PositiveThe New York Times Book ReviewDespite the fearsomeness of the historical figure, Chang-Eppig’s Shek Yeung is pensive and passive ... In combat and at sea, the novel remains impersonal, and most events are narrated rather than experienced ... The strength of Chang-Eppig’s book is the extensive research that colors it ... The book’s weaknesses include erratic pacing and unskillful language. Though the final third of the novel flows smoothly, earlier battles and conversations are broken up by paragraphs of exposition, dissipating interest. Because the novel’s sentences are rough-hewn, and anything that happens is relentlessly explained, with little left for the reader to interpret or infer, the book gives the impression of having been written for a younger audience ... Many readers will find the subject matter sufficiently attractive to overlook the faults.
