The Story of Kao Yu

The Story of Kao Yu A Tor.com Original

"The Story of Kao Yu” is a new fantasy short story by the legendary Peter S. Beagle which tells of an aging judge traveling through rural China and of a criminal he encounters. Of the story, Beagle says it “comes out of a lifelong fascination with Asian legendry — Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, Indonesian — all drawn from cultures where storytelling, in one form of another, remains a living art. As a young writer I loved everything from Robert van Gulik's Judge Dee mysteries to Lafcadio Hearn's translations of Japanese fairytales and many lesser-known fantasies. Like my story ‘The Tale of Junko and Sayuri,’ ‘The Story of Kao Yu’ is a respectful imitation of an ancient style, and never pretends to be anything else. But I wrote it with great care and love, and I'm still proud of it.“ At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
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Reviews

Photo of Maggie Gordon
Maggie Gordon@maggieg
4 stars
Aug 13, 2022

Everything Peter S Beagle writes hits me right in the feels. The Story of Kao Yu is a narrative that I would usually be annoyed by. A older dude falls in love with a woman and has a lot of feels. Bleh. And yet there's an ache in my heart for Kao Yu the judge and the two losses he suffered. Also, unicorns. Who can say no to unicorns? In any case, everything Beagle writes works for me. Unicorns and law make me happy. I hope he pulled off the cultural aspects well, though I can't judge for myself.

Photo of Magnus Dahl
Magnus Dahl@gorillotaur
3 stars
Sep 23, 2022
Photo of dem
dem@dem437
3 stars
Feb 1, 2022
Photo of Paduraru Constantina
Paduraru Constantina@byelulu
2 stars
Oct 23, 2021