Ou Lu Khen/Mad Woman

by Jessica Amanda Salmonson

Wonderful fantasy set in old China. Wees B & W illustrations. Beautiful wrap-around Craft cover art. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0441635008
• ISBN13: 9780441635009
• Release Date: July 1985
• Publisher: Ace Books
• Length: 243 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Fantasy, adventure, mysticism, and beauty.

Jessica Salmonson, at her best, deserves to be ranked in the top ten--and possibly the top five--fantasy authors of all time, and this book of hers is the best of hers I've read so far. The book is (obviously) set in old China, but the fantasy is no less accessable even for those who are unfamiliar with Asian cultures, and the plot is quite beautiful. The superficial overview of how the story begins is that Ou Lu Khen falls in love with a mad (or divinely and spiritually inspired) woman who appears to love him, but cannot actually marry her because her status (as one touched by the gods) is so much higher than his, and so he escapes his family obligations (and the disapproval of his family) and travels with her to seek madness in some forgotten tombs where certain madness is said to dwell. Some of his family repent and follow. All of them are travelling through the wilderness, and much else happens.This book has a depth that belies its only moderate length of 243 pages, and the occasional illustrations and cover art are appropriately beautiful. The subtext and the philosophical concepts touched on and wrestled with by the five important characters) have touched me deeply, and I will reread this book often in my life to come and recommend you do the same.