* 2025 Golden Tripod Award
In this fantasy novel incorporating the myths and legends of Taiwan’s indigenous Bunun people, a young man and his companions set out to save the moon. This fascinating adventure story is also a modern myth that contemplates the relationship between humans and nature.
On a small island, on a night when the constellation of a hunter aiming his bow at the moon appeared in the heavens, a boy was born in Kalibuan Village. Attacked by a crow right after leaving his mother’s womb, he would have died had it not been for the timely rescue of a spirit incarnated as a white muntjac. The numerous omens at his time of birth caused his parents to name him Subali – “sun” – after his grandfather, hoping the future would bring him similar respect. The boy remained weak, however, so his parents renamed him Buan – “moon” – a name divined from a dream. Buan grew.
At that time, the tribe could cook half a grain of millet to make an entire potful, and when someone needed wood for a fire, a sang (red pine) would arrive at their door. Buan, who displayed an extraordinary talent for archery, had a happy childhood. Later, however, the people became lazy and squandered Heaven’s favor. They even bullied a toad sent as a divine messenger. Disappointed, Heaven decided to withdraw what it had given. A fire demon then took over the moon. Buan and his people repelled an invasion of magical beasts, but life without any nighttime became increasingly difficult.
The spirits told Buan he must save the moon; otherwise, its death would mean the end of the world. To subdue the fire demon, they would have to travel to the holy Tongku Saveq, the one mountain that came nearest to the moon.…
Bunun writer Neqou Soqluman, fascinated since childhood by the stories the Bunun tribal elders passed down, was inspired by The Lord of the Rings to create an ancient fantasy world based on his village, Kalibuan, and nearby Jade Mountain (Tongku Saveq in the Bunun language). His vivid descriptions and fertile imagination weave together familiar legends with the heroic journey of a young man and his companions.