[Jin Yong's] work, in the Chinese-speaking world, has a cultural currency roughly equal to that of "Harry Potter" and "Star Wars" combined . . . With his combination of erudition, sentiment, propulsive plotting, and vivid prose, he is widely regarded as the genre's finest writer . . . Holmwood's translation offers the best opportunity yet for English-language readers to encounter one of the world's most beloved writers Nick Frisch New Yorker.
Jin Yong is one of the world's bestselling writers, with more than 300 million of his works sold (not including unknown numbers of bootleg copies). He is beloved across China for his wuxia ("martial arts and chivalry) novels, which have given rise to film, television, comic book and video game adaptations. He was awarded an O.B.E. in 1981, and is one of two authors on the MacLehose list who have asteroids named in their honour (the other being Georges Perec).