Difficulty of 英雄无泪？

[黄有光]

I am currently reading my first native Chinese novel, 《猫城记》。It's been great so far -- a very, very interesting novel, and definitely one I would highly recommend to others. I am wondering if I should pick up 古龙's 《英雄无泪》next. I can see on my spreadsheet that it has only ~1500 unknown words, which of the wuxia novels I am keeping track of is by far the least. However, I know from previous novels I have read that the style of diction a book uses is just as important as which words are employed by the author, and I have heard that wuxia novels in general tend to be pretty advanced in diction. I am wondering if I am experienced enough with Chinese novels to tackle《英雄无泪》, or if I would be better served by reading some other novels first and then coming back to it at a later time. For reference, I have so far read (in order):

1. The Witches, by Roald Dahl
2. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl
3. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis
4. Prince Caspian, by C.S. Lewis
5. The Magician's Nephew, by C.S. Lewis
6. Voyage of the Dawn Treader, by C.S. Lewis
7. The Giver, by Lois Lowry
8. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
9. Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins
10. Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins
11. 猫城记，by 老舍 (in progress)

 

I expect to have a vocabulary in the range of ~20.100 words by the time I finish with《猫城记》。So with all of that in mind, do you recommend I make《英雄无泪》my next book, or do you recommend I leave it until I have a bit more reading under my belt?

 

Also, if anyone has any recommendations for reading at around the same level as 猫城记, I'm all ears. I especially like political intrigue, social commentary/satire (like 猫城记, The Handmaid's Tale, etc), wuxia, science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction. I do not like tragedies or anything by 余华.

[wibr]

I've found 古龍 relatively easy to read, his style is more conversational than literary. Maybe there is a preview available somewhere? I've used Apple books in the past to look at the first chapter of some of his books (in traditional characters).