The Library of Legends

This is the story of Lian, a Chinese college student who is forced with her classmates to flee their universities at the beginning of WWII for the safer areas of western China due to attacking Japanese. Lian's particular class is given the job of moving and protecting the 'Library of Legends', fables and legends of Chinese immortals and Gods. Their journey is harrowing and difficult. This story also has a sense of mysticism in that Lian can 'see' the spirit Gods who are guardians of rivers, lakes, fields and forests fleeing the countryside for the safety of the mystical Queens Palace in paradise. No one worships them any more and so they have no purpose. Along Lian's journey she becomes good friends with several students and is show more especially enamored with Shao, a handsome and wealthy young man. I loved the etherealness of this book. It had some really nitty gritty war time action but also the magic of these sprit gods. Quite well researched and highly recommended. show less

Review based on ARC (Advanced Readers' Copy received in exchange for an honest review).

I was completely sucked in by the cover and title. Even though this is squarely in the historical fiction category, the description did nothing to dissuade me to seek this book out. Briefly, it's about a young adult student at University in China in 1937, during the Japanese-Chinese war. As bombs begin falling on her city, Nanking, she and the other students are forced to trek 1000 miles to safety, protecting their own lives as well as the priceless 500-year-old collection of myths and folklore called the Library of Legends.

The book covers heartache and growth, love and danger, death and murder, friendship and the strength of family. There is magical show more realism and/or mythology worked throughout the very engaging and heartbreaking story told here.

This is one of those "full" books. It is robust in its narrative and its setting, complex with emotions and characters, and thought-provoking of political and philosophical ideas, old and new. I loved meeting Hu Lian, Liu Shaoming, and especially Sparrow. And I found Professor Kang to be one of my favorite mentors. I was also impressed with Chang's "side" characters -- Shorty Ho, Mr. Lee, Meirong, Jenmei, and Dr. Mao, to name a few. I felt like I understood Lian's connections and distractions, confusion and conflict.

Finally, I was enamored with the countryside of China and found myself very interested in visiting some day. Even though the story takes place during wartime and is filled with heartache and famine, there was a beauty and strength in the people and their beliefs that I would love to meet firsthand.

I will definitely read more that Chang has written. I strongly recommend this book. 4.5 stars! show less

Set in China in 1937, this novel follows Hu Lian and her classmates from Minghua University as they evacuate from Nanking. Japanese attacks have forced the decision to move everyone further west in China where the university will set up a temporary campus. As the students make their way on foot across over a thousand miles of countryside, they carry with them The Library of Legends, an encyclopedia of the myths and legends surrounding the spirits and magical creatures of China. As the students move westward, however, it becomes clear that it is not just the human population of China who is making the decision to flee.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this novel which is largely historical fiction with a dash of magical realism in show more the mix. The novel largely focuses on Lian as she makes her way across the country but there is also plenty of exploration of the politics of the time and the exploration of Chinese myth. I appreciated the opportunity to explore a piece of history about which I knew nothing, all while enjoying Chang's well-crafted novel. Recommended for those who like historical fiction. show less

Daughter and niece Janie Chang authors a beautifully written historical fiction novel based on her father and uncle's walk of more than a thousand miles to safety with their university in 1937 during the Second Sino-Japanese War.

Never having any formal education studies about any aspect of the history of China and particularly only hearing the negativity of all things China in the last several years I was mesmerized by the story. Historical fiction well-researched is always fascinating to read but to know that the author has a deep and meaningful personal connection to the legacy of this intellectual and cultural achievement by university professors, staff, and students was powerful, riveting, and evoked many emotions.

I rarely think of show more possibly reading any novel again as there are simply so many books that I'd like to read but I would like to read this book again. There is so much information to absorb of the history shared and the storytelling endears the characters who are representing the courage, the stamina, and the strength of each person who helped to protect a vital part of China's heritage for the generations to come following a time of war.

This book was gifted to me by a reader friend and I am deeply grateful for the gift of this reading experience. I recognized the cover from a night of browsing several months earlier but had never added it to my tbr list. Without the gift I might never have read this book and I can't imagine missing it. show less

First, you have to get beyond that gorgeous cover. Go ahead and gaze at it, absorbing that artistry. Then once you are ready, open the cover and enter the fantastical world Janie Chang has created, a story blending Chinese history and Chinese folklore.

Amidst the brutality of the Japanese invasion of 1937, the books containing all the lore throughout Chinese history must be saved. A convoy of university students, carrying the 500-year-old collection of books, set out on a treacherous journey of over 1000 miles across the country. The story focuses on three of these travelers – Hu Lian, Liu Shaoming, and Sparrow. Friendship, romance, enchantment, secrets, the brutality of war, spies, the strength of the human spirit – all elements of show more this fascinating story. And above all the value of story – a belief that threads its way throughout many cultures.

