Clever and powerful Sun Wukong isn’t content to be king over the monkeys – he wants to live forever!

After traveling far to learn the secret, he rejects the master’s teachings of humility, instead stealing immortal peaches and magical weapons.

The great gods’ efforts to punish the now-indestructible Monkey King lead him to encounter the Amitbha Buddha, with dire results.

Young Buddhist monk Tang Sanzang longs to help all those in need, so he is directed to find sacred sutras in India.

Thanks to Bodhisattva Guanyin‘s compassion, Tang meets the mischievous Monkey King who can protect him on the long, perilous journey to the West.

Can Sun Wukong renounce his wickedness to help Tang on his pilgrimage?

The monk and scoundrel-hero are joined by a dragon-horse, a pig, and a sand-monk who want to atone for their own past sins.

Many adventures and battles with villains of the natural and supernatural worlds lie between our travelers and the object of their quest!

Known widely as Journey to the West, this adventurous saga inspired by the travels of a Buddhist monk was written by Wu Cheng’En (Ruzhong) in China during the late 1500s and is considered a Classic Masterwork of Chinese literature.

Where has your search for knowledge and peace taken you?
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Book info: The Monkey King: The Complete Odyssey / adapted and illustrated by Chaiko. Magnetic Press, 2023. [artist site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher*.

*Full disclosure: Chaiko’s drawing style seemed very familiar to me and after reading the entire book, I realized why: I had backed the Kickstarter for publication of its English translation from French! That PDF was still in my digital to-be-read folder when the beautiful full-color glossy paper 320 page edition recently arrived for review.