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From: Michael Straight <straight at email.unc.edu>
Reply-To: urth at urth.net
To: urth at urth.net
Subject: Re: Kai Lung (was Re: (urth) Major new Wolfe story online) Date: Mon, 13 May 2002 14:57:45 -0400 (EDT)
On Thu, 9 May 2002, Adam Stephanides wrote:
The Kai Lung stories were an early-20th-century series of fantasy stories set in China, written by Ernest Bramah. The characters in them always talk in the flowery, ultra-polite idiom of the Chinese princess in "Under Hill," so I assumed that Wolfe was pastiching Kai Lung. But he might have been pastiching Vance, I suppose.
When I read the story, I thought Wolfe might be pastiching Barry Hughart's
Bridge of Birds (which is possibly the most wonderful fantasy novel I've ever read, Wolfe's works included).
-Rostrum
I started Bridge of Birds last night, and I have to praise its wit and charm. Hughart did an excellent job of making the book fun to read. It probably sounds strange, but I had a smile on my face, even when a plague beset the village.
I have also checked out The Golden Age by John C. Wright, which is next in my queue.
-Darryl/Dragonfly