Bridge of Birds

A nice twist on the usual sword and sorcery fantasy trope. This time Middle Earth makes way for ancient China. Instead of orcs, elves and trolls we get mandarins, bonzes and ginseng.

Li Kao is an ancient scholar with “a slight flaw in his character” accompanied by Number Ten Ox, his “esteemed former client and current assistant”.

From there it's a caper meets Sherlock Holmes with a supernatural thriller bent and a bit of Hope and Crosby roadtrip thrown in for good measure.

Bridge of Birds gets a solid 4 stars but I continued on with The Story of the Stone and Eight Skilled Gentlemen included in the omnibus edition. Halfway through I was at the unfortunate point where you find yourself reading just to finish.