Showing results by narrator "Ewan Chung" in All Categories

Taipei is rocked by the back-to-back murders of a petty criminal and a police captain just as the city is preparing to host the big Austronesian Cultural Festival. The celebration is set to bring in indigenous performers from all around the Pacific Rim to the island nation of Taiwan. Jing-nan, the proprietor of Unknown Pleasures, a popular food stand at Taipei’s largest night market, is thrown into the intrigue. Is he being set up to take the rap, or will he be the next victim? T

Cloudsoar City is a place for crouching tigers and hidden dragons. It is a place where all species, be it beasts, humans, demons, or spirits, come to seek out a better life. In this city, one has to fight to gain what they want and oppose or succumb to a faction of the princes that compete for the throne. Intrigues and selfish desires alleviated their strength, but to navigate through these schemes one needs an astute mind and a ruthless personality. 

On the continent of Tiandi, humans lived amongst beasts, demons, and spirits. Here, warriors were as common as the clouds in the sky, and each expert could either cultivate their inner energy known as Qi, or their soul, to form Spiritual Energy. In the village of Jinwei, Luo Xiao grew up like a beautiful bird locked in a cage. He was weak from birth and unable to leave his bed for an extended period of time, yet his beauty made him well-liked amongst the villagers.

As the late-emperor's first-born, Princess Lu knows the throne rightfully belongs to her. She also can't forget her promise to shape-shifter Nok, the boy she loves, to win justice for his now powerless people. Yet even with an army at her side, Lu must face a major obstacle: the current empress, her younger sister, Min. Princess Min used to live in Lu's shadow. Now she wields an ancient magic, one she's determined to use to forge her own path for the empire, even if that means making enemies in court.

Mimi is drowning in the world's trash. She's a waste worker on Silicon Isle, an island off the coast of China where electronics are sent to be recycled. These amass in towering heaps, polluting every spare inch of land. Mimi and thousands of migrant waste workers like her are lured to Silicon Isle with the promise of a better life. They're the lifeblood of the island's economy but are at the mercy of those in power. A storm is brewing between ruthless local gangs warring for control.

Francis Arrowsmith is a man without a country, a soldier-of-fortune in search of a war. An English orphan raised in France by exiled Jesuits, he hopes to make a quick pile out of his rare skills in building and operating artillery. Little does he know that when he joins a Portuguese expedition to aid the decadent and corrupt Ming dynasty in its fight against the Manchu invaders, he is embarking on a journey that will merge his destiny with the fate of China itself.   

Jing-nan has known Peggy Lee, a bullying frenemy who runs her family's huge corporation, since high school. Peggy's father has been kidnapped, and the ransom the kidnappers are demanding is not money but IP: a high-tech memory chip that they want to sell in China. Jing-nan feels sorry for Peggy until she starts blackmailing him into helping out. Peggy is worried the kidnappers' deadline will pass before the police are able to track down the chip. But when the reluctant Jing-nan tries to help, he finds himself deeper and deeper in trouble with some very unsavory characters.

In Taiwan, the Mid-Autumn Festival is a time for prioritizing family. When 25-year-old Jing-nan's gangster uncle, Big Eye, asks a favor, Jing-nan can't exactly say no, especially because two goons are going to follow him around to make sure he gets it done right. The favor is this: Big Eye's 16-year-old daughter, Mei-ling, has a biker boyfriend from the wrong side of the tracks and Big Eye wants Jing-nan to bring her to Taipei, away from the bad influences, and straighten her out.

Liberal democracy is in crisis around the world, besieged by authoritarianism, nationalism, and other illiberal forces. Far-right parties are gaining traction in Europe, Vladimir Putin tightens his grip on Russia and undermines democracy abroad, and America struggles with poisonous threats from the right and left. But the defenders of democracy are strong, too.