The magical storyline involves humans who can see the spirits living among them, spirits who have taken the form of humans. At the center of this storyline is the love story of the Willow Star and the Prince. The Willow Star has been waiting hundreds of years for the Prince to recognize her – only then can she take him home with her, back to the heavens.

My heart ached for The Willow Star’s seemingly hopeless situation. I also felt great sadness for the spirits, having inhabited earthly forms for a long time, were now forced to leave those forms as the Japanese moved further inland. I am not normally a fan of fantasy, but the historical aspects of this stunning story held my attention. At the start of WWII many of China’s universities began migrating to interior regions of China in an effort to safeguard their intellectual legacy. Ancient literature was stored in caves under the care of university servants. This story focuses on one of those universities.

“Maybe immortals feel the passage of time differently than we do. Maybe a hundred years to her is only the blink of an eye, a single beat of the heart.”

Thank you to the publisher William Morrow and the Tall Poppies authors for an advance copy to read and review. show less

Hu Lian is studying at the Minghua University, a dream, she never thought would happen. Her mother is hundreds of miles away, and Japan decides to start dropping bombs on China. The year is 1937 and the Second World War has finally reached China. They had heard word of bombings and war in other countries, but so far had not felt the affects.

One morning when she is out, bombs are dropped and she takes cover with a family in their bakery. She comes out not able to hear anything and covered in white flour, but she is safe. As she gets outside, she sees that there is smoke, fire and destruction everywhere. As her hearing starts to come back, she sees someone she recognizes from school, Liu Shaoming. Shaoming and his servant help Lian get show more back to the university.

A decision has been made, those who are left at the university will leave in groups and help to transfer the Library of Legends with them, on their journey to safer land further inland. Hundreds of miles away, they will walk and try to get transport here and there if they can. But they are not only running to protect their lives, they are also in charge of protecting the Library of Legends, which isa five-hundred year old collection of myths and folklore. This is history in their hands, and cannot be lost to the ruins of a war.

As the students and their teachers take this journey, they are each given so many of the books to keep in their possession and to read to keep up with their studies along the way. It is quite the undertaking and they are met with many barriers to get over, as well as the constant fear of a bomb dropping on them.

Shaoming occasionally reaches out to Lian on the journey to pass the time with intellectual discussions about different things and Lian is doing her best to not let feelings get in the way. She doesn't want to read too much into Shaoming, and besides he is of a higher family than her, and she knows of other girls who also have their eye on him. Then she is forced into getting even closer to him to make sure he is not going down a wrong path of politics and if she doesn't agree, her secret will be revealed. This secret will most certainly get her removed from school, and will shame her mother and put them in danger.

As Lian does her best to keep an eye on Shaoming, another girl causes trouble and there is then a murder that happens. And others are also taken for questioning. Lian is now fearful of her life, and is afraid if she doesn't find a way to find her mother and warn her, that something may happen to her. Lian lets Shaoming in on her secret, and the two of them with his servant decide they are going to make a run for it and head to Shanghai.

I really enjoyed this novel, and the folklore that she wound into the story with the Library of Legends. Based on the true story of Chinese universities making an exodus during the war, they were looked at as the future of the country and could not risk being sent to war. It was very interesting to read, and I had no idea this happened. It is always interesting reading about different countries and what they were dealing with during WWII. show less

Set in 1937 during the Japanese invasion of China, this story follows the lives of Hu Lian and Liu Shaoming who are students at Minghua University in Nanking. Japanese aerial bombardment of the city forces the university — professors, staff, and students — to travel inland, mostly on foot, over the course of months to reach Chengtu where the government is setting up temporary space for the country’s universities. Accompanying the students and professors is a priceless heirloom of ancient China, the many volumes of The Library of Legends, an encyclopedic collection of China’s myths, legends, and folktales. If China is to survive this war, then the Library of Legends must survive as well.

Adventures ensue. Also emerging romance. show more But perhaps more significant is the revelation that the immortal guardians of cities, trees, rivers, and more are also on the move, headed west where the gates of heaven are opened for them to leave earth for good. One immortal being is particularly attached to Lie Shaoming. Indeed, he has been her charge for centuries through his many reincarnations. But will she stay behind trapped on earth after the gates of heaven shut forever? Or will depart as well, leaving her unknowing love behind?

It is a well-told story with lots of twists and turns to hold your attention. And for those with little knowledge of what was happening in China in the 1930s, it will also provide some context.

Gently recommended. show less