We have already written about the trilogy of Asian fantasy «Sketches of steel» by Polish writer Arkady Saulsky. And now we have another fantasy story «Nhagas Who Extract Their Hearts» directly from Asia by the South Korean author Lee Yongdo. This is a series of four books, the first volume of which was published in Ukraine by BookChef. The tetralogy is unusual for Ukrainian readers. It can be called a bit epic, martial and satirical, and some call these books mythological and philosophical. All the details, as always, are in the review below.
Pluses:
an unusual, bizarre, philosophical world that constantly makes you wonder; bright, three-dimensional characters; satire and deep meanings; a high-quality edition with a lace
Minuses:
the book is so bizarre at its core that it can be off-putting
«Nhagas Who Extract Their Hearts»
Author Lee Yondo
Translator Yulia Kovalchuk
Publisher BookChef
Language Ukrainian
Number of pages 544
Cover Solid
Year of publication 2024
Size 128×200 mm
Website bookchef.ua
A man named Kegan Dracar, who has a legendary double sword, must meet the lekon Tinahan and the dokkebi Bihyon Shrabl. A lekon is a representative of large creatures with the head of a rooster, and a dokkebi is one of the people who can create magical fire. Bihyon also has a flying beetle. All of them are entrusted with the great mission of saving the universe, but this requires a fourth — a representative of the snake-like Nagi people who have conquered half the world and live in the warm and majestic Kiboren forest. The heroes face adventures, danger, epic and unusual obstacles, and conflicts with each other.
If you’re tired of hobbits, elves, orcs, and dwarves, and fantasy worlds with only humans and dragons (there are dragons here, but they’re Asian), it’s time to pay attention to the novel «Nhagas Who Extract Their Hearts» and the series as a whole, which will be gradually published by BookChef.
Firstly, there are no usual fantasy races here because the books are based on Asian mythology with the addition of philosophical motifs. Secondly, this is probably a unique fantasy from a Korean author for the Ukrainian market. I should also note that Lee Yongdo is from South Korea, not the DPRK. Thirdly, the world here is so strange, at least for a European reader, that it draws you in from the very first paragraphs.
As we can see from the opening of the book, we have something like an epic fantasy about saving the world. A group of different characters, whose races often not only do not communicate but also violently enemy each other, must unite to save the world. In today’s realities, this already seems fabulous because literally before the eyes of Ukrainians, people are uniting not to save the world, but to destroy our country and people even more.
And the very global idea of this story seems to have been well-worn by other famous works of classical fantasy, so why read the same thing, only with Asian motifs? In fact, this is a perfectly reasonable question that has been crossing my mind as well. And the reality is that, despite the similar idea, this book is very different from anything I’ve ever read.
«Nhagas Who Extract Their Hearts» is based on Asian mythology, which is a different level of world-building, characters, mythical creatures, meanings, dialogues, etc. It is literally another world, which is interesting to dive into precisely because of its unusualness for us. The book is full of strange races, animals, and creatures taken from the legends and myths of Korea, China, India, Japan, and so on. It’s a wild mix of all this diversity that creates a real wow effect on the reader just by its very existence.
The same goes for the characters’ motives and dialogues, their actions and decisions. Eastern culture also influences the very construction of the epic adventure to save the world. Each step of the characters is different here, they encounter different events, solve them differently, react differently than the European reader is used to, and the course of the adventure itself is also surprising.
While reading, I tried to come up with some kind of comparison of the book «Nhagas Who Extract Their Hearts» that would be understandable to the general public. «Nhagas Who Extract Their Hearts» with something more familiar to our people. Al came up with only one thought — imagine Hayao Miyazaki’s anime, only in a text version. That’s about what you’ll find here, something so bizarrely fabulous, mysteriously philosophical, sensual, funny, clumsy, and strange at the same time.
The book has an excellent universe with a lot of interesting details, high-quality, three-dimensional and truly exotic characters, good satire that makes you smile more than once, and a deep philosophical foundation that really permeates the entire book. And most importantly, it does not interfere with the perception of the novel at all, but rather makes it multilayered.
The «Nhagas Who Extract Their Hearts» has a stylish and unusually Asian look and the same illustrations. And most importantly — the cover makes it clear that it is a fantasy. It also definitely attracts attention with its design, colors, and font. Special thanks for the spine, which makes it easier for me to read books. We also have yellow paper that is pleasant to the touch and an easy-to-read medium-sized font.
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