{"id":2681,"date":"2003-01-31T12:42:06","date_gmt":"2003-01-31T16:42:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bookdragon.si.edu\/?p=2681"},"modified":"2015-08-17T10:37:34","modified_gmt":"2015-08-17T14:37:34","slug":"wandering-warrior-by-da-chen-author-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/wandering-warrior-by-da-chen-author-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Wandering Warrior by Da Chen + Author Interview [in AsianWeek]"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2003\/01\/Wandering-Warrior.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-32194\" src=\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2003\/01\/Wandering-Warrior.jpg\" alt=\"Wandering Warrior\" width=\"338\" height=\"500\" \/><\/a><strong>Chasing the Wandering Warrior<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>With unabashed pride, I readily admit that I\u2019m a Da Chen groupie. I\u2019ve been one since reading and writing about his two luminous bestselling memoirs, <em>Colors of the Mountain<\/em> (HarperCollins, 2000), which chronicles his difficult childhood in China during the end of the Cultural Revolution, and <em><a href=\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/2002\/02\/01\/sounds-of-the-river-a-memoir-by-da-chen-author-interview\/\">Sounds of the River<\/a><\/em> (HarperCollins, 2002), the sequel that follows Chen\u2019s life through university and imminent departure for America.<\/p>\n<p>Like any good groupie, I hunted him down and invited him to lunch with my book club when he was on his last signing tour. Imagine our surprise when he actually accepted, and then proceeded to show up with calligraphy brush, ink stick, and ink stone in hand to personalize each of our copies of his books. Well, that certainly made me a devotee for life. And so I waited oh so patiently for whatever his pen might scroll out next \u2026.<\/p>\n<p>And patience being such the virtue, this month I\u2019m richly rewarded with Chen\u2019s latest title, <em>Wandering Warrior<\/em>, his first foray into fiction. The debut of a planned series of many, <em>Warrior <\/em>is a tale for young adults about the adventures of 11-year-old Luka, whose five black moles on each foot ensure that he will be the future emperor of China. The current emperor, who also happens to be Luka\u2019s most evil father, will do anything to stop him. But prophecy is prophecy, and Luka has not only goodness on his side, but some glorious sidekicks \u2013\u00a0not to mention some of the best martial arts secrets \u2013\u00a0to keep him eventually safe and sound.<\/p>\n<p>Pegged as the \u201cChinese Harry Potter,\u201d <em>Warrior <\/em>is pure fun. Warner Brothers has already optioned it, set aside a budget similar to that of the mega-hit <em>Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon<\/em> and is talking to the likes of Ang Lee, Jackie Chan, and Zhang Yimou about directing. Chow Yun Fat even expressed interest in playing Luka\u2019s wise\u00a0caretaker, Atami. \u201cMy little taste of Hollywood,\u201d Chen laughs. &#8230;[<a href=\"http:\/\/bookdragonreviews.files.wordpress.com\/2009\/05\/2003-01-31-da-chen-wandering-warrior.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">click here for more<\/a>]\n<p><strong>Author interview<\/strong>: <a href=\"http:\/\/bookdragonreviews.files.wordpress.com\/2009\/05\/2003-01-31-da-chen-wandering-warrior.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">&#8220;Chasing the Wandering Warrior: Da Chen Makes His Fiction Debut,&#8221; <em>AsianWeek<\/em>, January 31, 2003<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Readers<\/strong>: Middle Grade, Young Adult<\/p>\n<p><strong>Published<\/strong>: 2003<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-2682\" title=\"Wandering Warrior\" src=\"http:\/\/bookdragonreviews.wordpress.com\/files\/2009\/05\/wandering-warrior.jpg\" alt=\"Wandering Warrior\" width=\"128\" height=\"191\" \/><strong>Chasing the Wandering Warrior<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>With unabashed pride, I readily admit that I\u2019m a Da Chen groupie. I\u2019ve been one since reading and writing about his two luminous bestselling memoirs, <em>Colors of the Mountain<\/em> (HarperCollins, 2000), which chronicles his difficult childhood in China during the end of the Cultural Revolution, and <em><a href=\"http:\/\/bookdragon.si.edu\/2002\/02\/01\/sounds-of-the-river-a-memoir-by-da-chen-author-interview\/\" target=\"_blank\">Sounds of the River<\/a><\/em> (HarperCollins, 2002), the sequel that follows Chen\u2019s life through university and imminent departure for America.<\/p>\n<p>Like any good groupie, I hunted him down and invited him to lunch with my book club when he was on his last signing tour. Imagine our surprise when he actually accepted, and then proceeded to show up with calligraphy brush, ink stick, and ink stone in hand to personalize each of our copies of his books. Well, that certainly made me a devotee for life. And so I waited oh so patiently for whatever his pen might scroll out next \u2026.<\/p>\n<p>And patience being such the virtue, this month I\u2019m richly rewarded with Chen\u2019s latest title, <em>Wandering Warrior<\/em>, his first foray into fiction. The debut of a planned series of many, <em>Warrior <\/em>is a tale for young adults about the adventures of 11-year-old Luka, whose five black moles on each foot ensure that he will be the future emperor of China. The current emperor, who also happens to be Luka\u2019s most evil father, will do anything to stop him. But prophecy is prophecy, and Luka has not only goodness on his side, but some glorious sidekicks \u2013 not to mention some of the best martial arts secrets \u2013 to keep him eventually safe and sound.<\/p>\n<p>Pegged as the \u201cChinese Harry Potter,\u201d <em>Warrior <\/em>is pure fun. Warner Brothers has already optioned it, set aside a budget similar to that of the mega-hit <em>Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon<\/em> and is talking to the likes of Ang Lee, Jackie Chan, and Zhang Yimou about directing. Chow Yun Fat even expressed interest in playing Luka\u2019s wise caretaker, Atami. \u201cMy little taste of Hollywood,\u201d Chen laughs. &#8230;[<a href=\"http:\/\/bookdragonreviews.wordpress.com\/files\/2009\/05\/2003-01-31-da-chen-wandering-warrior.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">click here for more<\/a>]<\/p>\n<p><strong>Author interview<\/strong>: <a href=\"http:\/\/bookdragonreviews.wordpress.com\/files\/2009\/05\/2003-01-31-da-chen-wandering-warrior.