While still a pleasure to read, Eight Skilled Gentlemen hews disappointingly close to The Story of the Stone's formula. As with the last book, there's a barrage of digressions, false starts, betrayals, and red herrings. While individual scenes are invariably entertaining--one where Number Ten Ox and Master Li have to dispose of a corpse was stomach-churningly hilarious--I felt they didn't quite come together to form a single cohesive book.

That being said, Master Li and Number Ten Ox have earned a place in my heart as two of my favorite characters, and it seems a great loss that there won't be any more adventures starring them.