Three Kingdoms 01: Heros and Chaos (Legends from China: Three Kingdoms)

I was looking for a graphic novel which told the story of the Chinese classic, the 3 Kingdoms so my eleven year old can be exposed to Chinese classics. I do like the drawings and I like it that they have short paragraphs and maps to go in depth about the politics and the battles. Not for everyone but my kid loves history and battles... probably better for 12, 13 year olds because it's a mature topic...

Much more content than I initially thought. These are lengthy comics for adults. Bought this for my 8 year old who has taken an interest in the Three Kingdoms period; he loves comics. He will like these.I really wish the other versions were in stock. I’m not paying $600+ for missing novels. An option to purchase an entire set might be worth $200ish.

I bought the 20 volume Monkey King series for my son and then I saw this. My son is in third grade and he was able to read the Monkey King series on his own. This series is more difficult for him to understand on his own so I read it first, go over the plot and the characters with him, and then he reads it on his own. It's a complicated plot involving 18 different factions engaged in political intrigue and military strategy, so my son has lots of questions and we work it out together. He thinks he is reading a comic book but he's actually learning something about Chinese literature and history. Not a bad way to spend quality time together.

I don't know how good an adaptation from the original story this is, but the art is beautiful, and the chapters (episodes) are short, with explanatory text and maps. This is the first volume of 20, and I look forward to reading the rest.

It's the perfect combination between a textbook and a comic, as a father, seeing my son reading this book and not off playing games is a huge surprise for me considering his attention span. Anyway, it's a great book and very educational, I highly recommend it.😁

The names in the books are all wrong! Everyone knows Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei. The author westernizes their names; given name, surname. The main characters are now called " Bei Lui, Yu Guan, and Dei Zhang." It is such a shame! The graphics are nice though.

Great Read!

Reason for Reading: I love Chinese history. Though I usually am interested in 20th century history, I have read Chinese mythology and thought this dive into ancient history sounded interesting.First I'll start off with some caveats, the publisher's recommended reading age has not been given at this time but I'll vouch that it will be younger than my recommended age of 16+. {ETA: I've now found they recommend ages 10-18) There is nothing content wise to make this unsuitable for younger ages except possibly the violence which is rampant yet fairly tame showing only sprinkles of blood and the occasional bloodless but decapitated head. It is for older YAs and adults in my opinion because it is not an easy read. The book is full of historical information and the story is complicated with a *huge* cast of characters. Either an interest in the topic or simply an interest in ancient warfare will be needed for enjoyment.I enjoyed the book very much and have volume 2 lined up to read next. Each chapter starts with a text page giving an historical account of what is about to happen next, including a map with areas of main action marked off. This section is vital to keeping the intricate story in order. Then the chapter turns to a graphic depiction of the story briefly discussed on the historical page. This is done well. I really enjoyed the art which is distinctive from the usual fare because of its Chinese origin and the story, while taking time to settle into becomes quite gripping and as mentioned intricate. There are many characters and different story lines running through out; though all concentrate in one form or another on the three men who have taken a blood oath to protect their nation. These characters are given the most personality and one becomes the most familiar with them. While the scope of this series will cover the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history, this book starts of with the period just prior to it called the post-Han era.What I also appreciated about the book was the occasional snippet of historical information such as a listing of all Chinese Empires from the earliest BC era to the current People's Republic. An exciting story on a grand epic scale full of battles, jealousies, treacheries and loyalties. This book only scrapes the top of the iceberg and I look forward to the next volume.