Rating: 
Summary: Truely unique books!
Review: If you haven't read the Master Li series, I definitely recommend starting with The Bridge of Birds and proceeding from there. These are wonderful, all-consuming books that you will reader faster and with more interest than anything you've yet encountered.Mr. Hughart possesses an imagination that is both rich and diverse, and blends this with a wonderful ability to tell "one helluva good yarn!" Once you've tried one of his books and discovered how good they are, I highly recommend checking out the (un)official Barry Hughart web site ... Drop Jerry a line and see if we can convince Mr. Hughart to publish more of his material!
Rating:
Summary: Truely unique books!
Review: If you haven't read the Master Li series, I definitely recommend starting with The Bridge of Birds and proceeding from there. These are wonderful, all-consuming books that you will reader faster and with more interest than anything you've yet encountered. Mr. Hughart possesses an imagination that is both rich and diverse, and blends this with a wonderful ability to tell "one helluva good yarn!" Once you've tried one of his books and discovered how good they are, I highly recommend checking out the (un)official Barry Hughart web site ... Drop Jerry a line and see if we can convince Mr. Hughart to publish more of his material!
Rating:
Summary: Farewell, Master Li
Review: In this, the final of Hughart's three Master Li books, we learn about ancient shamanistic deities and the homicidal Sixth Degree Hosteler Tu. The twists and turns are a little less surprising in this third outing, and even Number Ten Ox guesses the identity of the villain before the end. But the journey is just as magical and wonderful. Hughart has a gift for being able to tweak his cosmology - or our perceptions of it - ever so slightly, without damaging the integrity of his world. This wasn't supposed to be the last book, but since the esteemed Master Hughart has apparently set aside his labors, we can only savor the bittersweet ending of a series not halfway done. The Master Li series is in a class of its own, and I fervently pray against all odds that another volume of these 'long-lost chronicles' will eventually come to light.
Rating:
Summary: Found an interview of Mr. Hughart on the web...
Review: The following interview with Barry Hughart was conducted via mail during January-February, 2000. --J. Kuntz JK: All fans of the Master Li books want to know why the series stopped after Eight Skilled Gentlemen. Can you explain? BH: The Master Li books were a tightrope act and hard to write, but not, alas, very remunerative. Still, I would have continued as originally planned if I'd had a supportive publisher: seven novels ending with my heroes' deaths in the battle with the Great White Serpent, and their elevation to the Great River of Stars as minor deities guaranteed to cause the August Personage of Jade almost as much trouble as the Stone Monkey. Unfortunately I had St. Martins, which didn't even bother to send a postcard when I won the World Fantasy Award; Ballantine, which was dandy until my powerhouse editor dropped dead and her successors forgot my existence; and Doubleday, which released The Story of the Stone three months before the pub date, guaranteeing that not one copy would still be on the shelves when reviews came out, published the hardcover and the paperback of Eight Skilled Gentlemen simultaneously, and then informed me they would bring out further volumes in paperback only, meriting, of course, a considerably reduced advance.
Rating:
Summary: Master Li's Last Case (?)
Review: The third and final published tale of Master Li and his assistant, Number Ten Ox, is both funny and wistful. If the components of Hughart's ancient mythical China are by now familiar to readers, they are still wonderfully vivid. In this tale Master Li and Ox become entangled with high-society scams and the ghostly remnants of a shamanistic theology predating Chinese civilization. The book lacks the sheer creative majesty of Hughart's first book, the Bridge of Birds; but Birds is a virtuoso performance that can hardly be expected twice in a lifetime. Eight Skilled Gentlemen is, by comparison, merely an excellent story. This is the third book in an intended series of seven, which most regrettably was not completed. As such, Eight Skilled Gentlemen was not intended as the final Master Li story, and we are left waiting for the next marvelous case. Hughart apparently intended to conclude the series in traditional Chinese mythological fashion, by deifying his truth-seeking protagonists. He never wrote that story, but the extraordinary Li Kao and Number Ten Ox have achieved a form of immortality just the same. They are just as vivid in the final book as in the first two, and I deeply regret not having the chance to invite them over for a jar of wine or two.
Rating:
Summary: Spellbinding
Review: this book weaves a tale of mystery, and there is no end to the amazing supries of Master Li's wit one of the best books i ever read
Rating:
Summary: Love and Envy, Guess who wins?
Review: This book, like all of Mr. Hugharts books, is intriguing, and down to earth. The reviewer above suggests that the boat race is a compelling scene . She is right (the scene in the Inn when the puppeteer is drunk is pretty good too!). What I like best about the boat race is the shamanka's decision. Love and Frenzy to all you other Frustrated Hughart Fans Awaiting His Next Book.(FHFAHNB, Hey! That acronym expresses our mental state doesn't it?!!!)
Rating:
Summary: If only there were more
Review: This is the last book released by Mr. Hughart. It was supposed to be the third in a series of seven, but due to compensation differences, he elected not to continue writing. It's a darn shame because his novels of a China that never was are truly wonderful. The third adventure of Master Li and Number Ten Ox involves murder, mayhem, and magic aplenty, with lots of Chinese literary references thrown in. Almost makes you believe you're reading history. This story is not quite up to the same standards as his first two, but it's a matter of interpretation. I love his work and I really wish he'd start writing again.
Rating:
Summary: If only there were more
Review: This is the last book released by Mr. Hughart. It was supposed to be the third in a series of seven, but due to compensation differences, he elected not to continue writing. It's a darn shame because his novels of a China that never was are truly wonderful. The third adventure of Master Li and Number Ten Ox involves murder, mayhem, and magic aplenty, with lots of Chinese literary references thrown in. Almost makes you believe you're reading history. This story is not quite up to the same standards as his first two, but it's a matter of interpretation. I love his work and I really wish he'd start writing again.
Rating:
Summary: A great page-turner!!!
Review: What happened to Mr. Hughart? After gobbling up his three hilarious books on Master Li and Number 10 Ox, I have seen no more from him for scads of years! Mr Hughart, if you are reading this ... hop to it! I loved Eight Skilled Gentlemen and its hip and zany potrayal of all things ancient Chinese. At the same time, the mystery plot was intriguing enough to keep my glued to the pages. As with the Bridge of Birds and The Story of the Stone, I couldn't put it down.
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