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WORK TITLE: The City of Sand
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S): Muye, Zhang
BIRTHDATE: 9/25/1978
WEBSITE:
CITY:
STATE:
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY: Chinese
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born September 25, 1978.
EDUCATION:Nanjing Academy of Fine Arts (China), graduated.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. Has worked in finance.
AVOCATIONS:Gaming.
WRITINGS
Author of books in Chinese.
Books in Chinese have been adapted for films in China.
SIDELIGHTS
Tianxia Bachang is a Chinese writer, whose real name is Zhang Muye. He holds a degree from the Nanjing Academy of Fine Arts and has worked in the finance industry. Bachang is a popular gamer whose online avatar is also called Tianxia Bachang. He has written several novels in Chinese, some of which have been adapted for films.
The City of Sand
In 2017, Bachang released his first novel to be translated to English, The City of Sand. The book’s protagonist a Hu Tianyi, a seventeen-year-old boy, who is a gifted practitioner of feng shui. He plans to use his abilities to gold hunting, or finding treasure in the tombs of aristocrats. Tianyi’s best friend, Kai, is also in on the plan. However, Tianyi’s father is furious when he hears of Tianyi’s plans. He had expected Tianyi to go to college instead. Disappointed in his son, Tianyi’s father tells Tianyi that he must move out. Tianyi decides to go to Beijing with Kai. There, they become acquainted with Julia Yang, a wealthy American, and Professor Chen, a respected archaeologist. The two ask Tianyi to assist them in their search for Jingjue, a lost city where a powerful queen is said to have been buried. Their search leads them through difficult terrain, including the Talimakan Desert, where they are tormented by flesh-eating insects, killer sloths, reanimated corpses, and sandstorms. However, their luck does not improve when they actually arrive in Jingjue. They must find an ancient medallion that will allow them to access the valuable treasure there. As they search, they must protect themselves from further dangers, including becoming buried with the dead they seek to rob.
Booklist reviewer, Stacey Comfort, asserted: “Filled to the brim with ancient and modern Chinese history, this translation is a fun and spooky ride.” A contributor to Kirkus Reviews suggested: “The audience is unclear: older readers may not tolerate the immature feel of the story, but younger readers will struggle with the reading level.” “More able readers who enjoy constant action will be swept along with the explorers as they seek the lost kingdom and their own agendas,” commented Sherrie Williams, contributor to Voice of Youth Advocates. A Publishers Weekly critic remarked: “Tianxia’s English-language debut is a richly imagined and artfully translated tale of history, adventure, and magic.” Referring to Tianyi, Nancy Nadig, a reviewer in School Library Journal, stated: “He is an engaging narrator. However, the frenetic pacing makes it difficult to keep track of the plot.”
The Dragon Ridge Tombs
The Dragon Ridge Tombs is another volume in English by Bachang. It is the sequel to The City of Sand. Tianyi and Kai return in this book. At the beginning of the story, the two are back in Beijing. There, they meet Gold Tooth, an antiques dealer with a questionable reputation. Gold Tooth asks Tianyi and Kai to accompany him to the far-flung city of Gulan, where ancient tombs are said to exist. He hopes that Tianyi can use his skills with feng shui to find the treasure in the tombs.
Gold Tooth assures Tianyi and Kai that the expedition will be quick and easy. However, the two boys soon realize that it will be much more difficult than they thought. The tombs are somewhere within an underground labyrinth in Gulan. The tunnels contain many traps and obstacles that put their lives in danger. There are also frightening creatures living inside of them. It seems to Tianyi and Kai that they are unable to move forward or to escape. When Julie Yang arrives, they discover that the items in the underground labyrinth may have a connection to her family’s history.
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, November 1, 2017, Stacey Comfort, review of The City of Sand, p. 45.
Kirkus Reviews, October 15, 2017, review of The City of Sand.
Publishers Weekly, October 9, 2017, review of The City of Sand, p. 67.
School Library Journal, October, 2017, Nancy Nadig, review of The City of Sand, p. 99.
Voice of Youth Advocates, December, 2017, Sherrie Williams, review of The City of Sand, p. 65.
ONLINE
Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/ (March 19, 2018), author profile.
Penguin Random House Website, https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/ (March 19, 2018), author profile.
