Bridge of Birds
core novel 1984 The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox
Record
| First published | 1984 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.26 (10,795 ratings, collected 2026-08-26) |
| Page count | 278 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780345321381 |
| Internal chronology | 1 |
Synopsis
Bridge of Birds opens in an imagined ancient China that never quite existed, when a strange plague strikes the village of Ku-fu, poisoning its silkworms and putting every child between the ages of eight and thirteen into an unbreakable coma. Number Ten Ox, a strong young villager raised by his aunt and uncle after being orphaned, is sent to the capital to find help, since none of the local physicians can explain or cure the affliction. There he meets Master Li Kao, an elderly scholar-detective with, as he puts it, a slight flaw in his character, who agrees to take the case. Together the two travel across a fantastical version of imperial China in search of the legendary Great Root of Power, the only substance said capable of curing the stricken children, encountering a string of eccentric characters and supernatural dangers along the way.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox
- Series: The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox core; position 1 of 3 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Barry Hughart
Awards (verified)
- World Fantasy Award (Best Novel), 1985: won; Shared with another winner that year.
- Mythopoeic Award (Fantasy Award for Adult Literature), 1986: won
Notes
- From the series record (The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox): A comic, mythic detective fantasy set in a China that never quite existed, following the elderly sage Master Li and his young assistant Number Ten Ox. The author stopped at three novels by choice, saying a fourth would only repeat what the first three had already done, and died in 2019 without writing more.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings, but they resolve to the exact same sequence for this book, so one combined line is shown instead of two identical ones.
- Reading order, within the series The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox: position 1 of 3: next The Story of the Stone (1988)
Sources
← The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox dossier · All universes
Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.