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The Library of Legends

A Novel

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

"The Library of Legends is a gorgeous, poetic journey threaded with mist and magic about a group from a Chinese university who take to the road to escape the Japanese invasion of 1937 – only to discover that danger stalks them from within. Janie Chang pens pure enchantment!" Kate Quinn, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Alice Network and The Huntress

From the author of Three Souls and Dragon Springs Road comes a captivating historical novel—the third in a loosely-connected trilogy—in which a young woman travels across China with a convoy of student refugees, fleeing the hostilities of a brutal war with Japan.
"Myths are the darkest and brightest incarnations of who we are..."

China, 1937: When Japanese bombs begin falling on the city of Nanking, nineteen-year-old Hu Lian and her classmates at Minghua University are ordered to flee. Lian and a convoy of more than a hundred students, faculty, and staff must walk a thousand miles to the safety of China's western provinces, a journey marred by hunger, cold, and the constant threat of aerial attack. And it is not just the student refugees who are at risk: Lian and her classmates have been entrusted with a priceless treasure, a 500-year-old collection of myths and folklore known as the Library of Legends.

Her family's past has made Lian wary of forming attachments, but the students' common duty to safeguard the Library of Legends forms unexpected bonds. Lian finds friendship and a cautious romance with the handsome and wealthy Liu Shaoming. But after one classmate is murdered and another arrested, Lian realizes she must escape from the convoy before a family secret puts her in danger. Accompanied by Shao and the enigmatic maidservant Sparrow, Lian makes her way to Shanghai, hoping to reunite with her mother.

On the journey, Lian learns of the connection between her two companions and a tale from the Library of Legends, The Willow Star and the Prince. Learning Shao and Sparrow's true identities compels Lian to confront her feelings for Shao. But there are broader consequences too, for as the ancient books travel across China, they awaken immortals and guardian spirits to embark on an exodus of their own, one that changes the country's fate forever.

Based on true events, rich in Chinese history and lore, The Library of Legends is both an illuminating exploration of China's recent past and an evocative tale of love, sacrifice, and the extraordinary power of storytelling.

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      June 1, 2020
      Chang (Dragon Springs Road) explores the effects of the Second Sino-Japanese War on students in this spellbinding tale. In 1937, after the Japanese bomb Nanking, students at Minghua University flee to an interim campus in Chengtu, including a group entrusted with Minghua’s sacred 147 encyclopedia volumes from the Ming dynasty, known as the Library of Legends. Hu Lian, 19, enrolled in Minghua to study the volumes. Now, on the journey with them to Chengtu, she is intent on letting her mother in Shanghai know about the evacuation as she befriends fellow student Liu Shaoming “Shao” and his servant, Sparrow. Their travels are fraught with the perils of bombing raids and poor living conditions, yet Lian continues her research on Willow Star, a legend about an immortal princess who returns to Earth with each of her reincarnations, and begins falling for Shao. In a supernatural twist, Lian discovers Sparrow is Willow Star, and fears that as long as Sparrow remains on Earth, Shao will never return her love. As the journey becomes more dangerous, Shao and Sparrow join Lian as she veers off for Shanghai where she hopes to find her mother. Chang expertly weaves mysticism and historical details, and sets up a cast of memorable characters. This will charm readers from the very first page. Agent: Jill Marr, Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      On one level this is an exciting story about Chinese university students under attack by the Japanese in 1937. On another level it is about folklore, magic, and spirits that are ever present. Both genres are ably presented by narrator Emily Woo Zeller, whose soft yet confident voice persuades us that the magic is real and the plight of the student refugees, difficult and dangerous. The students' special challenge is the safe transport of the Library of Legends, an ancient encyclopedia of sacred knowledge that preserves China's culture, mythology, and folklore. This is a tale of courage, marvels, and suspense told by a narrator who is adept at both fantasy and historical fiction. D.L.G. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
    • Library Journal

      April 1, 2020

      In the year 1937, Japanese bombers began raids over China. In an effort to save the lives of the students of Minghua University and the 500-year-old collection of myths and folklore known as the Library of Legends, the university's teachers make a daring plan: Each student is given one book of the 147-volume collection to carry thousands of miles to China's western provinces. Nineteen-year-old student Hu Lian undertakes the task not just for the sake of her school and the priceless volumes, but also to find her mother, who was forced out of her home and sought shelter in Shanghai. It soon becomes evident that, in spite of the perils of the journey, the students and teachers seem to be under the protection of supernatural beings, guardian spirits who have been awakened and who also have their own path to take--one that may change China forever. VERDICT Chang (Dragon Springs Road) has created a lovely novel that is both joyful and lighthearted and deeply tragic as she explores a culture and people who are forced to accept that their country will never be the same following the war and the departure of the spirits that protected their land for centuries.--Jane Henriksen Baird, formerly at Anchorage P.L., AK

      Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Booklist

      April 15, 2020
      They dubbed themselves the Minghua 123: 114 students and nine professors (plus 16 uncounted servants-laborers). In 1937, to escape the Japanese onslaught, they flee their university in Nanking to seek refuge a thousand miles westward. Saving their lives includes safeguarding 147 volumes of the Library of Legends, a priceless, 500-year-old Ming Dynasty collection of myths and folklore. Lian bears an additional burden that must remain secret: her late father was wrongfully labeled a Japanese collaborator. When murder, arrest, and betrayal disrupt the journey, Lian realizes staying with the group is riskier than venturing alone. A wealthy heir and his enigmatic servant insist on accompanying her toward Shanghai, still an international haven, for now. Despite an intriguing premise, Chang's meandering third novel ultimately disappoints. That said, groupies will relish the wink-wink recognition of characters from Three Souls (2014) and Dragon Springs Road (2017), and history aficionados will appreciate the Chang family-inspired true stories, including war-necessitated exoduses of Chinese university students, the guardianship of literary treasures, and the little girl who walked into battle on her soldier-father's shoulders.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

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