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;Chasing the Wandering Warrior: Da Chen Makes His Fiction Debut,&#8221; <em>AsianWeek<\/em>, January 31, 2003<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Readers<\/strong>: Middle Grade, Young Adult<\/p>\n<p><strong>Published<\/strong>: 2003<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32194,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,67,21,6,30,6535,31],"tags":[32,3598,84,6608,4092,189,39,41,4133],"class_list":["post-2681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-author-interview-profile","category-chinese","category-chinese-american","category-fiction","category-middle-grade-readers","category-repost","category-young-adult-readers","tag-adventure","tag-asianweek","tag-betrayal","tag-bookdragon","tag-da-chen","tag-father-son-relationship","tag-parent-child-relationship","tag-royalty","tag-wandering-warrior"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.14 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Wandering Warrior by Da Chen + Author Interview [in AsianWeek] - BookDragon<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/wandering-warrior-by-da-chen-author-interview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wandering Warrior by Da Chen + Author Interview [in AsianWeek] - BookDragon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Chasing the Wandering Warrior  With unabashed pride, I readily admit that I\u2019m a Da Chen groupie. I\u2019ve been one since reading and writing about his two luminous bestselling memoirs, Colors of the Mountain (HarperCollins, 2000), which chronicles his difficult childhood in China during the end of the Cultural Revolution, and Sounds of the River (HarperCollins, 2002), the sequel that follows Chen\u2019s life through university and imminent departure for America.  Like any good groupie, I hunted him down and invited him to lunch with my book club when he was on his last signing tour. Imagine our surprise when he actually accepted, and then proceeded to show up with calligraphy brush, ink stick, and ink stone in hand to personalize each of our copies of his books. Well, that certainly made me a devotee for life. And so I waited oh so patiently for whatever his pen might scroll out next \u2026.  And patience being such the virtue, this month I\u2019m richly rewarded with Chen\u2019s latest title, Wandering Warrior, his first foray into fiction. The debut of a planned series of many, Warrior is a tale for young adults about the adventures of 11-year-old Luka, whose five black moles on each foot ensure that he will be the future emperor of China. The current emperor, who also happens to be Luka\u2019s most evil father, will do anything to stop him. But prophecy is prophecy, and Luka has not only goodness on his side, but some glorious sidekicks \u2013 not to mention some of the best martial arts secrets \u2013 to keep him eventually safe and sound.  Pegged as the \u201cChinese Harry Potter,\u201d Warrior is pure fun. Warner Brothers has already optioned it, set aside a budget similar to that of the mega-hit Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and is talking to the likes of Ang Lee, Jackie Chan, and Zhang Yimou about directing. Chow Yun Fat even expressed interest in playing Luka\u2019s wise caretaker, Atami. \u201cMy little taste of Hollywood,\u201d Chen laughs. ...[click here for more]  Author interview: &quot;Chasing the Wandering Warrior: Da Chen Makes His Fiction Debut,&quot; AsianWeek, January 31, 2003  Readers: Middle Grade, Young Adult  Published: 2003\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/wandering-warrior-by-da-chen-author-interview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"BookDragon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2003-01-31T16:42:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-08-17T14:37:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2003\/01\/Wandering-Warrior.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"338\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@SmithsonianAPA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Wandering Warrior by Da Chen + Author Interview [in AsianWeek] - BookDragon","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/wandering-warrior-by-da-chen-author-interview\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Wandering Warrior by Da Chen + Author Interview [in AsianWeek] - BookDragon","og_description":"Chasing the Wandering Warrior  With unabashed pride, I readily admit that I\u2019m a Da Chen groupie. I\u2019ve been one since reading and writing about his two luminous bestselling memoirs, Colors of the Mountain (HarperCollins, 2000), which chronicles his difficult childhood in China during the end of the Cultural Revolution, and Sounds of the River (HarperCollins, 2002), the sequel that follows Chen\u2019s life through university and imminent departure for America.  Like any good groupie, I hunted him down and invited him to lunch with my book club when he was on his last signing tour. Imagine our surprise when he actually accepted, and then proceeded to show up with calligraphy brush, ink stick, and ink stone in hand to personalize each of our copies of his books. Well, that certainly made me a devotee for life. And so I waited oh so patiently for whatever his pen might scroll out next \u2026.  And patience being such the virtue, this month I\u2019m richly rewarded with Chen\u2019s latest title, Wandering Warrior, his first foray into fiction. The debut of a planned series of many, Warrior is a tale for young adults about the adventures of 11-year-old Luka, whose five black moles on each foot ensure that he will be the future emperor of China. The current emperor, who also happens to be Luka\u2019s most evil father, will do anything to stop him. But prophecy is prophecy, and Luka has not only goodness on his side, but some glorious sidekicks \u2013 not to mention some of the best martial arts secrets \u2013 to keep him eventually safe and sound.  Pegged as the \u201cChinese Harry Potter,\u201d Warrior is pure fun. Warner Brothers has already optioned it, set aside a budget similar to that of the mega-hit Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and is talking to the likes of Ang Lee, Jackie Chan, and Zhang Yimou about directing. 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