Following a recent discussion about “one-hit wonders” and other writers who “have made large impressions with relatively small bodies of work,” which was held on John Scalzi’s Whatever, Subterranean Press looked into the works of Barry Hughart. They discovered that, of the three novels that make up The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox, two of them are available singly, “but the omnibus version will now set you back in excess of $150—and that’s just for the book club edition.”
So, Subterranean announces, “Later this year, we’re going to rectify that situation, with a gorgeous new edition, featuring a brand new cover by Jon Foster, with the trade print run likely limited to 2000 copies at $38—not a bad price point for a book we expect will approach 700 pages.”
Additionally, they’ll be “producing a 200-250 copy limited edition that will feature not only a leatherbound edition of The Chronicles. In addition, for the first time, Mr. Hughart has given us permission to publish the first draft of ‘Bridge of Birds,’ which features Master Li as a nineteen-year-old, and Number Ten Ox as a bit player. This slipcased set will be a true rarity.”
Ordering information should appear on the Subterranean web site in a few days.
The three volumes that make up the Chronicles are:
Bridge of Birds (1984)
The Story of the Stone (1988)
Eight Skilled Gentlemen (1990)
Bridge of Birds tied for the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1985 and won the 1986 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award. Wikipedia says that it “introduced Li Kao, an ancient sage and scholar with ‘a slight flaw in his character,’ and his client, later assistant, the immensely strong peasant Number Ten Ox, who narrates the story. The book blended Chinese mythology—authentic and imagined, from several eras—with detective fiction and a gentle, ironic humor. Among the genuine myths alluded to in the book is ‘The story of Cowherd and Weaver Girl,’ from the which the title is derived.”
There is a Barry Hughart fan site here.
Edited 19 March: Hughart has written a fascinating new introduction to the book, which is available on this page, and talks about his mental history and how he came to write the books.