Jin Yong - Novels

Novels

Cha wrote a total of 15 pieces, of which one ("Sword of the Yue Maiden") is a short story and the other 14 are novels and novellas of various length. Most of his novels were initially published in daily instalments in newspapers. The book editions were printed later. In order of publication these are:

  1. The Book and the Sword (書劍恩仇錄) (first published on The New Evening Post from 1955-6)
  2. Sword Stained with Royal Blood (碧血劍) (first published on Hong Kong Commercial Daily in 1956)
  3. The Legend of the Condor Heroes (射鵰英雄傳) (first published on Hong Kong Commercial Daily in 1957-9)
  4. Fox Volant of the Snowy Mountain (雪山飛狐) (first installment appeared on the first issue of Ming Pao in 1959)
  5. The Return of the Condor Heroes (神鵰俠侶) (Ming Pao, 1959–61)
  6. Other Tales of the Flying Fox (飛狐外傳) (Wuxia and History, 1960-1)
  7. Swordswoman Riding West on White Horse (白馬嘯西風) (first published on Ming Pao in 1961)
  8. Blade-dance of the Two Lovers (鴛鴦刀) (first published on Ming Pao in 1961)
  9. Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre (倚天屠龍記) (first published on Ming Pao in 1961)
  10. A Deadly Secret (連城訣) (first published on Southeast Asia Weekly 《東南亞周刊》in 1963)
  11. Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils (天龍八部) (Ming Pao and Singapore's Nanyang Siang Pau, 1963-6)
  12. Ode to Gallantry (俠客行) (Ming Pao, 1966-7)
  13. The Smiling Proud Wanderer (笑傲江湖) (first published on Ming Pao in 1967-9)
  14. The Deer and the Cauldron (鹿鼎記) (Ming Pao, 1969–1972)
  15. Sword of the Yue Maiden (越女劍) (Ming Pao evening supplement, 1970)

Of these, the novels (The Legend of the Condor Heroes, The Return of the Condor Heroes, and The Heavenly Sword and the Dragon Saber) make up the Condor Trilogy that should be read in that sequence; a number of his other works are also linked to this trilogy (Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils is a precursor to the Condor Trilogy). Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain and The Young Flying Fox are companion pieces with the same protagonist with appearances of characters from The Book and the Sword. A few major characters from Sword Stained with Royal Blood also appear in his final novel The Deer and the Cauldron as minor characters.

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Famous quotes containing the word novels:

    “The present era grabs everything that was ever written in order to transform it into films, TV programmes, or cartoons. What is essential in a novel is precisely what can only be expressed in a novel, and so every adaptation contains nothing but the non-essential. If a person is still crazy enough to write novels nowadays and wants to protect them, he has to write them in such a way that they cannot be adapted, in other words, in such a way that they cannot be retold.”
    —Milan Kundera (b. 1929)

    “An art whose limits depend on a moving image, mass audience, and industrial production is bound to differ from an art whose limits depend on language, a limited audience, and individual creation. In short, the filmed novel, in spite of certain resemblances, will inevitably become a different artistic entity from the novel on which it is based.”
    —George Bluestone, U.S. educator, critic. “The Limits of the Novel and the Limits of the Film,” Novels Into Film, Johns Hopkins Press (1957)

    “Primarily I am a passionately religious man, and my novels must be written from the depth of my religious experience.”
    —D.H. (David Herbert)