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29-602: The novels in the trilogy are: An English translation into 12 books published by MacLehose Press began in February 2018. Volume 1 has been published, containing the first four books, and the remaining eight are pending translation and publication. The first novel, The Legend of the Condor Heroes , is set against a backdrop of a series of wars fought between the Han Chinese -dominated Southern Song dynasty and

58-633: A brilliant military leader after studying it. Xu leads the Ming Cult rebel forces to overthrow the Yuan Dynasty and becomes one of the founding pioneers of the Ming Dynasty . MacLehose Press Quercus is a formerly independent publishing house, based in London , that was acquired by Hodder & Stoughton in 2014. It was founded in 2004 by Mark Smith and Wayne Davies. Quercus

87-546: A latitude range of 31° 14'−32° 37' N, or 154 km (96 mi), and longitude range of 110° 45'−113° 43' E, or 220 km (137 mi), and is located on the middle reaches of the Hanshui , a major tributary of the Yangtze River . The urban area, however, has a latitude range of 31° 54'−32° 10' N, or 29 km (18 mi), and longitude range of 112° 00'−112° 14' E, or 21 km (13 mi). It borders Suizhou to

116-714: A number of chemical fibre enterprises in the city including Birla Jingwei Fibres , a member of the Aditya Birla Group . The city has also invested in many industrial, technology and clean energy parks. With a total planned area of 21.99 square km, Hubei Free Trade Zone at Xiangyang is one of the three Hubei Free Trade Pilot Zones, a national opening-up platform and a new height of leading opening-up, enjoying preferential policies of free trade zone and national high-tech zone and giving priority to high-end equipment manufacturing, new energy autos, big data, cloud computing, business logistics, inspection and testing. Xiangyang

145-474: A turning point in the history of Qing dynasty. In 1950, Xiangyang and Fancheng were merged to form Xiangfan City. In later 20th century, it became a major transport hub as Handan , Jiaoliu , and Xiangyu railways intersect in Fancheng. The city's current boundaries were established in 1983 when Xiangyang Prefecture was incorporated into Xiangfan City. The city was renamed to Xiangyang in 2010. Xiangyang has

174-846: Is a railway junction for the Xiangyang-Chongqing (Xiangyu) , Hankou-Danjiangkou (Handan) , and Jiaozuo-Liuzhou (Jiaoliu) Railways . Xiangyang East railway station opened in 2019 and is connected to multiple high-speed lines. Three National Highways including Route 207 pass through the city. The Han River and four other rivers are open to commercial transport year-round. The Xiangyang Liuji Airport has commercial airline services to major cities throughout China including Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. With Xiangyang-Ningbo Port International Sea-railway Combined Transportation, "Xiangyang-Wuhan-Europe" Central Europe Freight Trains, three-dimensional international logistics channels have been established. Economic ties with countries and areas along

203-565: Is known for its lists in crime (publishing such authors as Elly Griffiths , Philip Kerr , Peter May , Peter Temple ), its MacLehose Press imprint (formerly headed by Christopher MacLehose ), which publishes translated (often prize-winning) works by authors such as Philippe Claudel , Stieg Larsson , and Valerio Varesi , its literary fiction titles (including by Kimberley Freeman , Prajwal Parajuly ) and its Jo Fletcher Books imprint, which publishes science fiction , fantasy and horror . Smith and Davies had previously worked together at

232-632: Is located south of the Han River and contains one of the oldest still-intact city walls in China, while Fancheng is located to the north of the Han River. Both cities served prominent historical roles in both ancient and pre-modern Chinese history. Today, the city has been a target of government and private investment as the country seeks to urbanize and develop the interior provinces. Its built-up area made up of 3 urban districts had 2,319,640 inhabitants at

261-712: Is set in the late Yuan dynasty (founded by the Mongols). Towards the end of the novel, the Yuan dynasty is overthrown by rebel forces and the Ming dynasty is established. The Book of Wumu is a fictional military treatise written by the Song general Yue Fei . The book is highly sought after by the Jurchens of the Jin dynasty. Guo Jing uses the knowledge he acquired from the book to defend

