Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart

 

So after not one but two recommendations, I have read this book. While in many ways the ancient China of the novel is dated, it was clearly written with deep love for the culture and its folklore (and arguably the folklore and fiction of other places--it can't be an accident that Key Rabbit repeatedly says, "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear," and I spotted Russian folklore in the person of Koshchei) with just a touch of modern flippancy. The characters are tidily drawn, and the story unfolds cleanly if not always expectedly.