The Assassination Game (6-Volume Set)

圆太极Beijing Times Chinese Press2018

Rating 3.0
Chapters
6
Series
The Assassination Game
ISBN
9787569919745

Tags

Featured Fiction Mystery and SuspenseMartial Arts Fiction Assassin GuildHistorical MysteryWuxiaTraps and Hidden WeaponsStep-by-StepSuspense NovelSuspense NovelFive Dynasties

Summary

The Assassination Game is a long-running suspense series by Yuan Taiji, following his Lu Ban's Curse. The six-volume set was published by Beijing Times Chinese Press in 2018, ISBN 9787569919745. The story opens with a tomb robbery on Tianma Mountain in Changsha, Hunan, in 2013, which draws back the curtain on a long-buried historical secret: in the war-torn years of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, one of the three great assassin organizations of the jianghu, Lihen Valley, receives a "Vengeance Notice." To defend the valley's honor and fulfill the founder's dying wish, its members resolve to undertake another assassination game, completing the kill with an unprecedented grand scheme and an endless array of techniques. Historical figures including Chai Rong, Zhao Kuangyin, Li Jing, and Han Xizai appear in turn, and the political shifts and hidden machinations among the states of Great Zhou, Southern Tang, Chu, Nanping, Later Shu, and Wuyue are revealed one by one. Lihen Valley comprises six divisions—Force, Poison, Seduction, Intimidation, Mechanisms, and Strategy—each mastering martial skill, toxins, charm, illusion, devices, or tactics, from which the author builds a distinctly Eastern system of assassin craft. The six volumes are Improvised Game, Gambling Kill, Interception Kill, Game Beyond the Game, Qi Kill, and King Kill, each game following the last with schemes within schemes and escalating tension. The series won the "2018 Top Ten Most Anticipated Fantasy IPs" award at the first Fantasy Film and Television Expo and was adapted by director Daniel Lee into the film The Blue Mask and a web series of the same name.

Editor's review

想找一部“有手艺味”的悬疑小说，《刺局》是绕不开的选择。作者圆太极自称是痴迷机关暗器数十年的“技术宅男”，又屡获“国家技术能手”称号，这份底子让书中每一场刺杀都写得像一份可操作的施工方案：鱼刺如何借吞咽与肌肉运动慢慢逼近心脏，机关如何在特定角度、特定时机咬合，读来几乎能听见齿轮咬动的声音。离恨谷“六属”的设定更是本书的一大创见——功劲、行毒、色诱、吓诈、工器、玄计分工明确，把中国刺客文化拆解成一门成体系的“专业”，既有想象力，也暗合传统侠义精神的底色。故事从2013年的长沙盗墓案切入，一路倒推回五代十国，柴荣、赵匡胤、韩熙载等人物在权谋棋局中行走，历史的刀口与小说的虚构严丝合缝。全六册以“局”为章，即兴、赌杀、截杀、局外、气杀、刺王，六局连环，节奏由紧到绷。它不只是一套刺客故事，更是一次借刺杀视角重看五代乱世的尝试，适合愿意慢读细节、享受解谜快感的读者。

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Reading tips

  1. 按册序从《即兴局》读起，六册的“局”层层嵌套，跳读容易错过伏笔。
  2. 读时可随手记下人物所属的“六属”分工，理解每次刺杀的设计逻辑会轻松许多。
  3. 对五代十国不熟悉的话，先了解柴荣、赵匡胤的基本脉络，能读出更多趣味。
  4. 书中机关、毒术描写密集，遇到专业段落不必强记，跟着情节走即可。

About the publisher

Beijing Times Chinese Press China · Founded in 2011

Beijing Times Chinese Press takes classic works and prose miscellanies as an important publishing direction, along with foreign literature, social novels, Eastern philosophy and art books. Its catalogue includes such Chinese classics as Lu Xun's Call to Arms and Wandering, Xiao Hong's The Field of Life and Death, Zhang Dai's Reminiscences of Tao'an, Yuan Mei's Recipes from the Sui Garden and Hong Yingming's Caigentan, as well as foreign classics such as Ryunosuke Akutagawa's Rashomon. Among its translator resources is Wen Jieruo, whose translations provide reliable support for bringing foreign literary works into the Chinese-speaking world. While organizing traditional texts and reissuing classics, the press pays attention to readability and accessibility of editions, enabling ancient prose, notes and philosophical works to reach contemporary readers. Public information is limited; the above is only a brief account of the publishing directions reflected in the books held in the database.

Contents

  1. The Assassination Game 1: Improvised Game
  2. The Assassination Game 2: Gambling Kill
  3. The Assassination Game 3: Interception Kill
  4. The Assassination Game 4: Game Beyond the Game
  5. The Assassination Game 5: Qi Kill
  6. The Assassination Game 6: King Kill

FAQ

《刺局》全六册分别是哪几册？ 六册依次为《刺局1：即兴局》《刺局2：赌杀局》《刺局3：截杀局》《刺局4：局外局》《刺局5：气杀局》《刺局6：刺王局》，由北京时代华文书局于2018年出版。
这套书和电影《青面修罗》是什么关系？ 《青面修罗》即改编自圆太极的小说《刺局》，由李仁港执导，冯绍峰、胡军、金晨等主演。电影对原著做了较大改编，情节与人物设定并不完全一致，建议先读原著。
没读过《鲁班的诅咒》能直接读《刺局》吗？ 可以。《刺局》是独立故事，与《鲁班的诅咒》只是同一位作者、风格一脉相承，均偏爱机关暗器与悬疑解谜，不存在剧情衔接问题。
这套书是历史小说吗？ 不是严格意义上的历史小说。它以五代十国为背景，柴荣、赵匡胤等为真实历史人物，但主线刺杀组织与诸多情节属虚构，宜当作历史悬疑小说阅读。
全六册大概需要读多久？ 全套六册页数较多，按每天一到两章的节奏，通常需要两到三周读完；若只想先试水，可先读第一册《即兴局》判断是否合口味。

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About the author

圆太极 Author

Yuan Taiji is an author about whom limited public information is available. One work by this author is included in the collection: the wuxia novel Ci Ju 1: Ji Xing Ju (roughly, The Assassination Scheme 1: The Improvised Setup). Based on the available information, the author's writing focuses on wuxia fiction and unfolds through the “Ci Ju” series. The word “ju” in the title suggests that the story may revolve around setting traps, breaking schemes, and the maneuvering between characters, with a flavor of jianghu strategy and suspense. Because the author's nationality, dates of birth and death, English name, and other biographical details are not clearly recorded, a full assessment of the author's body of work and influence among readers is difficult. The existing materials confirm only that the common category is wuxia fiction and that one series work has entered this collection. For readers wishing to learn about Yuan Taiji, the most direct approach remains reading Ci Ju 1: Ji Xing Ju and experiencing its narrative pacing, character portrayal, and construction of a jianghu world.