Listening to the Rain is the first book in an epic Wuxia fiction trilogy by Albert Dalia. The author, Albert Dalia, holds a PHD in Medieval Chinese History and it shows in the political, religious, and ethnic details in his offering. Although it is fiction LTR is wrought with accurate historical figures, events, and facts. I Googled some of them, I swear. Don't let that dissuade you, he captures the essence of Wuxia, there are supernatural beings from the Yin realm, powerful shamans, and magical weapons.

I found the overall story line to be highly enjoyable it centers around the orphan Shaolin Buddhist Monk Tanzong and his companion, Li Wei, a rope dart wielding Confucian scholar from the Imperial court. I won't give away much of the plot but it does have some nicely placed twists and turns. You won't be bored. My only complaints are minor, Dalia has a few too many orphaned characters, uses poisons quite frequently, and he could certainly expand on some of his martial arts details. The Characters are rich and well developed and I highly recommend this book to those of you so inclined.

I usually love sword and sorcery fantasy, both of European and Japanese origin but this is the first Wuxia style book I found that appealed to me. 8 Bawangs out of 10.

http://www.amazon.com/Listening-Rain...I32QWS75QUHK2E

If anyone else has other recommendations let me know.