A woman has to face her destiny before she is prepared. There are immortals who interfere one last time, but they do not help the last Mulan? So how is she supposed to save the world, and how does a blonde, American tourist get caught up in this disaster? Robert Alter’s creation and Marc Andreyko’s writing in “Mulan Revelations†forces the reader to face some thought-provoking questions, mostly about having to deal with situations way out of your control. You’re being attacked and before you know it you’re glowing. Your uncle is telling you to go with it. Go with it – fine then you use that force to protect yourself and casualties ensue.
Even without full knowledge or control of her abilities Hua Mulan is no joke. Andreyko takes Chinese folklore, seen from operas, literature (Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior) to film (there’s the popular Disney version in recent years) and reinvigorates this mythos for a modern audience. It seems that in this version the mantle of Mulan is inherited. As a fierce warrior her spirit, in a sense is reincarnated and is brought about by the most desperate of circumstances. In other words the “essence†is called to defend her people, regardless of what happens to the host. If you listen to the immortals bickering and refusing to help what has been invoked for the final time, you realize that the one who is chosen to be this generation’s Mulan will burn out quickly.
But there’s more than the retelling of an old legend taking place here. Demon-looking beings want Mulan for their own nefarious purposes. The immortals seem impotent. And what exactly is this great threat that brought this female Asian-warrior to the forefront? One thing is for certain Andreyko will not give you what you expect, but you’ll be compelled to continue reading anyway. Which in this case is a good thing.
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