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by Eliza Chan
Babel meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer—a family of demon hunters find their hands full when unfamiliar monsters start stalking the streets of Opium War-era Hong Kong, in this historical fantasy adventure from No. 1 Sunday Times bestseller Eliza Chan.
"My name is not Kim, it's Kiamling. It means Sword Spirit. I was forged to cut down the undead. Demons and monsters aren't just in your storybooks, they walk among us."
The Au family serve the people of Hong Kong: blessing shrines, honouring the dead and dealing with dangerous monster incursions. The expectations on eldest daughter Kiamling are high, which is not something her strict grandmother will let her forget.
When the British disrupt the Hungry Ghosts festival and her grandmother is seized by a strange new monster, Kiamling must step up and lead the search. She is aided by unexpected allies: Archie, an earnest civil servant, Hoi gor, childhood sweetheart turned merchant-pirate and Jingling, her younger sister keeping secrets of her own. Kiamling must figure out who is behind the incursion and more importantly, how to defeat them.
With British fables mingling with local Chinese monsters, can Kiamling prove herself, when the old rules no longer seem to apply?
"Chan creates a winning combination of magic-infused martial arts action, historically informed plotting, and vivid characterization for a splendid beginning to this series. Readers will be eager to follow Kiamling for many adventures to come." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"With a vibrant world, non-stop demon-slaying action, and a stubborn mess of a main character you can't help but root for, Harbour of Hungry Ghosts explores colonialism and the weight of familial expectations, set against the backdrop of a Hong Kong where Chinese folklore clashes with the intruding British. Propulsive, fun, and complex: this is the monster-hunting fantasy I've been craving!" ―Genoveva Dimova, author of Foul Days
"Eliza Chan has outdone herself! Filled with action, humor, and sassy women, Harbor of Hungry Ghosts is a glorious tribute to Eastern and Western mythologies, and to Hong Kong's richly vibrant history." ―Sunyi Dean, bestselling author of The Book Eaters
This information about Harbour of Hungry Ghosts (Chronicles of the Yiugwai Hunters, 1) was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Eliza Chan is a Scottish-born Chinese-diaspora author who writes about East Asian mythology, British folklore and madwomen in the attic, but preferably all three at once. Eliza's work has been published in The Dark, Podcastle, Fantasy Magazine and The Best of British Fantasy 2019. Fathomfolk is her first novel.
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