TeenReads, https://www.teenreads.com/ (March 19, 2018), author profile.
Tianxia Bachang
T B
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born in Tianjin in 1978, the year China’s reforms began, TIANXIA BACHANG (the pen name of Zhang Muye) is a child of the new China. His careers have been many and varied, a winding path of self-discovery that would never have been open to his parents’ generation. An avid gamer, his pen name comes from his online avatar, and his stories have been bestsellers within the gaming community. The Dragon Ridge Tombs is his second book to be translated into English; the first was The City of Sand.
FEBRUARY 16, 2017
Tianxia Bachang
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Writing name of Zhang Muye (1978- ), a Chinese author working in the finance sector after graduating with a diploma in painting from the Nanjing Academy of Fine Arts. He is known largely for the Gui Chui Deng ["Ghosts Blow Out the Light"] series, which takes its name from a Chinese proverb, appropriated by the author as a grave-robbers' maxim (see Crime and Punishment). By 2010, the franchise had made him China's tenth wealthiest writer.
In Tianxia's stories, beginning with Jingjue Gucheng ["The Wondrous Ancient City"] (2006 ebook), grave-robbing has been a noble art since the Three Kingdoms Period (220-280 CE), during which a desperate ruler authorized the appropriation of treasures from ancient tombs in order to buy food for his starving subjects. State-approved thieves, the mojin xiaowei ["captain touchers of gold"] would light a candle in the south-west corner of any grave they entered, agreeing to leave immediately if the spirits of the dead snuffed it out – the implication being that there would be no harm and no foul if the spirits proved to be non-existent. Such a premise presented a complex dilemma for the author, positing a materialist, no-nonsense approach to "using the past to serve the present", but risking censure for its possible allusion to Magic, regarded as an illegal superstition in the People's Republic (see Huang Yi). Consequently, there is a marked difference between the original online samizdat publications of the stories and their later appearance in print, which interpolated mitigating explanations for all supernatural phenomena, suggesting that any Zombie infestations, spirit hauntings and demonic assaults (see Gods and Demons) experienced by the characters were, for example, mere dreams or the result of poisoning by noxious tomb vapours.
Not unlike He Ma's Tibet Code, with which it shares a tone and attitude, the Gui Chui Deng series also functions as a travelogue, including relatively modern elements from World War Two such as the Hump airlift in Yunnan Chonggu ["Yunnan's Valley of the Worms"] (2006) and Japan's invasion of north-east China in Huangpi Zifen ["The Map on Yellow Skin"] (2007). There is a certain exuberance in the epic span afforded by China's history and geography, incorporating everything from the South Seas to the Central Asian desert. The sequence is also a period piece, set around the turn of the 1990s, seemingly in order to allow the characters a connection to the upheavals of the Cultural Revolution of the late 1960s, when so much of the old China was destroyed by Mao's Red Guards. One flashback set in the wilderness of Inner Mongolia neatly contrasts the genuine respect and reverence for antiquities of the "robbers" with the wanton destructive impulses of the young Chinese who are simply determined to smash the "Four Olds": customs, culture, habits and ideas.
Such equivocations permitted the franchise to make the jump into feature films. The eight volumes of the original novels were condensed, somewhat chaotically, into two films: Jiuceng Yaota ["Nine-Storey Phantom Tower"] (2015; vt Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe) and Xun Long Jue ["Search for the Dragon Secret"] (2015; vt Mojin: The Lost Legend). Tianxia sued the producers and director of the first over liberties taken with his original. [JonC]
Zhang Muye
born Tianjin, China: 25 September 1978
Tianxia Bachang
Born in Tianjin in 1978, the year China’s reforms began, TIANXIA BACHANG (the pen name of Zhang Muye) is a child of the new China. His careers have been many and varied, a winding path of self-discovery that would never have been open to his parents’ generation. An avid gamer, his pen name comes from his online avatar, and his stories have been bestsellers within the gaming community. THE CITY OF SAND is his first book to be translated into English. He continues to write and maintain an active connection to his fans online.
QUOTED: "More able readers who enjoy constant action will be swept along with the explorers as they seek the lost kingdom and their own agendas."
Bachang, Tianxia. The City of Sand
Sherrie Williams
Voice of Youth Advocates.
40.5 (Dec. 2017): p65.
