Lee Young-do’s The Heart of the Nhaga, translated by Anton Hur, is the first in book in Lee’s The Bird That Drinks Tears series, which the blurb informs us is a classic of South Korean fantasy. it’s an odd but compelling read, a solid epic fantasy, with both the ups and downs that the genre entails.
the book follows four main characters. first and foremost, there is Ryun Pei, a young Nhaga — a species of reptilian humanoids who reside in the vast, intentionally cultivated jungle south of the Line of Limit, above which the climate is too cold for them to live comfortably (or at all) — who has refused to have his heart removed, a process which normally grants the Nhaga de facto immortality. Ryun has taken on a secret mission that was once assigned to his best friend, Hwarit, who was murdered before Ryun’s eyes.
accompanying Ryun on this mission are three residents of the world above the Line of Limit, one from each of the major species there: Kagan Draca, an enigmatic human hunter of Nhaga; Teenahan, a giant, avian Rekon, terrifying with a sword but terrified of water; and Byong, a Tokkebi, joke-loving beings with immortal souls and the power to control a kind of magic fire. these three are tasked with guiding Ryun to the Great Temple of Hainsha, for an unknown purpose. the fate of the world, it seems, hangs in the balance, but the protagonists do not yet understand what is in store for them.
broadly, the novel is a quest fantasy, following Ryun and his companions as they travel north, first through the jungle, evading Nhaga patrols and the unsettling magically reshaped Duoksini, and then through the human-dominated borderlands, where — perhaps the most interesting aspect of the novel — they meet a series of would-be kings. the world has been without kings for centuries, and, I have to say, I love a fantasy novel that’s willing to get a little sententious about anti-monarchism! I have a sinking suspicion that this position will not be borne out in the long run, but nonetheless I really enjoyed Kagan holding forth on What A King Is (and Isn’t). it reminded me of parts of Tanaka Yoshiki’s Legend of the Galactic Heroes series (high praise).
around this quest plot, however, there’s a lot going on: first, there is internal politicking in the Nhaga city of Hattengraaj, as Hwarit’s murderer attempts to consolidate her position. these interludes let Lee introduce the structure of Nhaga society, which seems like it will be important to the series’s overarching plot. early in the novel we also get snippets of Kagan, Teenahan, and Byong in their lives before the quest: Kagan is heavily implied to be either one of or a descendant of the legendary Kitaljer hunters; Teenahan is an archaeologist who is attempting to build a glider that will allow him to reach the ancient ruins on the back of the enormous flying sky rays that travel across the continent; Byong was assigned to the mission as, essentially, a practical joke — but the Tokkebi take their jokes extremely seriously. I assume we will see more of Rekon and Tokkebi society in future books. also, Ryun has been framed for the murder of his friend and his sister is tasked with hunting him down and assassinating him, to avenge the apparent wrong to another house.
the narration is direct, with the novel moving freely between perspectives within a scene — it’s a fairly close third person but not a tight third person, in that where one paragraph might be from Ryun’s perspective the following paragraph may be from Teenahan’s and the two after that from Byong’s. interestingly, the novel largely avoids showing Kagan’s perspective directly: he is fulfilling the function of both Ryun’s and the reader’s guide through the world. but there are a few, tantalizing moments where we see the world through Kagan’s eyes, and these have me excited to see where things go.
I don’t feel like I have a lot more specific to say at the moment, but I’m looking forward to the second book coming out. I’m really glad to see more of this kind of Genre SFF coming out in translation, and I hope more people will pick this up.
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