I've been listening to the audiobook of The Bird That Drinks Tears, the first book in the epic fantasy series Heart of the Nhaga by Korean author Lee Youngdo. The book was written in 2003, but this is the first time it has been translated into English. I'm only about a third of the way through, but I've been enjoying it so far.
In a world divided into the northern and southern realms by the Line of Limit, band of three individuals from the north, representative of the three races of that region, must go into the jungles of the south, the sole domain of the fourth race, to bring a member of that race (because, as an oft repeated adage says: "three handle one") back to an ancient temple for...well, as far as I've gotten, that hasn't been explained, but I'm sure it's world-saving stuff
One of the things I've liked about the series so far is the world-building. There are gigantic skyrays with ruins of a forgotten civilization on their backs, and dragons that are part plant, part animal, but the four races are one of the most interesting aspects.
In the north, there are humans, of course, which are more fractious than other races, but also more numerous. They don't seem to have a nation-states or empires now (indeed, no one in the north seems to now) but they once did.
The Rekon are giant, avian humanoids. Most of the art I have seen depicts like humanoid roosters, which fits, I guess. They are immensely strong and skilled warriors and craftsmen. Each Rekon has an individual Calling, a life's work they strive to achieve.
The Tokkebi are sort of goblinish (though maybe not short like typical goblins), certainly mischievous and magical. They are able to control fire and create illusions from it. They are nonviolent but have no fear of death because if their body is killed, they continue on as spirits.
In the South live the Nhaga who have gotten the most detail so far. They are cold-blooded, reptilian humanoids who are fierce defenders of the trees of the first and only eat live prey. Their hearing is poor, but they see heat and talk to each other by a sort of telepathy called nireum. At the age of majority, they have their hearts removed and so become nearly immortal and hard to kill as they can regenerate. Nhaga society is divided into matriarchal houses where adult men are only ever visitors to help the women conceive children.
Anyway, it's been good so far. Interested to see where it goes.
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| Fan art for the series by artist Sangheon Nam |
4 comments:
Sounds interesting. That Line of Limit north-south divide feels a little on-the-nose for a Korean author, but I suppose you could draw the same conclusion about a US author and the Mason-Dixon Line if you wanted.
Interesting worldbuilding to date. Unclear in how any kind of society (especially one with multiple intelligent tool-using species) lasts generations without some form of collective government/cooperation forming. Down south, it seems inevitable that you'd see a matriarchy with strict controls over reproduction. Even if they have low low natural fertility rates there's no other way for a bunch of near-immortals not to overpopulate their environment in short order, especially if they depend on live prey (making food storage difficult) for the bulk of their diet.
Reminds me a bit of the various kin in the Aether Nexus RPG, although those are even more exotic (several are flat-out non-organic, and others aren't members of the animal kingdom) and there's no clear human cognate at all. That might work okay in an RPG, but it feels like it would hard for readers to identify with unless you make one of your species/race/kin just humans in funny suits for all practical purposes. Writing when your POV characters are truly non-human is something few authors can manage effectively.
It gets worse! Giant manta rays could never fly, and it's doubtful humanoid organisms could survive after having their heart removed.
Nah, those don't even make me bat an eye any more. I've played Spelljammer, and read those godawful Casca novels.
Sounds interesting.
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