FANTASTIC CREATURES OF THE MOUNTAINS AND SEAS

The ancient bestiary Classic of Mountains and Seas is given new life by two Chinese millennials: author and history graduate student Jiankun Sun, and illustrator Siyu Chen. With versions tracing back to the fourth century BCE, the original text documented 277 mythological creatures that populate over 550 mountains and 300 seas—dragons, phoenixes, hybrid beasts, as well as spirits and deities with powers to foretell flood or cure nightmares. The text's newest incarnation is accompanied by 180 original illustrations. The work is brought into English by Howard Goldblatt, the translator of Nobel Prizewinner Mo Yan.