Bridge of Birds

This year I have read many books so far, discovering some truly excellent ones. Seriously, it seems like a pretty good year for reading to me. Bridge of Birds was one of my absolute favourites, though, so grab a drink and prepare for the gushing that is about to happen here. It's not going to be graceful and it's probably not too valuable to anyone who reads it.
I don't really mind.

Number Ten Ox is a nice person living in ancient China, a young man who is not particularly brilliant, but is a generally good one. An orphan, but not really a damaged, poor sod. In his village a mysterious illness makes every child between the age of 8 and 13 to end up in a come, heading straight to death and of course someone like Number Ten Ox can't just let that happen, so he goes to find a wise man to help him cure the children.
He ends up with Master Li, who is wise for sure and really cunning, but a bit of a senior troublemaker. The two of them have to go through everything to save the children and uncover many mysteries and help strangers, some of them dead for centuries already.

The whole thing reads like the most charming, witty, entertaining folk story for real, it doesn't just sound like that. It has life, it truly shines as a hearty tale of hilarious heroes and some sort of a positive, wise outlook on life. It just made me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside, okay? Don't judge me, but this thing was what I needed. You know, sweater weather and all that.
But really, Mr. Hughart managed to create something that feels alive, like a story you could imagine people telling each other, maybe piece by piece, then forming one coherent story, like the mysteries the characters solve, that also formed one big thing that wraps up nicely.

Now the setting is ancient China, which, again, was solved with triumphs of storytelling. You DO feel like the prose takes you to a whole different era and place and it absolutely (thankfully) lacks any form of signifier of being created in the 80's. No, you won't think of that time, you will feel like you are actually getting something much older.
At the same time the “Chinese feel” doesn't distance it from you. At least I never felt like I couldn't follow because of the cultural differences. It just felt... right. Like it was some sort of a universally enjoyable story with values for everyone, really. Timeless, I say.

The character all started out as these typical, slightly over the top fairy tale people, as it is customary in stories like this. But then the author did these things when somehow they managed to rise above that. Some moments were generally touching, not gonna lie, I even cried once or twice.
For a book that was so incredibly hilarious, it had really deep moment of true emotion and beautiful scenes.

It's really hard to write anything else. You have to experience this book. I'm kind of baffled by it not being all that known; this is the kind of treat that deserves to be out there, accessible for everyone and receiving more love. I guess another book I will try to make people read?

Now go and track down your copy (it will be an adventure of its own, Chinese wise man not included)!

This book is the reason I joined Sword and Laser. My copy is a dingy paperback that I'd never heard of before and probably have walked past a million times in used book shops without a thought. Inside, it's almost exactly the type of fairy tale I thrive on.

I was nervous at first because a guy named “Barry Hughart” was writing an homage to Chinese mythology, and I'm still curious as to what someone with the cultural background would think of it. My own knowledge of Chinese myths is limited to a few Journey to the West adaptations and some questionable Taiwanese dramas. Still, I think Hughart really captured the storytelling flavor of an ancient myth, from any culture. It's witty and clever at some points, then bawdy and gratuitous the next. The balance kept me engaged without the book itself becoming pretentious in any way.

I felt a lot of the style was also very reminiscent of a reversed Don Quixote, with a clueless Sancho Panza and a clever knight. Li Kao's slightly flawed character is a little bit wise sage and a lot of folk trickster. The dialogue had me laughing out loud regularly, particularly anything involving Ma Grub and Pawnbroker Fang. Number 10 Ox is a little harder to grasp, but then again he's the readers avatar into the world and just as confused as we're supposed to be at times.

I loved the twists and turns that slowly wrap the main characters into a larger, more epic tale, and the way that plot turns in on itself time and again. Miser Shen is probably my favorite character, and also the only one responsible for me getting weepy eyed.

The only problem I have with the book is one I have consistently with fantasy fiction, and since this book was written in the eighties and set in “A China that Never Was,” it can't really lean on the “period piece” crutch I give to a lot of authors. The book represents women pretty awfully. Every female character in the story is either an awful, greedy succubus or a sexy bimbo. I might give Bright Star the exception here, but being half-naked most of her time on stage and valued only as a concubine, I really can't. I did enjoy Lotus Cloud and the way men reacted to her. I felt her role in the story was appropriate to her character, but still I don't think it would be too hard to portray a single woman as an intelligent being.

I think it only grated on me because the horrible women are so horrible and there is no redemption for any of them the way there is for most of the horrible men. Murdering them is seen as the appropriate solution. I don't mind the ridiculously gory violence, which is par for the course in the little Chinese mythology I know, but there is just no balance in the story on gender lines. I feel like I bring this up in every review I make and I'm sounding like a pretentious women's studies major, but I just feel the criticism is valid here.

It's a shame that it puts such a damper on what would otherwise be a five-star book for me. The pacing, the humor, the depth of emotions explored all make it a wonderful read, and I will certainly continue on in the series once I can find the other two books. I would certainly recommend it to anyone with a love of mythology and a good sense of humor.

My full review can be found at SFF Book Review.

I had a lot of trouble finding into this book. My suspicion is that it is much more accessible for people with any knowledge of ancient Chinese mythology. Since my knowledge was limited to a movie adaptation of “Journey to the West” I am sure I missed at least half the tongue-in-cheek references to other tales and legends.

But even without knowing anything about Chinese mythology, this can be enjoyed purely for the fun. Master Li, a wise man with a slight flaw in his character, and Number Ten Ox, travel around China, meet a delightful group of people, solve mysteries, break curses, and get almost killed more than once. Despite the slimness of this novel, there were edge-of-your-seat momentso f action, little moments of depth and many, many quotable bits.

Once I knew what kind of story I had stumbled into, I could thorougly enjoy it. I laughed, I was shocked, and I tried guessing along with Master Li. A highly recommended, wonderfully fresh fantasy novel (despite its publication in 1985) that should be enjoyed by any fantasy fan who likes fun.

8/10 - Excellent