Monday 16 August 2021

The Story of Kao Yu - Peter S Beagle

 "The story of a Judge travelling through ancient China, and the
criminal he encounters."

Kao Yu is a middle-aged judge in ancient China, renowned for his fairness and honesty. He spends much of the year traveling from town to town to assist with legal cases. Kao Yu is sometimes assisted in making decisions by a chi-lin, a multi-coloured Chinese unicorn (that looks nothing like a unicorn, by the way) who will suffer no dishonesty in its presence. 

Kao Yu, however, during the course of one of these journeys must struggle with the warring between his heart, his head and divine justice. 

“The Story of Kao Yu” is a melancholy tale, a story of love and loss, and the choices we make when any choice will bring us pain. Beagle effectively and respectfully captures the style of an ancient Chinese legend, while making some timeless points about our innate human weaknesses.

However, while I did enjoy the short story and the execution is perfect, I just felt that it doesn't bring anything new to the table. It relies on traditional archetypes and storylines, and doesn't do anything so many hundreds of myths and legends haven't been doing for millennia.

Age Rating 13+ Nothing untoward but a lady does kill a man for his wallet and sex is very vaguely implied by "staying the night."

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