WARNING! INEVITABLE SPOILERS BELOW!

With the death of the Silver Emperor, under the flimsy stewardship of his weak-willed son, criminals set sail from their desert prison to the mainland under direction of a sword-spirit possessed exile known as The Black Sun.

Ryushu, a young teenaged fisherman’s son, suffers the consequences. In the blink of an evening, all he knows and loves is taken from him—everything but for one last desperate attempt at vengeance. But what chance does Ryu have against a band of hardened murderers? Thanks to a chance encounter with martial arts master Zashou, Ryushu’s path opens up.

Dawn of the Black Sun is the first entry in a classic student-mentor hero’s journey. What begins as a tale of revenge expands to a co-character growth arc as Ryu starts a new path in life and his master, Zash, learns to forgive himself for some mysterious tragedy of his past. This plot-type and these character arcs should feel very familiar to any fans of wuxia or general martial arts fantasy. The same can be said of the setting, which feels very much like a fantasy version of China as depicted in kung fu movies.

Kung fu flicks are a good comparison for Dawn of the Black Son. The inspiration is as bright as day. Action and fight scenes feature heavily in the novel, as do training sequences and eastern religion and mythology inspired spiritual experiences. It’s all here: the classic dao and jian swords, straw sun hats, traversing vast distances on foot including spirit-occupied woods, evenings of unarmed combat training paired with meditation, temples hidden away high on icy mountains—and wire work: ok, not really, though the fights to feel reminiscent of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon or maybe early episodes of Dragon Ball. If you’re a fan of those only slightly superhuman feats, you’ll find plenty in Dawn. If you’re not, well, they are realistic enough to be entertaining for those who enjoy more grounded violence.

And that is most of what there is to say about the book. The protagonists are likable, though you’ve seen them before. The same can be said for the villain. He’s a desperate man who takes a Faustian bargain for power. The setting is consistent, though the nature of the plot doesn’t focus on it too much. Not knowing the world history, the geographical landmarks, and slight cultural differences among the different peoples across this fantasy China won’t hurt the reader’s enjoyment of the story—which means it doesn’t contribute much either. There is some detail given explaining the mystical and philosophical elements, though the are few. Mostly, the stand in for qi called hyo is interchangeable with magic or mana or energy.

Dawn of the Black Sun is a straight-forward story. It is tragic at times, light-hearted at others, and it tries its best to be fast paced and exciting. The novel achieves everything it sets out to do: Ryushu begins his formal martial arts training, Zashou ceases his wandering and actually decides it is time to face his past, and the big bad guy is established. However, these goals are modest, and so Dawn’s attaining to them feels modest too. It is an easy, enjoyable read for a fan of martial arts fantasy fiction, martial arts based Shonen anime, or hokey kung fu movies. For everyone else, it might come across as a very middle of the road novel. Its decent, but because it took a very safe route, there isn’t anything which makes it stand out.

If you are a fan of Timo Burnham’s first book, the Black Saint, particularly of that novel’s action, character, and setting elements, you’re likely to like Dawn of the Black Son just as well. If you’re about to spend another weekend re-watching Drunken Master, Hero, House of Flying Daggers, or an anime like Dragon Ball or History’s Mightiest Disciple Kenichi, consider picking up Dawn of the Black Sun instead. You won’t be let down by the number of fights and obligatory training sequences (no training montages, though); and you were going to have to read subtitles anyway, so now you can get your kung fu fix and say you read a book while you were at it. Click the cover above to get a copy for yourself.