"His tales roar like wild monks’ chants — more surreal than the absurd, yet shimmering with the Queen Mother of the West’s mystic allure."
—Jiang Nan (China’s bestselling author; repeat #1 on Rich Chinese Writers List)

"A defining voice of Chinese fantasy literature."
—Ann & Jeff VanderMeer (Editors of "The Big Book of Modern Fantasy"; Hugo Award, World Fantasy Award & British Fantasy Awards winners)

★A featured work by Qitongren — renowned Chinese fantasy author, pioneer of long-form wuxia fantasy, and a defining voice in China’s speculative fiction!
★Hailed as the "Chinese Kafka" in international fantasy circles, his works appear in "The Big Book of Modern Fantasy" (World Fantasy Award-winning anthology), alongside legends like Gabriel García Márquez and Haruki Murakami!
★Acclaimed by bestselling authors such as Ma Boyong and Jiang Nan, and praised by Hugo Award, World Fantasy Award, and British Fantasy Awards-winning editors Ann and Jeff VanderMeer as "a quintessential voice of Chinese fantasy literature."
★A fusion of wuxia and fantasy, bridging mythology and modernity through an Eastern literary lens.

This collection features 10 titles:
"Spring in Dongke Monastery" (Selected for The Big Book of Modern Fantasy, a "Global Top 100 Fantasy Works")
"The Dreamweaver" (Douban 9.2-rated, multi-time "Year’s Best Fantasy" pick)
"Chronicles of Liufeng River" (A wuxia fantasy masterpiece channeling Tang-Song dynasty elegance)
"The Leviathan and the Insect" (A mythic exploration of Chinese folklore and scholarly struggles)
"Biographies of Eight Sages" (An intimate chronicle of mortal transcendence)
"Songs of the Seasons" (Qitongren’s sole self-curated fantasy anthology)
"Novoland: Dragon’s Thorn" (A cornerstone of the Novoland fantasy universe)
"Serenity: The Highest Joy of Life" (A lyrical decoding of Eastern spiritual archetypes)
"Frog Song" (Original novel of Zhang Xiaoyu’s "Golden Elephant" Award-winning comic at France’s Chambéry International Comics Festival)
"The Floating Temple" (Source material for Zhang Xiaoyu’s latest award-winning comic "Cloud Temple")

This full-length fantasy novel by Qitongren — China’s most literary fantasist — unfolds in the aftermath of the Dark Moon Era. For centuries, the continent of Novoland has endured the Great Tide Age, where the merfolk now reign supreme under the dominion of the last True Dragon, founding the radiant Xi Dynasty with the Dragon as its eternal sovereign. Yet the powerful creature is born with cruelty in heart. To protect his kin, Zhili Tu, patriarch of the Zhili Sect, embarks on a perilous quest to uncover a way to slay the undying beast.
Meticulously crafted within the Novoland universe, the story unfolds in two arcs: Part I traces the history of Zhili Sect — its founding and the legacies of its past patriarchs; Part II follows Zhili Tu’s flight from tyranny, his capture, brutal castration, and ultimate dragon-slaying reckoning. Accessible to both hardcore fans of the Novoland series and newcomers, the novel delivers a gripping narrative enhanced by stunning black-and-white illustrations, including maps of the Xi Empire that immerse readers in its richly textured world.

Qitongren (b. 1972), pen name inspired by Kafka’s "The Bucket Rider", is a celebrated Chinese short-story writer and fantasist, regarded as one of contemporary China’s most literary fantasy creators. He began writing while studying Chinese literature at Guangxi Normal University and gained prominence after publishing online in 2000. Former editor of "Fly Fantasy World" and executive editor of "Novoland Fantasy", he founded the e-magazine "Nine Songs" and edited "The Anthology of Chinese Fantasy".
Renowned for his visionary imagination and philosophical depth, he is a two-time "Douban Outstanding Author" and a defining figure in Chinese fantasy. His story "Spring in Dongke Monastery" was anthologized alongside works by Gabriel García Márquez, Angela Carter, George R.R. Martin, Stephen King, and Haruki Murakami in "The Big Book of Modern Fantasy" (World Fantasy Award-winning anthology). His stark prose has earned him the moniker "China’s Kafka."