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Title: The Story of the Stone by Barry Hughart ISBN: 0-385-24636-6 Publisher: Doubleday Pub. Date: 01 May, 1988 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.83 (12 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Best Fantasy EVER
Comment: Why did Barry Hughart stop writing these wonderful fantasies? They have taught me boatloads of Chinese mythology and history. Master Li and Number Ten Ox are two of the most enjoyable characters ever. There are sections in this book that make you bite your fingernails down to nubs and other parts that leave you out of breath with a cramp from laughing so hard. READ THE WHOLE SERIES. Lovers of the Hitchhiker's Guide and the Hobbit will not be dissapointed. Adams and Tolkin have nothing on Barry Hughart.
Rating: 3
Summary: A little too much like the first book
Comment: If you haven't yet read the first Master Li and Number Ten Ox book, Bridge of Birds, go read it now; it's quite good. If you've already read it and want more of the same, then the Story of the Stone may slake your thirst. Be warned, however, that this iteration borrows more than just the two protagonists and the style of the first novel. Without giving too much away, too many of the plot twists from Bridge of Birds made it into the Story of the Stone. At the same time, this second novel lacks some of the grandeur and scope of the first. It's still not a bad read, though.
Rating: 5
Summary: The Second Best Book You've Never Read
Comment: This is Hughart's second book, and the second Master Li and Number Ten Ox adventure. And while this book doesn't have quite the sheer delight of the first, "Bridge of Birds," it is still a wonderful adventure set in the same mythical China. And this novel confirms what you suspected after "Bridge of Birds" - Hughart is no fluke.
Chinese peasant Number Ten Ox, Master Li's client in the first book, is his assistant now, and troubled because it appears ancient Master Li may drop dead before another worthwhile mystery comes along. Ox need not have worried. The Abbot of the monastery in the Valley of Sorrows arrives with a tale of murder, terror and the return of the Laughing Prince, the lunatic despot who ruled the Valley of Sorrows 750 years earlier. How can Master Li resist the temptation? How can we resist?
Once again Master Li and Number Ten Ox must solve a mystery, and once again the mystery is fringed with the supernatural, homicide and genuine, laugh out loud developments. Along the way they meet some truly memorable characters, including Grief of Dawn, a young lady with a deeply mysterious past, and Moon Boy, a sound master and an entirely marvellous creation.
Perhaps the best invention is the characters' mind trip through the Chinese Hell, which makes the efforts of Orpheus and Dante look pretty pitiful in comparison. The ending is less of a stunner than "Bridge of Birds," but this story is a little more mature and tightly crafted than "Bridge."
The only fair criticism of "Stone" is that Hughart only wrote one more book, "Eight Skilled Gentlemen." There have to be Master Li stories not yet told; I wish Mr. Hughart would write them.
A wonderful story, amusing and moving, that exposes the reader to parts of Chinese mythology in the nicest possible way. Exceptionally well written. Highly recommended.
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Title: Bridge of Birds : A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was by Barry Hughart ISBN: 0345321383 Publisher: Del Rey Pub. Date: 12 April, 1985 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: The Initiate Brother Book One by Sean Russell ISBN: 0886774667 Publisher: DAW Books Pub. Date: April, 1991 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Grass for His Pillow: Tales of the Otori, Book 2 by Lian Hearn ISBN: 1573222518 Publisher: Riverhead Books Pub. Date: August, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Gatherer of Clouds by Sean Russell ISBN: 0886775361 Publisher: New American Library Pub. Date: November, 1992 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Brilliance of the Moon (Tales of the Otori, Book 3) by Lian Hearn ISBN: 1573222704 Publisher: Riverhead Books Pub. Date: 03 June, 2004 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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