num_pages: 248
description: Bridge of Birds is a lyrical fantasy novel. Set in "an Ancient China that never was", it stands with The Princess Bride and The Last Unicorn as a fairy tale for all ages, by turns incredibly funny and deeply touching. It won the World Fantasy Award in 1985, and Hughart produced two The Story of the Stone , and Eight Skilled Gentlemen . All present the adventures of Master Kao Li, a scholar with "a slight flaw in [his] character", and Lu Yu, usually called Number Ten Ox, his sidekick and the story's narrator. Number Ten Ox is strong, trusting, and pure of heart; Master Li once sold an emperor shares in a mustard mine, because "I was trying to win a bet concerning the intelligence of emperors." Number Ten Ox comes from a village in which the children have been struck by a mysterious illness. He recruits Master Li to find the cure and comes along to provide muscle. They seek a mysterious Great Root of Power, which may be a form of ginseng. Of course, nothing turns out to be as simple as it seems; great wrongs must be avenged and lovers separated must be reunited, from the most humble to the highest. And even in the midst of cosmic glory, Pawnbroker Fang and Ma the Grub are picking the pockets of their own lynch mob, who are frozen in awe and wonder. --Nona Vero
language: English
title: Bridge of Birds
titlecomplete: Bridge of Birds (The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox, #1)
genres: Fiction, Historical, Adventure, Asia, Mystery, China, Humor, Alternate History, Historical Fiction, Fantasy
ratings_count: 10297
places: China
series: The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox
awards: awardedAt: 473414400000
name: World Fantasy Award
category: Best Novel, awardedAt: 504950400000
name: Mythopoeic Fantasy Award
publisher: Legend