Lin Chong is a respected Imperial arms instructor who believes in keeping her head down and doing her job -- until a powerful man with a vendetta rips that life away in minutes. Tattooed as a criminal and hunted by a relentless Imperial Marshall, she flees to the Bandits of Liangshan: mountain outlaws who claim to fight for women, the downtrodden, and anyone the corrupt Empire would silence or destroy. They are also murderers, thieves, and cutthroats. But sometimes the right people are on the wrong side of the law.

Lin Chong is a disciplined, internally complex protagonist whose arc from institutional loyalty to principled rebellion is the emotional spine of the story. Her competence as a fighter is never in question -- what shifts is her understanding of who and what that competence should serve. Supporting outlaws with their own rich histories make Liangshan feel like a genuine community.

Inspired by one of the four great Chinese classical novels and radically reframed around women and queerness, The Water Outlaws follows Lin Chong's transformation from rule-follower to revolutionary across the main novel and a prequel novelette. The story builds toward collective action against a system of misogyny, class exploitation, and imperial corruption, delivering wuxia-style martial arts action alongside pointed social commentary. It has won major award nominations and appeared on dozens of best-of-year lists.