COPYRIGHT 2017 E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC
http://www.voya.com
Full Text:
Bachang, Tianxia. The City of Sand. Delacorte/ Penguin Random House, November 2017. 256p. $17.99.
978-0-553-52410-9.
3Q * 2P * M * J
Young Tianyi has remarkable feng shui skills, passed down to him from his grandfather, which allow him to
find ancient tombs. He is called upon to use these skills to lead a group searching for a lost kingdom called
Jingjue. Along with him on this quest are his best friend, Kai, and an American woman named Julie who
lost her father in an earlier attempt to find Jingjue. They are aided by Professor Chen and a desert guide.
Only Kai knows that Tianyi's real interest in finding the kingdom is a selfish one--he is a grave robber
searching for gold. As the group searches for the lost city, it encounters untold horrors: thousands of snakes,
a cursed corpse bloom flower, several dark prophecies, and corpses upon corpses.
This title is a multimillion-copy best-seller in China that has just been translated into English. At times the
word choices seem dated, likely a result of the translation. The action and danger never stop, bringing to
mind a young Indiana Jones character. Promote this book to fans of action adventure fiction as well as to
gamers, as (according to the publisher) the author has significant connections in the worldwide gaming
community. Reluctant readers may find themselves a bit bogged down in the language of the translation, but
more able readers who enjoy constant action will be swept along with the explorers as they seek the lost
kingdom and their own agendas.--Sherrie Williams.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Williams, Sherrie. "Bachang, Tianxia. The City of Sand." Voice of Youth Advocates, Dec. 2017, p. 65.
General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A522759453/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=c78baa95. Accessed 3 Mar. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A522759453
QUOTED: "Filled to the brim with ancient and modern Chinese history, this translation is a fun and spooky ride."
3/3/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1520126512450 2/5
The City of Sand
Stacey Comfort
Booklist.
114.5 (Nov. 1, 2017): p45.
COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
The City of Sand.
By Tianxia Bachang.
Nov. 2017. 256p. Delacorte, $17.99 (9780553524109); lib. ed., $20.99 (9780553524130); e-book, $17.99
(9780553524116). Gr. 7-10.
After he is left a mysterious half book of feng shui principles by his grave-robbing grandfather, Tianyi is
determined to find something interesting in his mundane world. But he gets more than he bargains for when
he and his friend Kai encounter a demonic spirit in a tomb in a forgotten valley. Though they manage one
very narrow escape, there are plenty of other buried dangers. When they surface from the crypt, there are
more adventures waiting, in the form of a quest for a legendary queen's burial site. Accompanied by a
professor of archaeology, a desert guide, and a rich American girl, Tianyi and Kai lead the way to the lost
city of Jingjue, where still more fearsome things lurk. Whether these adventurers will find the treasure they
seek or be buried with the long dead is up to Tianyi. Filled to the brim with ancient and modern Chinese
history, this translation is a fun and spooky ride. It's not hard to see how Bachang became a bestseller in his
home country.--Stacey Comfort
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Comfort, Stacey. "The City of Sand." Booklist, 1 Nov. 2017, p. 45. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A515383045/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=3261a07a.
Accessed 3 Mar. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A515383045
QUOTED: "The audience is unclear: older readers may not tolerate the immature feel of the
story, but younger readers will struggle with the reading level."
3/3/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1520126512450 3/5
Bachang, Tianxia: THE CITY OF SAND
Kirkus Reviews.
(Oct. 15, 2017):
COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Bachang, Tianxia THE CITY OF SAND Delacorte (Children's Fiction) $17.99 11, 21 ISBN: 978-0-553-
52410-9
"Gold hunting is no picnic" in this adventure set in a mythical Chinese desert.
By exaggerating his feng shui expertise and lying about his age, 17-year-old Tianyi, along with his
childhood friend and fellow grave robber, Kai, is hired to lead a group of scholars and adventurers across
the Black Desert. There is no shortage of fantasy-archaeology material, as our heroes tangle with hairy
corpses that come to life, vicious sloths with sharp fangs, blinding sandstorms, and flesh-eating ants. What
begins as an intrepid expedition to find the lost city of Jingjue quickly descends into labyrinthine,
implausible plot twists. The story may appeal to those who appreciate fast-paced excavation thrillers,
complete with a "family heirloom medallion" that can be used to unlock treasure, but by the time a member
of the expedition suggests extraterrestrial beings, readers may be well and truly exasperated. Perhaps due to
the translation of this story from its original Mandarin, there is a fair amount of awkward moments. It is
often difficult to discern whether the author is actually aiming for humor. When defending himself, Tianyi
laments, "Kai and I have a good reputation. Just ask anyone in our home village! I once was voted student
of the month at my school." The audience is unclear: older readers may not tolerate the immature feel of the
story, but younger readers will struggle with the reading level.
