Photo: Lionel Bonaventure/AFP via Getty Images (2014)
Sample of authors
Qiu Xiaolong
Qiu Xiaolong is a Chinese author, poet, translator and scholar. He was born in Shanghai and grew up in post-revolution China. During the Cultural Revolution, when students were forced into the countryside to "learn from the peasants", Qiu remained in the city as he was often bedridden due to a respiratory problem. With nothing to do during long, tedious days he began to practice tai chi in the...
Literary figures
John Thorndyke
Gender: Male
A classic in crime literature, regarded as the first ‘scientific’ detective. Dr John Evelyn Thorndyke not only has degrees in Law and Medicine, he is also a forensic technician and pathologist, explains R. Austin Freeman in his books. Thorndyke is tall and strong, he is handsome, has exceptionally good eyesight and hearing, and a clever laboratory assistant called Polton.