290-491: Is the mainstay industry of Xiangyang followed by machinery manufacture, chemical processing, electronics, and manufacture of construction materials. Agricultural resources are significant with Xiangyang's chief farm products including grain, cotton, vegetable oil crops, tobacco, tea and fruit. As the home of Dongfeng Motors , Xiangyang is a well known automobile hub and partners with foreign manufacturers to produce Nissan and Infiniti models for domestic sales. In addition, there are

319-405: Is the second-largest prefecture-level city by population in northwestern Hubei province, China. It was known as Xiangfan from 1950 to 2010. The Han River runs through Xiangyang's centre and divides the city north–south. The city itself is an agglomeration of two once separate cities: Fancheng and Xiangyang (or Xiangcheng ), and was known as Xiangfan before 2010. What remains of old Xiangyang

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348-588: The Book of Wumu in the blade of the Dragon Slaying Saber. The latest edition of The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber states that the manual was hidden on Peach Blossom Island , together with the Nine Yin Manual and the ' Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms ' manual. The Saber carries a piece of an iron-plated map of the books' location, while another half of the map is in the saber's counterpart,

377-625: The Jurchen -led Jin dynasty . Concurrently, Mongol tribes led by Temüjin (Genghis Khan) emerge as a rising power in the north. The second novel, The Return of the Condor Heroes , is set in the period when the Mongols attack the Southern Song dynasty after having conquered the Jin dynasty. The historical Battle of Xiangyang is also featured as one of the key events in the novel. The third and last novel, The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber ,

406-865: The Orion Publishing Group . In 2011, Quercus was chosen as the Bonnier Publishing Publisher of the Year at the Bookseller Industry Awards in London. American imprint SilverOak was co-owned with Sterling Publishing . In March 2016, Quercus launched fiction and non-fiction imprint riverrun . This article about a publishing company in the United Kingdom is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Xiangyang Xiangyang

435-475: The 2020 census while the whole municipality contained approximately 5,260,951 people. Xiangyang is located at a strategic site on the middle reaches of the Han River , and has witnessed several significant battles in Chinese history. Xiangyang County was first established at the location of modern Xiangcheng in the early Western Han dynasty and the name had been used continuously for more than 2,000 years until

464-606: The 20th century. In the final years of the Eastern Han dynasty, Xiangyang became the capital of Jing Province (ancient Jingzhou). The warlord Liu Biao governed his territory from here. Under Liu's rule, Xiangyang became a major destination of the northern elite fleeing warfare in the Central Plain . In the Battle of Xiangyang in 191 AD, Sun Jian , a rival warlord and the father of Sun Quan , founder of Eastern Wu ,

493-545: The Chinese mainland. He loses it to Zhou Zhiruo later. Zhou breaks the weapon by clashing it against the Heaven Reliant Sword, and the items hidden in the blades are revealed. The Book of Wumu comes into Zhang Wuji 's possession and Zhang uses one of the strategies detailed in the book to defeat the Ruyang Prince's forces at the siege of Mount Song . He passes the book to Xu Da later and Xu becomes

522-661: The Heaven Reliant Sword. The Saber is passed on to Guo Jing's son Guo Polu, but is later lost in the wulin by the time of the Yuan dynasty . The Sword comes into the possession of Guo's younger daughter Guo Xiang, who founds the Emei School later. Nearly a century after the Battle of Xiangyang , the Dragon Slaying Saber is taken by Xie Xun after it is found by the Heavenly Eagle Cult . Xie keeps it with him for several years as he lives on an isolated island away from

551-412: The Song dynasty. Before his death, he hid the book in the blade of the Dragon Slaying Saber. Nearly a century after the Battle of Xiangyang , the book comes into Zhang Wuji 's possession. Zhang uses one of the strategies in the book to defeat Yuan forces at the siege of Mount Song . He passes the book to Xu Da , who studies it and becomes a brilliant military leader. Xu Da leads rebel forces to overthrow

580-533: The Yuan dynasty and becomes one of the founding pioneers of the Ming dynasty. Prior to his execution, Song general Yue Fei detailed his military tactics and experience against the Jin forces in writing during captivity, titled Vital Information Against the Jins ( 破金要訣 ), in hopes that future generations will continue his mission to restore China with his text. After his death, the book is later renamed Book of Wumu and