Give this a miss. (Adventure. 10-14)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Bachang, Tianxia: THE CITY OF SAND." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Oct. 2017. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A509243943/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=78e52e52.
Accessed 3 Mar. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A509243943
QUOTED: "Tianxia's English-language debut is a richly imagined and artfully translated tale of history, adventure, and magic."
3/3/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1520126512450 4/5
The City of Sand
Publishers Weekly.
264.41 (Oct. 9, 2017): p67.
COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The City of Sand
Tianxia Bachang, trans, from the Chinese by Jeremy Tiang. Delacorte, $17.99 (256p)
ISBN 978-0-553-52410-9
Seventeen-year-old Hu Tianyi has spent years studying the ancient art of feng shui. He and his best friend
Kai plan to strike it rich by using his knowledge to locate and plunder the hidden tombs of nobles--a
practice known as gold hunting. When Tianyi's father kicks him out of the house for eschewing college to
dabble in supernatural nonsense, Tianyi and Kai travel to Beijing, where they're hired by legendary
archaeologist Professor Chen and an American millionaire, Julie Yang. Julie and the professor need Tianyi's
expertise to help them find the lost city of Jingjue. While crossing the Taklimakan Desert, the group
encounters everything from sandstorms to carnivorous ants, but those tribulations are nothing compared to
what awaits them in Jingjue. Chinese author Tianxia's English-language debut is a richly imagined and
artfully translated tale of history, adventure, and magic. Coincidences power the plot, but they're offset by a
strong sense of place and a wealth of information about Chinese myth and legend. Ages 12-up. Agent:
Jenny Savill, Andrew Nurnberg Associates. (Nov.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"The City of Sand." Publishers Weekly, 9 Oct. 2017, p. 67. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A511293399/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=25fc9209.
Accessed 3 Mar. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A511293399
QUOTED: "He is an engaging narrator. However, the frenetic pacing makes it difficult to keep track of the plot."
3/3/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1520126512450 5/5
Bachang, Tianxia. The City of Sand
Nancy Nadig
School Library Journal.
63.10 (Oct. 2017): p99.
COPYRIGHT 2017 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No
redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
BACHANG, Tianxia. The City of Sand. 256p. Delacorte. Nov. 2017. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9780553524109.
Gr 6-9--Tianyi and his friend Kai are gold hunters who embark on the gentlemanly pursuit of locating
ancient tombs and liberating the contents. They search for ancient graves in hopes of finding artifacts they
can sell to supplement their families' meager earnings. Tianyi learned the hade from his grandfather and
hones his skills with a tattered book the old man gave him: The Sixteen Mysteries of Yin-Yang Feng Shui.
After a harrowing escape from zombie corpses, giant bats, and killer sloths, the pair head for Beijing to sell
their wares. In the city, they meet Professor Chen and Julie, a Chinese American photographer, who are
mounting an expedition to find the fabled lost city of Jingjue where Julie's father disappeared. The team
hires Tianyi and Kai to lead the expedition and guide them through the Taklimakan Desert with Tianyi's
feng shui skills. Translated from Chinese, this rollicking adventure rarely pauses. Tianyi is reminiscent of
Indiana Jones, escaping from one cursed trap after another utilizing feng shui, quick thinking, and plain old
luck. He is an engaging narrator. However, the frenetic pacing makes it difficult to keep track of the plot,
and by the end of the book, the group's harrowing escapades seem to take over the story. VERDICT A
secondary purchase; buy where action/ adventure tales are popular.--Nancy Nadig, Penn Manor School
District, Lancaster, PA
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Nadig, Nancy. "Bachang, Tianxia. The City of Sand." School Library Journal, Oct. 2017, p. 99. General
OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A507950788/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=f19954cb. Accessed 3 Mar. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A507950788