Around the World in 80 Books discussion

Post any books set in Malaysia here.

Books set in Malaysia:



Evening Is the Whole Day by Preeta Samarasan
The Rice Mother by Rani Manicka
The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng
The Harmony Silk Factory by Tash Aw
A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder by Shamini Flint
My Life as a Fake by Peter Carey
Lord Jim: A Tale by Joseph Conrad
A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute
The Long Day Wanes: A Malayan Trilogy by Anthony Burgess
Sweet Offerings by Chan Ling Yap
The Travel Writer by Simone Lazaroo
What Your Teacher Didn't Tell You: The Annexe Lectures by Farish A. Noor
A Malaysian Journey by Rehman Rashid
Among the White Moon Faces by Shirley Geok-Lin Lim
The Teardrop Story Woman by Catherine Lim
Turtle Beach by Blanche D'alpuget
The Return by K.S. Maniam

More Books Set in Malaysia:



Sandokan: The Tigers of Mompracem by Emilio Salgari (1st book in series)
Kampung Boy by Lat (1st book in series)
Joss and Gold by Shirley Geok-Lin Lim
Consuls File by Paul Theroux
Massacre at Parit Sulong by Gilblert Mant
The Plantation by Di Morrissey
KAMPUNG GIRL by Umi Kalsom
The Malacca Conspiracy by Don Brown
The Japanese Lover by Rani Manicka
Shadow Cat by Reena Jacobs
The Eloquence of Desire by Amanda Sington-Williams
Children of the Plantation by Faith Mortimer
At the Table of Want by Larry Kimport
Love and the Ghosts of Mount Kinabalu: And Other Stories of Malaysia by B.T. Newberg
Overwhelming Terror: Love, Fear, Peace, and Violence Among the Semai of Malaysia
Malayan Spymaster: Memoirs of a Rubber Planter, Bandit Fighter and Spy by Boris Hembry
Ripples and Other Stories by Shih-Li Kow
Once I Was a Princess by Jacqueline Pascarl-Gillespie
With Love, from Malaysia: Letters from a Young Canadian Mother by M. Bakri Musa
Original Wisdom: Stories of an Ancient Way of Knowing by Robert Wolff

The White Pearl by Kate Furnivall

The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng

Farewell to the King by Pierre Schoendoerffer (set on Borneo - unclear which part)

The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo

The House of Trembling Leaves

The Journey's EndThe Journey's End by Jane Woolfenden. Set in Malaysia and London. Published September 2013

Mad Dogs, Englishmen, and the Errant Anthropologist: Fieldwork in Malaysia by Douglas Raybeck

More books set in Malaysia:



21 Immortals: Inspector Mislan and the Yee Sang Murders
Almayer's Folly by Joseph Conrad
... And The Rain My Drink by Han Suyin
Between Lives by K.S. Maniam
A Bit Of Earth by Suchen Christine Lim
Bitter-Sweet Harvest by Chan Ling Yap
Detektif Indigo by Faisal Tehrani
The Dulang Washer: An Epic Tale of Love, Valour and Secrets by Paul Callan
Floating on a Malayan Breeze: Travels in Malaysia and Singapore by Sudhir Vadaketh
The Golden Chersonese by Isabella L. Bird
Growing up in Trengganu by Awang Goneng
Imam by Abdullah Hussain
In Another Light by Andrew Greig
Interlock by Abdullah Hussain
Into the light by Abdullah Hussain
Island in the Centre by Rex Shelley
The Jungle Is Neutral by F. Spencer Chapman
Kalimantaan by C.S. Godshalk
Kebaya Tales by Lee Su Kim
KL NOIR: Red by Amir Muhammad (1st book in KL Noir series)
Land Below the Wind by Agnes Newton Keith
The Malay Dilemma by Mahathir Mohamad
The Malayan Life of Ferdach O'Haney by Frederick Lees
Malaysian Tales: Retold & Remixed by Daphne Lee
Map of the Invisible World by Tash Aw
My South Seas Sleeping Beauty: A Tale of Memory and Longing
News From Home by Chua Kok Yee
An Outcast of the Islands by Joseph Conrad
People of the Pear Tree by Rex Shelley
A River of Roses by Rex Shelley
Stranded by Emily Barr
Stranger in the Forest: On Foot Across Borneo by Eric Hansen
Victory: An Island Tale by Joseph Conrad

The Crocodile Fury

Here is my review of Thunder Demons, set in Malaysia.


Thunder Demons is everything a thriller should be, and more.

It is difficult to weave political, personal and multi-cultural themes into a storyline so that each thread is equally convincing and contributes to forming a satisfying whole. Dipika Mukherjee has done exactly that. Her characters are well drawn and complex, enabling the reader to understand the ‘why’ behind even the most extreme of actions. The political and social issues are not merely a backdrop – they are as alive and real as the passionate people who populate this book.

