Into the Forest discussion

Here is the place to discuss retellings, traditional tales, or books inspired by the mythology, folklore, or fairy tales of East Asia.

I've just finished Daughter of the Moon Goddess. A kick-ass female protagonist on a quest to free her mother. It was lovely!

Amanda wrote: "I've just finished Daughter of the Moon Goddess. A kick-ass female protagonist on a quest to free her mother. It was lovely!"

I LOVE that one!

Margaret wrote: "Amanda wrote: "I've just finished Daughter of the Moon Goddess. A kick-ass female protagonist on a quest to free her mother. It was lovely!"

I LOVE that one!"

Amanda wrote: "I've just finished Daughter of the Moon Goddess. A kick-ass female protagonist on a quest to free her mother. It was lovely!"

That book looks amazing! Margaret and Amanda, I never cease to be impressed by all the new books you find!

I was thinking about reading Haruki Murakami's 1Q84 for this, but confess I feel a little intimidated by it. I absolutely loved Kafka on the Shore and enjoyed, but didn't love The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle but 1Q84 seems way more complex and it's over 900 pages long

Okay, here are the books I've read and enjoyed that match this category!

South Korea:
The Fox's Tower and Other Tales: A Collection of Magical Short Stories by Yoon Ha Lee
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh
The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly by Sun-mi Hwang
Wicked Fox by Kat Cho

China:
The Girl with Ghost Eyes by M.H. Boroson
Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan (As already mentioned, I love this one!)
Burning Roses by S.L. Huang
Tidesong by Wendy Xu
In the Watchful City by S. Qiouyi Lu
Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim (this one is also absolutely fantastic)
The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston
The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu

Japan:
Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki
Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things by Lafcadio Hearn

Taiwan:
The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan

Mongolia:
Mongolian Folktales by Hilary Roe Metternich

General:
A Thousand Beginnings and Endings by Ellen Oh

The Weaving of a Dream by Marilee Heyer
Folktales of China by Wolfram Eberhard
Folktales of Japan by Keigo Seki

I read The Woman Warrior and gave it 4.5 stars. A beautiful book that weaves together folk lore and family drama in a unique and wonderfully written way.

Jamie wrote: "I read The Woman Warrior and gave it 4.5 stars. A beautiful book that weaves together folk lore and family drama in a unique and wonderfully written way."

That one is lovely!

Here is a round-up of my read shelf. I hope maybe it will be of some use to you. Not all books I've enjoyed, but tastes vary :)

China:
Classics:
The Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong
Monkey King: Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en

The Ballad of Mulan*
->https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Tran...

Contemporary authors:
Life and Death are Wearing Me Out by Mo Yan

Fairy tale collections:
Chinese Fairy Tales and Fantasies by Moss Roberts
Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio by Pu Songling

Fantasy/Wuxia
A Hero Born by Jin Yong
A Hundred Ghosts Parade Tonight by Xia Jia
-> https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/xia_...

South Korea

Fairy Tale collections:

Korean Folk Tales by Im Bang

Fiction:

One Hundred Shadows by Hwang Jungeun
The Story of Hong Gildong by Unknown
Wizard Bakery by Gu Byeong-mo

Japan:

Adult:
The Stories of Ibis by Hiroshi Yamamoto
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
The Miracles of the Namiya General Store by Keigo Higashino*


YA:
The Twelve Kingdoms: Sea of Shadow by Fuyumi Ono
Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit by Nahoko Uehashi
Dragon Sword and Wind Child by Noriko Ogiwara*
Night of the Milky Way Railway by Kenji Miyazawa
Gon, the Little Fox by Nankichi Niimi*
Ochikubo Monogatari or the Tale of the Lady Ochikubo

Fairy Tale Collections:
Tales of Old Japan: Folklore, Fairy Tales, Ghost Stories and Legends of the Samurai by Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford
Tales of Moonlight and Rain by Ueda Akinari
Blue Bamboo: Japanese Tales of Fantasy by Osamu Dazai
Otogizōshi: The Fairy Tale Book of Dazai Osamu by Osamu Dazai
Japanese Gothic Tales by Kyōka Izumi
The Legends of Tono by Kunio Yanagita
The Old Bamboo-Hewer's Story - Taketori No Okina No Monogatari - The Earliest Of The Japanese Romances - Written In The Tenth Century


