This book is for anyone looking to understand the art of Eastern storytelling or for those wishing to expand their mindset and skillset outside of their Western core. Henry Lien is a talented, award-winning author born in Taiwan who now resides in California. His Asian/Pacific American heritage shines through in his works, and he has also taught classes for 'Writing The Other' on non-Western writing structures. This is not a step-by-step guide to writing in non-Western structures but rather an enhancement of the Western storytelling mindset. Lien breaks down stories, films, video games, and songs into their elements and structures to illustrate Eastern storytelling stylistics in an easy-to-understand manner. This is a fascinating read, which I'll be re-referencing as I travel along my own writers' journey. *I received an advance reader copy for free, and I'm voluntarily leaving a review*

Covering both the East Asian story structure of kishotenketsu and the nested/circular structure of Eastern tales of The Arabian Nights, Lien’s book is the essential introduction to story structures as alternatives to the Hero’s Journey, making the distinct connection between stories as a textual reflection of the cultural values of the storyteller/listener/reader. Lien demonstrates that these story structures are as universally understood as other forms, using examples from the films of Studio Ghibli, adventure games like the Legend of Zelda, and Oscar winners Parasite and Everything Everywhere All At Once, amongst others, as well as the stories that are 100% Western story structures wrapped in East Asian camouflage. I’ve read a lot of writing books but this is the first dedicated to kishotenketsu (which I won’t go into here), and it couldn’t be more timely or charming. This is an essential read for any reader or writer to understand where the energy of a novel, short story or poem comes from, and how even the most domestic or miniature of these texts connects to bigger themes. From small acorns mighty oaks grow.

This was absolutely super. I’ve often found myself struggling with two separate but related things: the apparent “diversity” of putting Global Majority characters inside plots that seem pretty Western to me, and the often completely alien feeling of reading a writer whose approach to plot, characterisation, pacing, and other literary building blocks is obviously formed by a totally different tradition. (This is the feeling I had when reading Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi’s Kintu, for example, and several other African authors like Amos Tutuola; it’s also a feeling I get when contemplating much J- and K-lit.) Lien’s explanation for this makes total sense to me: the structure is different, first of all, and secondly—a very useful dictum—”values inform structures”. (He’s not super-prescriptive about all of this, thankfully; the case studies, which take in very Western media that use “Eastern” techniques like four-act, nested, and circular structures as well as Eastern media that uses three-act structures, are good at making clear the contingency of these theories.) His illustrations and dissections of three- vs. four-act structures are forensic, erudite, and deeply loving of the properties he discusses, from Metroid and Parasite to Never Let Me Go and Disney’s Mulan (and a hilarious reassessment of The Hobbit). I’m already fired up to use this in my own undergraduate teaching on plot and structure! Highly recommended to anyone interested in how stories are (or can be) put together.