609-697: The book to lead the Mongol army to victory in the war against the Khwarezm Empire . However, as Guo is unwilling to side with the Mongols to conquer his native land in the Song Empire, he leaves Mongolia for good and returns to Song. In the sequel, the adult Guo Jing dedicates his life to defending the Song Empire from foreign invasion. By then, the Jin Empire had been conquered by the Mongols, who proceed to attack Song and Dali thereafter. Guo uses

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638-465: The book, but is severely wounded when Yang Kang betrays and stabs him. Guo survives with the help of Huang Rong and recovers from his injuries seven days later. Guo and Huang discover a map to the book's location in Qu Lingfeng's rundown inn and realise that the book is actually on Iron Palm Peak. They travel there and succeed in retrieving the book. Guo later uses the knowledge he acquired from

667-931: The east, Jingmen and Yichang to the south, Shennongjia and Shiyan to the west, and Nanyang ( Henan ) to the north. Its administrative border has a total length of 1,332.8 km (828.2 mi). Xiangyang has a monsoon -influenced, four season humid subtropical climate ( Köppen Cfa ), with cold, damp (but comparatively dry), winters, and hot, humid summers. The prefecture-level city of Xiangyang administers 9 county-level divisions , including 3 districts , 3 county-level cities and 3 counties . These are further divided into 159 township-level divisions , including 106 towns , 29 townships and 24 subdistricts . Xiangyang possesses large water energy resources whilst its mineral deposits include rutile , ilmenite , phosphorus , barite , coal, iron, aluminum, gold, manganese , nitre , and rock salt. The reserves of rutile and ilmenite rank highly in China. Textile production

696-666: The greatest obstacles against the expansion of Mongol Empire . They were able to resist for six years before finally surrendering in the Siege of Xiangyang . In 1796, Xiangyang was one of the centers of the White Lotus Rebellion against the Qing dynasty . Here, rebel leader Wang Cong'er successfully organized a rebel army of 50,000 and joined the main rebel forces in Sichuan . The revolt lasted for nearly 10 years and marked

725-526: The military strategies described in the book to defeat the Mongols in the north and conquer the Song Empire. Wanyan Honglie, the sixth prince of Jin, travels to Song in disguise to find the book. He enlists the help of Ouyang Feng , Ouyang Ke, Peng Lianhu, Sha Tongtian and other martial artists. They break into the palace and enter the cave, where they find a box, which supposedly contains the book. Guo Jing fights with Ouyang Feng to prevent him from stealing

754-435: The tactics from the Book of Wumu, his understanding of Mongol warfare, Xiangyang 's natural barriers (the Han River waterways and the surrounding mountains), and his allies from the wulin (martial artists' community) to counter the invaders for 46 years. However, after the loss of a nearby fortified city Fancheng , Guo Jing eventually dies a martyr when Xiangyang finally falls to the Mongols . Before Guo's death, he hid

783-508: Was allowed, and the pressure on the Jin army was greatly relieved. Eventually, Xiangyang accumulated sufficient supplies for 10 years, which played a key role in Jin's conquest of Wu . In Southern Song dynasty, after the Treaty of Shaoxing , Xiangyang became a garrison city on the northern frontier of Song. During Mongol conquest of the Song dynasty , Xiangyang together with Fancheng formed one of

812-571: Was defeated and killed. The area passed to Liu Bei after Liu Biao's death. Two decades later, Battle of Fancheng , one of the most important battles in late Han- Three Kingdoms period, was fought here, resulting in Liu Bei 's loss of Jingzhou. During the early years of Jin dynasty , Xiangyang was on the frontier between Jin and Eastern Wu. Yang Hu , the commander in Xiangyang, was remembered for his policy of "border peace". Cross-border commerce

841-666: Was hidden in a cave covered by a waterfall, 15 steps east of Cuihan Hall in the imperial palace in Lin'an (present-day Hangzhou ). The book was later stolen by Shangguan Jiannan, the chief of the Iron Palm Gang, and brought back to Iron Palm Peak and hidden in the gang's forbidden grounds. The book is highly sought after by the Jurchens of the Jin Empire , enemies of the Han Chinese -ruled Song Empire . The Jurchens hope to use

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