An old favorite: when the children of Number Ten Ox's village are felled by a mysterious ailment ("First tell me how a plague can learn to count!"), he must seek the help of Li Kao, a sage with a slight flaw in his character. Together they brave many adventures and encounter remarkable individuals in their quest to find the Great Root of Power - the only thing that can save the children of Ku-fu.

"Take pity upon a faithless handmaiden," she whispered. "Is not a thousand years enough?" Two transparent ghost tears slid slowly down her cheeks. "I swear that I did not know what I had done! Oh, take pity, and exchange this for the feather," she sobbed. "The birds must fly."

Other copies on my BookCrossing shelf: 4134603 • 4235869 • 15969521

Sending this out as a bookray to share the fun!

These are pretty much my standard bookring/ray instructions:

1. Make a quick journal entry when you receive the book so we know it got to you safely.

2. VOLUNTARY - let's see if anyone reads this part! ;) If you're willing, please PM hyphen8 for my address and send me a postcard with some interesting stamps on it for my mom the stamp collector, especially if you're not in the US.

3. Read and send on within 1 month - or make a journal entry to let us know how it's going if you need to keep the book longer. I realize that sometimes life gets in the way of BookCrossing, but please keep us posted on what's happening.

4. Make a journal entry when you've finished - tell us what you thought!

5. Check back here to make sure the mailing order hasn't changed, then PM the next person in line for an address. Even if you've mailed something to that person before, please double-check their mailing info and make sure they're still interested and able to participate.

6. Use whatever shipping method works best for you; if you have a surface mail option, that's fine. If you're able to use delivery confirmation/tracking that's always nice.

Current order (subject to change):
*PLEASE* check before sending to the next person!

Merolia (Greece; Europe preferred)
Smitie1405 (Netherlands; international ok)
Tsjara (Netherlands; Europe preferred)
Voronda (UK/Netherlands; Europe preferred)
greenbadger (UK; international ok)
lunatum (Finland; international ok)
Abi-Gibby (UK; international ok)
Once the ray was finished, Abi-Gibby wild released this book.

If you see a known staller on this list please send me a PM.

If you'd like to join in, please post in the forum thread and send me a PM with your location and mailing preferences.

Master Li and Number Ten Ox are on their way to Greece to start the bookray!

The book has finally arrived!! All the way from Hawaii, packed with stamps. What a joy -and what lovely page corners (I really don't know what they're called!). It's been a while since I read fantasy, I can't wait to get into this. Many thanks, Hyphen8.

I realize I kept the book a bit long. The reason is I needed to take my time with it. It took me far longer than I expected to really get into the story. If that happens to you too, do give this book all the time it deserves.

Now, where to start? This was an outrageous blend of fantasy, imagination, mythological and folkloric influence from far and beyond. Increadibly amusing at times (I couldn't help but laugh while reading on public buses) and increadibly heartwarming at other moments (the scene with Ox in the garden thinking about Mouse seems to have stuck with me -so short but so emotional). This is the fantasy I love, a whole new world of extraordinary wonders, with great action, continuous twists, beautiful descriptions next to hilarious situations.

This is a bit of a spoiler: At some point I managed not to be bothered by the lack of logic or distinct rules in the narration's world or by how easily new elements, situations and characters were introduced. I decided I like it even though it felt quite unfocused. But gradually everything fell so neatly into place, with the recurrent appearances of heroes and the settling of all plot elements. It's unbelievable how such a crazy story managed to make such perfect sense and leave me with such a wonderful feeling.

Thank you so much for sharing the book, hyphen8. I probably would have never come across it otherwise and I am delighted that I did.

On its way to next reader.

I uploaded a couple of photos from its journey here. It's colder now, but a few days ago still felt like summer.

Yay, I got the book in the mail. At first I was surprised that the package was so big, as it didn't fit in my mailbox and the postman had to give it to a neighbour because I wasn't at home. And after opening I found the book and another special surprise. Thank you so much Merolia for the Zelda OoT manga, I wanted to read that for ages.

I will put my other books on hold to read this book as fast as possible.

Finished the book today. An interesting blend of fantasy and fairy tales of a culture I'm not familiar with. The first part of the book is a bit of a hassle to get through as the story is thrown at you and is all over the place. Luckily, part 2 and 3 have more focus and the story elements start falling into place. I really liked the interaction between Li Kao and Number Ten Ox and the other characters involved in this interesting story.

I'm currently waiting for Tsjara's address to continue the books journey.

Thanks Hyphen8 for sharing this book.

Dropped the book in the mail box today for Tsjara. And I also sent some stamps to Hyphen8 yesterday. Happy Travels!

Arrived here safely (together with 2 other books from different countries on the same day - when I haven't received any books in weeks.. how did they manage that? :p). Thanks for sending and the pretty card Smitie1405!
Looking forward to read this. I haven't read any fantasy in a while, I think, though it is still one of my favorite genres.
Thanks for sharing the book hyphen8! (cute little corner protector thingies too :p)

I enjoyed this book, it was a charming read. The story starts a bit slow, sometimes trailing off into bits of seemingly random information. But as the ending nears, everything starts to come together and the many puzzle pieces fall into place.. strange how it all suddenly makes so much sense. Number Ten Ox and Li Kao are both very likeable characters, and I enjoyed following them on their quest filled with unexpected twists and turns, folklore and fairy tales.


This lovely little book will travel to Voronda soon.

The book is now on its way to Voronda in the UK.. hope you'll like it :)

I received this book today! Ok, so I got a 'something for you' from the royal mail a few days earlier but wasn't able to pick it up till now.

Thank you, Tsjara ^.^ the package was lovely and very nicely wrapped! Thanks also for the card and the Sinterklaas goodies!

This was an entirely different sort of fantasy than I usually read, but I quite liked it. The writing style and fairy-tale like feel of this story carried me easily through this story. It took a while to get used to the leaps and logic of this book, but in the end I was very satisfied with how everything came together.

I put this in the post yesterday, on to its next reader. I hope you enjoy this book as well!

So glad to receive this as I've been wanting to read it for years. Thank you very much!

This story of 'an ancient China that never was' blends fantasy and Chinese mythology brilliantly. Number Ten Ox must go on a quest to save the children of his village. Accompanied by Li Kao, a wise man with a slight flaw in his character, the pair embark on a string of incredible adventures, meeting with marvellous characters along the way. Extremely funny and very clever.

Sent on to lunatum who is next in the ray. Enjoy!

I was away for home this week and when I came back the book was waiting for me. Looks really interesting.

I read the book two weeks ago, but I forgot to journal it. I'm really happy that I joined the ring, because I enjoyed the book very much.

I sent the book to next reader.

Books all safe and sound sorry for long delay in writing this journal have been in Australia for past 6 months

Found book interesting
Congratulations, you have picked up a travelling book!
If you have a moment, we'd love you to let us know you have the book as we're keen to follow its journey. You can even post a review when you've read it before passing it on to the next lucky person.
Happy reading!


Not sure what to do? Follow these steps!

1) You may continue as an Anonymous Finder. Or, Register as a member , then you too will receive future journal entries on this book and track its journey around the world!

2) Make a journal entry on this book to let us know how you found it!

3) If you choose to read the book, please make another journal entry when you finish it to let us know what you thought!

4) Ready to pass the book on? Click on "make release notes" to let us know where it's going! Leave the book in a public place or give it to a friend!