The Phoenix is a Strange Bird is a novel about two honest men caught in a war that has lost both glory and support, but nevertheless remains their mission. Advisors on a team providing assistance to a provincial government north of Saigon, the Colonel and the Captain face a weakened enemy that seldom shows its face, but manages to control the villages through terror at night. The two Americans devise a way to make pacification work. Success in a war that is winding-down has many enemies.

An “insightful cultural history of the mythical, self-immolating bird” from Ancient Egypt to contemporary pop culture by the author of The Book of Gryphons (Library Journal). The phoenix, which rises again and again from its own ashes, has been a symbol of resilience and renewal for thousands of years. But how did this mythical bird come to play a part in cultures around the world and throughout human history? Here, mythologist Joseph Nigg presents a comprehensive biography of this legendary creature. Beginning in ancient Egypt, Nigg’s sweeping narrative discusses the many myths and representations of the phoenix, including legends of the Chinese, where it was considered a sacred creature that presided over China’s destiny; classical Greece and Rome, where it appears in the writings of Herodotus and Ovid; medieval Christianity, in which it came to embody the resurrection; and in Europe during the Renaissance, when it was a popular emblem of royals. Nigg examines the various phoenix traditions, the beliefs and tales associated with them, their symbolic and metaphoric use, and their appearance in religion, bestiaries, and even contemporary popular culture, in which the ageless bird of renewal is employed as a mascot and logo. “An exceptional work of scholarship.”—Publishers Weekly

It does not matter what your eyes see, just believe. After the evil came to the woods and destroyed all that was beautiful and good, his hope was the only clue that Phoenix had when he went out for the unknown help to restore it. That hope was the magical power of love and friendship, which made Phoenix find whom he was looking for, and although the solution seemed to be simple, the degree of conviction inside of him had the final word.

Ash, who is studying in Itsutsu city to revive the convenient and plentiful life from the legends of the ancient civilization, managed to successfully produce compost and reintroduce tomatoes as an officially accepted edible food. After recovering from his fight with the werewolf, he once again aims to further improve the living standards of the city! Amidst all that, his fellow student Hermes is mocked for crafting a model airplane and daring to dream of soaring through the skies. In a world without the internal combustion engine, let alone cars, such ambitions only provoke laughter amongst his classmates, but Hermes persists. Deeply impressed by Hermes’ passion for flying, and slightly motivated by self-interest, Ash decides to help him revive aeronautical technology. He is determined to have the last laugh. This is the third chapter of the story about a young boy who sets out to revolutionize the world in order to rebuild civilization and create his ideal life!

Since the birth of the Yinyang Continent, the two races of Yin and Yang had been born and bred. The Yang Race possessed the attribute of 'goodness', and possessed all sorts of superpowers to defend their 'goodness'. The attribute of the Yin Clan was' evil '. Demons, demons, ghosts, and other creatures belonged to it. They wanted to enslave the Yang Clan and control the entire continent. A youth who had comprehended 'creating from nothing' from the 'Classic of Virtue' was not tolerated by the current Heavenly Dao and had his body destroyed. His soul, by chance and coincidence, was taken in by the Yinyang Continent and reborn into the body of an ordinary Yang Clan youth. None: "The Yang race is good, forsaken by the Evil God; the Yin race is evil, born of the Good God. Tell me what is evil and what is good? " Close]