Strange Beasts of China

 Tell me a story… of humans and beasts 

Strange Beasts of China by Yan Ge (translation by Jeremy Tiang)

Publishing date: August 1, 2006 (China), July 13, 2021 (US)

Date read: August 19, 2021

In the fictional Chinese town of Yong’an, humans live alongside various races of beasts, many of which look almost identical to humans. Our narrator, an author and former cryptozoology student, tells us the history of these beasts as she researches them for her stories. Each short story follows the following narrative: a brief history of the beast and any common knowledge about their race, a personal story of the authors interaction with someone of that race, a recap of the race in general, with new information or clearing up any false information from the original summary. 

Story list: Sorrowful Beasts; Joyous Beasts; Sacrificial Beasts; Impasse Beasts; Flourishing Beasts; Thousand League Beasts; Heartsick Beasts; Prime Beasts; Returning Beasts. 

Note: this book was originally published In Chinese in 2006, but is only now being published in the United States. 

Okay, this is a difficult book to review. But I’m going to do my best. 

I wasn’t sure how I felt about the narrative style at first, with the stories being told as though the author was writing a nonfiction text, but it didn’t take me long to get the feel of it. And I found the wrap-up at the end of each story very useful on some of the more confusing tales. 

There is a little bit lost in translation, I’m sure, but I found that most of the text translated well. The only thing that I think an American audience might find off-putting is some of the interpersonal relationships in the book, especially the narrator and her professor. I don’t know how university labs work in China, but to this American, his treatment of her was rather cruel and it was hard to understand her reverence at times. I didn’t take this as poor writing, though, just a difference in culture. 

As for the stories about the beasts themselves, most of them I found really cool. Especially at the beginning of the book, the stories were stand alone and wrapped up pretty well. (My favorite story was “Sacrificial Beasts”. Around “Thousand League Beasts”, the underlying thread began to get more complicated and, frankly, pretty confusing. But this isn’t a deterrent - just a warning. It’s worth the read, and most confusion is cleared up by the end. There were still a few parts that I found confusing, but I still felt pretty satisfied by the end. 

I do recommend this book, but go into it with an open mind. It’s unlike anything I’ve read before and is definitely book that will be running through my brain for a while. 

Rating: 4/5 stars

Trigger Warnings: euthanization (off page)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.