This first title is The Flock of Ba-Hui, and it couldn’t be more Lovecraftian or more readable. In the first tale, from which the collection takes its title, a dissident anthropologist escapes from a psychiatric hospital where he has been incarcerated. As they go down into it they discover horrifying murals depicting human and other sacrifices on a vast scale, followed by cannibalism. After a long voyage in which he sees all the beauties of the world, the artist decides to ascend the tower. It’s unusual for this book in beginning with a relatively recent event, a death in 2013, though much of its action takes place a hundred years earlier.

Source: Taipei Times February 19, 2020 15:56 UTC