Along the way to the suspenseful and shocking end of this dark, unique, and powerful thriller, I found myself effortlessly absorbing the complex colonial history as well as the deep cultural divides that define Malaysia today.

Lucky Number 9: Journey of a Rubber Tapper's Daughter by Rina Tham

The Woman Who Breathed Two Worlds by Selina Siak Chin Yoke.

More books set in Malaysia:


After the War and Other Stories by Anwar Ridhwan
Bamboo Island by Ann Bennett
Bingley to Borneo: Memoirs of a Vice Consul by S. Ian Wall
Border Crossing by Anwar Ridhwan
Cempaka: An Anthology by Usman Awang
Certainty by Madeleine Thien
Clutch, Brake, Sellerator and Other Stories by Ivan Yeo
Cyberpunk: Malaysia by Zen Cho
Dangerous Waters by Rosalind Brett
Dead in the Dog by Bernard Knight
Doctor in Malaya by Anne Weale
Duke: Inspector Mislan and the DUKExpressway Murders by Rozlan Mohd Noor
Earth Dragon Fire Hare by Ken Catran
Eight Plays by Huzir Sulaiman
Fatimah Fatty by E-Man Dhani
The Flame Tree by Yang-May Ooi
Footprints in the Paddy Fields by Tina Kisil
Ghostman by Roger Hobbs (1st book in Jack White series)
Gift from the gods by Suchen Christine Lim
The GODs by Rozlan Mohd Noor
The Hikayat Abdullah by Abdullah Bin Abdul Kadir
How to Find Your (First) Husband by Rosie Blake
Huzir Sulaiman: Collected Plays 1998-2012 by Huzir Sulaiman
In Kinabalu's Shadow by Steve Morris
In Search of Goliathus Hercules by Jennifer Angus
The Last Days of an Artist by Anwar Ridhwan
A Malayan Affair by Rob Holley
Malaysian Flavours: Insights into Things Malaysian by Lee Su Kim
A Merry Senhor in the Malay World by A. Teeuw
Nazi Goreng by Marco Ferrarese
No Harvest But A Thorn by Shahnon Ahmad
Nyla and the White Crocodile by Norma R. Youngberg
Ode to Broken Things by Dipika Mukherjee
Olivia & Sophia by Rosie Milne
The Orientalist and the Ghost by Susan Barker
Our Man in Malaya by Margaret Shennan
Out in the Midday Sun: The British in Malaya 1880-1960 by Margaret Shennan
Passage of Arms by Eric Ambler
Patriarch by Shahnon Ahmad
Queen of the Headhunters: Autobiography by Sylvia Brooke
The Rape of Martha Teoh & Other Chilling Stories by Tunku Halim
The Rare Earth Exchange by Bernard Besson
Reaching for the Stars by Sheikh Mustapha Shukor Al-Masrie
A River in Borneo by Redmond O'Hanlon
Rope of Ash by Shahnon Ahmad
The Sakura Petals Unfold by Arena Wati
Salina by A. Samad Said
Sandera by Arena Wati
Sarong Secrets by Lee Su Kim
Scattered Bones by Usman Awang
Sejarah Melayu: The Malay Annals by John Leyden
Selected Plays by Usman Awang
The Separation by Dinah Jefferies
Shouting from the Summits by Kala Ramachandran
Silverfish New Writing 1 by Amir Muhammad (1st in series)
The Singing Top: Tales from Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei
Sister Swing by Shirley Geok-Lin Lim
Spirit Tiger by Barbara Ismail
Spirits Abroad by Zen Cho
Stumps by Shahnon Ahmad
The Sum of Our Follies by Shih-Li Kow
The Sunlit Ambush by Mark Derby
Survivor!: The Ultimate Game by Mark Burnett
Sylvia, Queen of the Headhunters by Philip Eade
Tales of Ogonshoto by Anwar Ridhwan
The Terracotta Bride by Zen Cho
Three Weeks in Eden by Anne Weale
Tropical Affairs by Robert Raymer
Tropical Madness by Marc de Faoite
An Undesirable Marriage by Meriel Brooke
The Undone Years by Shamini Flint
UTube: Inspector Mislan and the UTube Serial Rapes by Rozlan Mohd Noor
Wheels Within Wheels by Arena Wati
White Man Returns by Agnes Newton Keith

The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho!

Its a wuxia fantasy book that takes place in Malaysia by a Malaysian author. It’s also a LGBTQ+ book :-))

The House of Doors

Delicious Hunger by Hai Fan.

Fragile Monsters