The Heart of the Nhaga: Book One of the Bird That Drinks Tears

Welcome to Lee Young-do's epic classic series, The Bird That Drinks Tears. The master of Korean fantasy--often cited as the J.R.R. Tolkien of South Korea--Lee Young-do has created a tale of castles built on the backs of flying mantas, giant birdmen, heartless immortals, and a quest that will change the very nature of the world and its gods, available for the first time in English by award-winning translator Anton Hur.

Three handles one.

The world is divided by the Line of Limit. To the north are the Tokkebi--fire people able to manipulate flames as both weapons and illusions; Rekon--giant birdmen with immense strength and warrior acumen; and the humans--as divided as the other races are unified. To the south are the Nhaga--a reptilian people who relinquish their hearts for immortality. For centuries, the races didn't cross that line, but change is in the air. A Nhaga is being sent North...and a trio is being dispatched to make sure this agent from the South makes it out alive--one from each race.

But the illusion of a simple journey is quickly dispelled by the fact that the Tokkebi is merely a scholar, not an adventurer; the Rekon is deathly afraid of water; and the human hunts and eats Nhaga. And when the Nhaga they're supposed to be escorting out of the Kiboren forest is murdered, the one sent in his place turns out to very much have a heart--meaning he's quite vulnerable to the dangerous exodus.

The four must quickly forge an alliance and shed the distrust and prejudice that plagues them if they are to survive. And just as crucial, they must figure out what this mission is actually about, because unbeknownst to them, the very fate of the world might rest on this one Nhaga making it to the North intact.

A classic not to be missed, The Heart of the Nhaga is epic fantasy at its best, translated into English for the first time ever by award-winning translator Anton Hur.

Widely acknowledged as the father of Korean fantasy genre, Lee Young-do is an exceptionally imaginative writer who builds elaborate worlds and fills them with complex characters rendered through his narrative that strikes a brilliant balance between comedy and poetry. His books have sold over 5 million copies: including the series The Dragon Raja, Future Walker, Polaris Rhapsody, The Bird that Drinks Tears, and The Bird that Drinks Blood, as well as a short story collection, Over the Horizon, and a novel Over the Choice.

Anton Hur was born in Stockholm, Sweden, and was subsequently raised in six different countries on four different continents, including British Hong Kong, Ethiopia, the United States, and Thailand, but he spent most of his time in Korea. He has worked as an interpreter and translator for more than two decades. In 2022, he was double longlisted and shortlisted for the International Booker Prize, and, in 2023, his translation of Bora Chung's Cursed Bunny was a finalist for the National Book Awards. He lives in Seoul.