While still a pleasure to read, Eight Skilled Gentlemen hews disappointingly close to The Story of the Stone's formula. As with the last book, there's a barrage of digressions, false starts, betrayals, and red herrings. While individual scenes are invariably entertaining—one where Number Ten Ox and Master Li have to dispose of a corpse was stomach-churningly hilarious—I felt they didn't quite come together to form a single cohesive book.
That being said, Master Li and Number Ten Ox have earned a place in my heart as two of my favorite characters, and it seems a great loss that there won't be any more adventures starring them.
It was great to read more about Master Li and Number Ten Ox's exploits, but I can't help feeling like it didn't quite live up to its predecessor.
While Bridge of Birds is more of a traditional fantasy adventure, The Story of the Stone ends up more like a murder mystery. While investigating an apparent forgery, the protagonists come upon the scene of a killing, along with hints that the killer may be the Laughing Prince, a long since deceased despot.
The premise is interesting, but the story that follows has even more meanderings, red herrings, and side treks that Bridge of Birds. The adventures described are always entertaining—the heroes' visit to a number of the Chinese hells stands out in particular—but with so much misdirection and dead ends I found myself losing the plot at times. It turns out there's a reason for all this, revealed (in true mystery novel fashion) as a climactic twist.
Master Li and Number Ten Ox continue to entertain, but Master Li's idiosyncrasies in particular seemed somewhat muted in this novel compared to the first one. Perhaps it was due to the spotlight time given to newly-introduced characters Moonboy and Grief-of-Dawn.
The Story of the Stone didn't wow me as much as Bridge of Birds, but then again very few books do. This is still an interesting novel and very much worth a read.