Outlaws of the Marsh, new edition Omnibus 2: Volumes 6-10: The Complete Omnibus

* Save 50% by grabbing volumes 6 to 10 in this exclusive omnibus edition!

Volume 6: When we first meet Song Jiang, he is a relatively colorless government bureaucrat. His most revered quality seems to be his ability to fulfill his obligations with a minimum of fuss. While it's clear that Song Jiang does not wish to upset the status quo with his behavior, in part because he personally doesn't seem to like fuss, he nevertheless puts his own interests before those of the law, and curries favor with those who become outlaws. But Song Jiang isn't a total renegade; despite his rebellious tendencies, he still adheres to traditional notions of authority; namely, he doesn't feel that a man should be threatened by a woman. This adherence to patriarchal norms is evident in the most shocking event of the story thus far: the brutal murder of PoXi.

Volume 7: In the characters of Wu Song, we now have a character of outsized physical proportions capable of Lu ZhiShen levels of violence who also adheres to a strict, Lin Chong-like moral code. Like the two characters before him, Wu Song is in exile, and while the reason for his exile is reckless violence, Wu Song is a man capable of love and loyalty who is eager to return home to the family he left behind. Along the way he will encounter two unforeseen adversaries: one is the murderous tiger, the other is the scheming sister-in-law who preys on Wu Song. The threat posed by Pan JinLian, however, cannot be met with the same kind of violence. She is the wife of Wu Song's brother, and Wu Song regards JinLian as family. As a result, he exercises incredible restraint, calmly urging his brother to keep a close eye on his wife.

Volume 8: Outlaws of the Marsh challenges the Western definition of the hero by presenting a series of characters that are capable of defending the meek, but just as likely to exact violent retribution against those who insult them even slightly. In the most extreme examples, the story of Outlaws presents characters that, by modern definitions, would be considered cold-blooded killers (like Jesse James), yet are regarded in the story as heroes of Robin Hood's caliber. There is no better, and no more challenging, example of how this story dilutes the line between hero and villain than the character of Wu Song.

Volume 9: What separates Wu Song from the likes of, say, Lu ZhiShen (the former military official who has lived in, and been expelled from, a new monasteries by now), is that Wu Song's vengeance takes on a primal dimension, far more brutal and unforgiving than other capable characters. Lu ZhiShen's vengeance is almost comical -- he has a tendency to make wisecracks while pummeling an adversary, and his wrath is often an outgrowth of his simple, black-and-white personality. Wu Song, by contrast, leaves no room for personality when taking vengeance. Indeed, when he's not in the throes of a murderous rage, Wu Song is a kind, even charming man. But those good qualities disappear when Wu Song is on the warpath; his violence and his tendency to get drunken in order to do something extreme suggest that things like vengeance are natural forces, carried out for reasons that reach beyond mere human interest.

Volume 10: Hua Rong's situation in QingZhou is desperate to begin with, but Song Jiang, even though he had the best of intentions, only made matters worse for his friend when he saved Liu Gao's wife from the clutches of a treacherous local bandit. Liu Gao, Hua Rong's fellow official and persistent adversary, is a treacherous man with an equally treacherous wife, so when she claims that Song Jiang wronged her, rather than saved her, Liu Gao seizes the opportunity to capture both Song Jiang and his friend Hua Rong. What's ironic is that Song Jiang only intervened on behalf of Liu Gao's wife because he thought he would be helping Hua Rong in the long run, and neither man could have guessed what a wrongheaded decison that was.

© 2026 JRM + (E-bog): 6610001318062

Oversættere: Jonathan Evans

Udgivelsesdato

E-bog: 10. august 2026