is a woman. There's no love interest or princeling here. Going into this book, I had a good hunch that it wasn't going to be following the Disney version (and the first chapter already pretty much proved me right) but I wasn't sure what way it was going to swing - was it going to lean into the military bits of the story, or was it going to go full out YA romance? I was happy to find that the book manages to establish a happy middle.

Some of the obvious flaws of the book: There were some parts that were just plain unrealistic or too convenient. Mulan as a random conscript gets noticed and enlisted into the princeling's entourage simply because she was just too good at her swordsmanship. Not only that, but this random addition to the entourage gets taken in from the very beginning under the princeling's wing, dining with him one-on-one in his rooms and even sharing his bed (Of course, we eventually find out there's a good reason for that, as Kai had known from the start that this was Hua Mulan who is not only his opponent but also a woman, so while the reasoning makes sense, the fact that it didn't draw more attention and suspicion when he made that decision is weird). The fact that Mulan could even pass muster to get into the army in the first place when I assume some basic physical examination must be needed. Though there were some of these bits that were just a little too convenient, generally I didn't find them ostentatious and annoying and could live with them.

What I did enjoy about this book was how authentic it felt. I'm not saying that this book is at all historically accurate, but I felt like Chinese history and culture weighed more in the story rather than just pretty backdrops for an essentially 21st century story unfolding with 21st century Western-like teen/young adult characters. This was evident from the dialogue to the values that Mulan and Kai espouse. Flowery, self-deprecating language is used which was the standard accepted polite speech back then, and is still sometimes used in extremely formal settings in Chinese culture now. People refer to themselves in the third-person as a way of being polite (”This lowly servant is grateful to receive instructions.”) which is something that even I have been taught to do when speaking with my grandma (of course not referring to myself as a “lowly servant”). Despite Mulan's fraught relationship with her father, the values of filial piety and respect is almost unshakeable, something that resonates more with my Chinese upbringing than exposure to Western pop culture.

Despite the Chinese-ness of the book, I do feel like it still brought something accessible to the table. It is all too easy in this time and age to rewrite Mulan to be a 21st century girlboss. There are a few moments of nods to 21st century feminism (such as when the Emperor comments that Mulan speaks like a man, and she corrects him saying that she speaks like any rational person) and those are just few enough to satisfy without bringing the reader out of the story too much. Because 21st century feminism would be extremely out of place in this era of Chinese history, even just having not just Yuan Kai but even the Emperor knowing about her gender, not only not punishing her but even approving and rewarding her for it, is honestly a little unbelievable. Thomas wants these points in there for her 21st century audiences, but doesn't dwell on those to still keep some vague believability of the historical context. Honestly, kudos to her for having been able to balance those two rather opposing forces pretty well.

Thomas also clearly had done her research on the military history of this period, vital considering Mulan's story is entirely about war. She takes the chance here to ruminate a bit about how the history of all the minority-nomadic tribes that have been at war some time or other with the Han Chinese have only had their stories told by the Han Chinese, and how history is not just told by the victors, but by the predominant ethnic group that survives the longest into modernity. These are points of Chinese history I've known about but never really quite thought about, and it took me by surprise that this of all books provoked me to think about these things.

The romance in this one was also pretty well-done. I like that the entire plot of the novel was really about something other than the romance - the subterfuges and schemes of a war and Mulan being caught up in those - but the time spent together helped to deepen the chemistry between Kai and Mulan. Those are my favourite types of romances really! I find that it usually works a lot better in making me root for a couple rather than when the whole story revolves around the burgeoning attraction between these two characters right from the every beginning. I also liked that we saw Mulan and Kai as very vulnerable characters - they both weren't just invincible, brave, and fearless warriors. They both made mistakes during battles, and had moments of near-cowardice in the face of a war they never wanted to be a part of. I like that relatability and how human it makes the characters feel.

Overall, this is one of the most well-done and authentic East Asian-inspired YA novel I've read, and certainly one I'd recommend to just about anyone. I learnt a few things along the way about Chinese history.