Region inspired and/or Diaspora:
Imperial Lady by Andre Norton*
Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa
The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson*
The Secrets of Jin-shei by Alma Alexander
Daughter of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist
Half World by Hiromi Goto
Red Winter by Annette Marie
Returning My Sister's Face and Other Far Eastern Tales of Whimsy and Malice by Eugie Foster*
Tsumiko and the Enslaved Fox by Forthright .
Bound by Donna Jo Napoli

* books I really liked or enjoyed in the past

Asaria wrote: "Here is a round-up of my read shelf. I hope maybe it will be of some use to you. Not all books I've enjoyed, but tastes vary :)

China:
Classics:
The Romance of the Three Kingdoms b..."

I am reading The Miracles of the Namiya General Store for this section and absolutely loving it! Thanks so much for suggesting it! This is only the third Japanese novel I’ve read, the first being Haruki Murakami ( Kafka on the Shore and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle) and I really appreciate the writing ( even though they are very different)

Have you read Before the Coffee Gets Cold Jalilah? I think you might like it!

Andy wrote: "Have you read Before the Coffee Gets Cold Jalilah? I think you might like it!"

No, but I’d like to! I ordered it from the library at the same time as the miracles of Namiya, but there is a queue of 120 ahead of me. I’ll have to wait a while unless I decide purchase it!

Jalilah wrote: "Andy wrote: "Have you read Before the Coffee Gets Cold Jalilah? I think you might like it!"

No, but I’d like to! I ordered it from the library at the same time as the miracles of N..."

Oh no!Hope you get to read it eventually! It's basically 4 short stories, all linked by setting and characters to some extent. I think you might like the café where you can travel through time premise.

I was on the fence if buying it or not, and I got it on a 3 for 2 deal - it is a bit expensive for how short it is, but then it is translated, so at least there's some reason.
I should start again using the library, but the last time I looked I found hardly any of the books on my TBR, so I sort of gave up...

Jalilah wrote: "Asaria wrotYasunari Kawabatae: "Here is a round-up of my read shelf. I hope maybe it will be of some use to you. Not all books I've enjoyed, but tastes vary :)
..."

I'm glad someone found this list useful :) . "Namiya store" was one of my favourite reads in 2020.

If you want give a shot to japanese writers, my other faves are Natsume SōsekiI Am a Cat; Shūsaku Endō and Yasunari Kawabata, but they belong more to historical or high brow lit. genre

Andy wrote: "Jalilah wrote: "Andy wrote: "Have you read Before the Coffee Gets Cold Jalilah? I think you might like it!"

No, but I’d like to! I ordered it from the library at the same time as t..."

I ended up buying Before the Coffee Gets Cold but won’t be reading it right away.
Instead I read Wicked Fox from Korea.
So now with that I’ve read 2 books for this category, the other being The Miracles of the Namiya General Store

Jalilah wrote: "I ended up buying Before the Coffee Gets Cold but won’t be reading it right away. "

Ihope you like it! Would feel like it was my fault if you don't! :P

Andy wrote: "Jalilah wrote: "I ended up buying Before the Coffee Gets Cold but won’t be reading it right away. "

Ihope you like it! Would feel like it was my fault if you don't! :P"

I like that book, too!

Andy wrote: "Jalilah wrote: "I ended up buying Before the Coffee Gets Cold but won’t be reading it right away. "

Ihope you like it! Would feel like it was my fault if you don't! :P"

I like that book, too!

I read 3 books for this category, all of which I enjoyed, and they're all really different. I may end up reading more for this category before the year is out.

The Way Spring Arrives and Other Stories: A Collection of Chinese Science Fiction and Fantasy in Translation from a Visionary Team of Female and Nonbinary Creators
Messy Roots: A Graphic Memoir of a Wuhanese-American by Laura Gao
The Night Eaters: She Eats the Night by Marjorie M. Liu