Written as a sort of prequel to Disney’s Mulan (movie), Before the Sword takes Hua Mulan on a journey with the healer Jade Rabbit to save Mulan’s sister, Xiu, from dying from the bite of a poisonous spider. It turns out that the spider is more than a simple spider, and even Mulan herself might be something more than a clumsy, persistent, horse-loving, and unconventional village girl.

I’ve never watched the movie Mulan (can you believe it?), so I can’t say how well the book meshes with the characters and plot of the movie. However, Ms. Lin, a best-selling author of middle grade novels, easy readers, and picture books, with Disney’s permission and imprimatur. So, someone must have thought it paired well with the franchise.

The book read a lot like Ms. Lin’s previous non-Disney character middle grade novels—Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, When the Sea Turned to Silver, and Starry River of the Sky—which all have short legends and stories embedded in between chapters that tell an over-arching story. Before the Sword not only has short legends and folktales that illuminate and explain the main novel’s story, but it also switches point of view from time to time to tell the story from the perspective of the enslaved servant, the Red Fox, of the villain of the piece, who is Daji, the White Fox.

Fans of Ms. Lin’s previous novels of Chinese folklore and culture will enjoy this one, too. I actually liked it better than the others she has written because it seemed more approachable from my own cultural background. Maybe it’s more Westernized? Or maybe I’m just getting better at understanding how a story from a Chinese/Asian culture works? I’m not sure. At any rate, with the live-action movie version of Mulan already streaming on Disney+, this book should get some traction and should please a number of young readers.