Review: Wild Orchid - Cameron Dokey

Synopsis: Wielding a sword as deftly as an embroidery needle, Mulan is unlike any other girl in China. When the emperor summons a great army to fight the invading Huns, each family must send a male to fight. Tomboyish Mulan is determined to spare her aging and wounded father and bring family honor, so he disguises herself and answers the call. But Mulan never expects to find a friend, let alone a soul made, in the commander of her division. Prince Jian. For all of Mulan's courage with a bow, is she brave enough to share her true identity and feelings with Prince Jian?

Review: Wild Orchid is just as brilliant as the other Once Upon A Time books Cameron Dokey has written. Mulan is brave, resourceful, practical, and determined to learn, making for a very good heroine; I immediately felt for her.

I have very little to complain about with this story. It was masterfully written, the Author did a good job playing upon the original aspects of the ballad, the characters were all likable, and there was a proper amount of deaths. My only objection is a personal preference: in one version of The Ballad of Mulan I once read, Mulan's gender is not discovered until after the battle, when the army has gone to the capital to celebrate, and Mulan gives an allegory of when danger is at one's very doorstep, it is a woman's duty, as well as a man's, to protect their homeland. It displayed Mulan's genuine cleverness better than any accidental discovery by a doctor inspecting her wounds.

But that is, as I said, a personal preference, and overall, Wild Orchid is a very good version of one of my favorite stories.

Overall Rating: {{{{

Others in the Once Upon A Time Series:

The Storyteller's Daughter (Cameron Dokey)
Beauty Sleep (Cameron Dokey)
Snow (Tracy Lynn)
Midnight Pearls (Debbie Viguie)
Scarlet Moon (Debbie Viguie)
Sunlight and Shadow (Cameron Dokey)
Spirited (Nancy Holder)
The Night Dance (Suzanne Weyn)
Golden (Cameron Dokey)
Water Song (Suzanne Weyn)
Before Midnight (Cameron Dokey)
The Rose Bride (Nancy Holder)
The Crimson Thread (Suzanne Weyn)
Belle (Cameron Dokey)
Wild Orchid (Cameron Dokey)
The Diamond Secret (Suzanne Weyn)
Winter's Child (Cameron Dokey)
Violet Eyes (Debbie Viguie)
The World Above (Cameron Dokey)