Category Archives: Chinese

The Academic Abyss

Posted on April 16, 2026 by Nathan

Katabasis, by R.F. Kuang – The title is an ancient Greek term for a journey to the underworld, and that is what happens in this book. It’s set in a world where magic is a respected academic discipline, and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Book Reviews, Chinese, Christianity, Education, Greek Mythology, Hinduism, Humor, Magic, Maps, Monsters, Mythology, Relationships, Religion, Roman, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

New Year, Nuwa

Posted on February 22, 2026 by Nathan

The author Grace Lin recently mentioned the goddess Nuwa in conjunction with the Lunar New Year, which seems to be the preferred terminology for American calendars these days. It had something to do with how it’s also the Korean and … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Art, Chinese, Holidays, John R. Neill, Mario, Mythology, Oz, Oz Authors, Relationships, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

How We Pierced the Forest

Posted on April 9, 2025 by Nathan

Perceforest: The Prehistory of King Arthur’s Britain translated by Nigel Bryant – I had heard about this epic work a few years ago, but couldn’t find it until recently, at a link on the Arthurian Preservation Project at Tumblr. It … Continue reading →

Posted in Arthurian Legend, Authors, Book Reviews, British, Chinese, Christianity, England, Fairy Tales, Families, Games, History, Humor, J.R.R. Tolkien, Magic, Monsters, Mythology, Names, Norse, Relationships, Religion, Rick Riordan, Sports, Taoism, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Longma and Short of It

Posted on March 22, 2025 by Nathan

In my review of Katherine Rundell’s Impossible Creatures, I mentioned that I couldn’t recall having come across Longmas in the past. They’re from Chinese mythology, and are basically dragon-horses. That’s pretty much literally what the term means. As such, they’re … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Chinese, Greek Mythology, Korean, Magic, Mario, Monsters, Mythology, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Tur Is Tur

Posted on March 19, 2025 by Nathan

Tanar of Pellucidar, by Edgar Rice Burroughs – The third book in this series uses the author as a character, an idea he used in other tales as well. The framing narrative is that Burroughs is visiting the inventor Jason … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Authors, barsoom, Book Reviews, Chinese, edgar rice burroughs, Greek Mythology, Magic, Maps, Monsters, Mythology, Names, pellucidar, Persian, Prejudice, Relationships, Religion | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

What a Life of Luxury to Be an Ape-Man

Posted on February 10, 2025 by Nathan

The Return of Tarzan, by Edgar Rice Burroughs – This sequel wraps up some of the hanging plot threads in the first book, but also takes the story in some different directions. While the first one was about a guy … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Book Reviews, British, Chinese, edgar rice burroughs, England, Fairy Tales, History, Magic, Mythology, Neil Gaiman, Prejudice | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dorothy the Dictator

Posted on October 23, 2024 by Nathan

Operation Luna, by Poul Anderson – The follow-up to Operation Chaos follows up on Steve and Virginia Matuchek about twelve years after the end of the first book. They now have three children, and are working on a project to launch … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Authors, Book Reviews, Characters, Chinese, edgar rice burroughs, Greek Mythology, Halloween, Holidays, Humor, jules verne, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Monsters, Mythology, Native American, Norse, Oz, Oz Authors, Percy Jackson, Places, Poul Anderson, Religion, Rick Riordan, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Technology, Vietnamese | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Dark Tower versus White Tower

Posted on October 4, 2024 by Nathan

The Gunslinger, by Stephen King – This is only the second King book I’ve read, the first being The Stand. And I believe the Man in Black in this series is the same as Randall Flagg from that book. I was … Continue reading →

Posted in A. Lee Martinez, African, Animals, Art, Authors, Book Reviews, British, Celtic, Characters, Chinese, Comics, Food, Greek Mythology, Humor, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Monsters, Mythology, Norse, Oz, Oz Authors, Poetry, Relationships, Vietnamese | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Big Four

Posted on September 14, 2024 by Nathan

I looked up the Four Immortals from Vietnamese mythology, who were mentioned in Van Hoang’s Girl Giant and the Monkey King, and I noticed that the Wikipedia page doesn’t have a whole lot of information. A few other sites did … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Chinese, Feminism, Monsters, Mythology, Relationships, Religion, Taoism, Vietnamese | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Chicks Dig Scarlings

Posted on September 10, 2024 by Nathan

The Prince of Ill Luck, by Susan Dexter – I forget who mentioned this book to me some years ago, but it’s been on my to-read list for a while. Leith, Prince of the Isles, is thought to be under … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Art, Authors, Book Reviews, Catherynne M. Valente, Celtic, Chinese, Fairy Tales, Families, Greek Mythology, Magic, Monsters, Mythology, Vietnamese | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment