[Jin Yong's] work, in the Chinese-speaking world, has a cultural currency roughly equal to that of "Harry Potter" and "Star Wars" combined . . . With his combination of erudition, sentiment, propulsive plotting, and vivid prose, he is widely regarded as the genre's finest writer . . . Holmwood's translation offers the best opportunity yet for English-language readers to encounter one of the world's most beloved writers New Yorker.