Sima Ling's top novels include, but are not limited to, JianHaiYingYang (Flying eagle in sea of swords) and YinMaHuangHe (Watering horse by Yellow River).
Sima Ling displayed creative, fast paced and intriguing writing style in these two novels.
However, he did not get popularity like other good writers such as Jin Yong, Gu Long, Liang Yusheng and Huang Yi, enjoyed.
Readers can find many similarities between Huang Yi's novels and Sima Ling's.
Ni Kuang, a popular Hong Kong Wuxia and Science-fiction writer, claimed that he learnt writing from Sima.