The Bayan Har Mountains , formerly known as the Bayen-káras or Bayan-Kara-Ula , are a mountain range in Qinghai Province , northwest China. The name is Mongolian for "Rich and Black". It can be viewed as one of the branches of the Kunlun Mountains . It separates the drainage areas of both the Yellow and the Yangtze rivers. The source of the Yellow River is the Yueguzonglie Basin ( Gyaring - Ngoring Lakes), which is located in the northern part of the range.
18-645: The wizard Shang Ko in Barbara Hambly 's fantasy Bride of the Rat God (1994) is described by his grandson as "the greatest of the mages of China, the last of the line of sorcerers of the Bayan Har Shan". The Bayan Har mountain range is also mentioned in the first episode of the anime Ranma ½ (1989), based on the manga series by Rumiko Takahashi , when Ranma and his father take a trip through China in order to perfect their martial training. In
36-514: A brilliant, classically educated, free colored surgeon and musician living in New Orleans during the antebellum years of the 1830s. At the time, New Orleans had a large and prosperous population of free people of color. Born a slave, as his mother was enslaved, January was freed as a young child by his mother's lover, under the plaçage system. Provided with an excellent education, he gained fluency in several classical and modern languages, and
54-452: A drab but romantic-minded governess , Margaret Potton, to travel with them as Lydia's chaperon . The three of them trail Asher across Europe to Constantinople , as he joins forces with Farren's strong-willed and alluring vampire-wife, Anthea. In Constantinople, the trail dies, as Asher has been kidnapped by the vampire lord of the city, who is struggling to keep control as a rival seeks to destroy him. Asher tries to uncover his own role in
72-534: A sense of loss and regret. Hambly's characters suffer the pain of frustrated aspirations to a degree that is uncommon in most fantasy novels. Though using many standard clichés and plot devices of the fantasy genre, her works explore the ethical implications of the consequences of these devices, and what their effect is for the characters, were they real people. In avoiding the "...easy consolatory self-identification of genre fantasy" (p. 449) and refusing to let her work be guided more explicitly by conventions and
90-676: A year in Bordeaux as part of her studies. She chose work that allowed her time to write; all of her novels contain a biography paragraph with a litany of jobs: high school teacher , model , waitress, technical editor, all-night liquor store clerk, and Shotokan karate instructor. Her first published novel was The Time of the Dark (1982). Hambly served as President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America from 1994 to 1996. Her works have been nominated for many awards in
108-654: Is an American novelist and screenwriter within the genres of fantasy , science fiction , mystery , and historical fiction . She is the author of the bestselling Benjamin January mystery series featuring a free man of color , a musician and physician, in New Orleans in the antebellum years. She also wrote a novel about Mary Todd Lincoln . Her science fiction novels occur within an explicit multiverse , as well as within previously existing settings (notably as established by Star Trek and Star Wars ). Hambly
126-751: The fantasy and horror fiction categories, winning a Locus Award for Best Horror Novel Those Who Hunt the Night (1989) (released in the UK as Immortal Blood ) and the Lord Ruthven Award for fiction for its sequel, Traveling with the Dead (1996). Hambly was married for some years to George Alec Effinger , a science fiction writer. He died in 2002. She lives in Los Angeles. Hambly speaks freely of suffering from seasonal affective disorder , which
144-744: The Rings , she affixed images of dragons to her bedroom door. She became interested in costumery from an early age, and has been a long-time participant in Society for Creative Anachronism activities. In the mid-1960s, the Hambly family spent a year in Australia. Hambly has a Master's in Medieval History from the University of California, Riverside . She completed her degree in 1975 and spent
162-677: The anthology Dark Delicacies II: Fear ) is set in the world of the James Asher novels but does not feature Asher himself. Traveling with the Dead Traveling with the Dead is a 1995 horror / mystery novel by American writer Barbara Hambly . It was first published in hardcover by Del Rey/Ballantine in September 1995, with a paperback edition following from the same publisher in November 1996. The first British edition
180-585: The danger. But Lydia is aware of something Asher does not know: an obscure footnote in one of her medical journals clues her into the fact that the safe house Asher is planning to use is in the hands of a double agent , actually in league with Karolyi. To save her husband, Lydia seeks the assistance of the oldest of the London vampires: the enigmatic and haughty Simon Ysidro. Ysidro agrees to help, to keep Farren from forming an alliance with humans, but on one condition: over Lydia's strenuous objections, he recruits
198-414: The dangerous world of the undead . It is 1908, and a weary Asher, traveling home from his tiresome duties as executor of a relative's estate, spots Charles Farren, vampire Earl of Ernchester, clearly involved in some intrigue with mercenary and enemy spy Ignace Karolyi. Asher, who had left the secret service years ago to wed Lydia, reluctantly trails the pair to Paris , wiring Lydia to alert her to
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#1732765071050216-577: The desires of her audience, Hambly may have missed out on more remunerative success and acclaim. Although magic exists in many of her settings, it is not used as an easy solution but follows rules and takes energy from the wizards. The unusual settings are generally rationalized as alternative universes. Hambly heavily researches her settings, either in person or through books, frequently drawing upon her degree in medieval history for background and depth. This historical mystery series begins with A Free Man of Color (1997) and features Benjamin January ,
234-430: The power struggle, for this may hold the key to his survival. Meanwhile, Lydia and Ysidro explore the city, Lydia through Asher's diplomatic connections, Ysidro through his nocturnal prowlings, seeking any clue as to where Asher and Charles have disappeared to, even as Margaret's obsession with Ysidro and jealousy of Lydia endanger them all. Only by unwinding the threads of money trails, strange business transactions, and
252-480: The story, they are both cursed by the (fictional) magical springs of Jusenkyo, which sets up the main running gag of the series. 34°42′N 98°13′E / 34.700°N 98.217°E / 34.700; 98.217 This Qinghai location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Sichuan location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Barbara Hambly Barbara Hambly (born August 28, 1951)
270-512: Was born in San Diego, California and grew up in Montclair , California . Her parents, Everett Edward Hambly Jr. and Florence Elizabeth (Moraski) Hambly, are from Fall River, Massachusetts; and Scranton, Pennsylvania (respectively). She has an older sister, Mary Ann Sanders, and a younger brother, Everett Edward Hambly, III. In her early teens, after reading J. R. R. Tolkien 's The Lord of
288-499: Was published in paperback by Voyager in September 1995. An ebook edition was issued by Open Road Integrated Media in March 2011. The novel has also been translated into French . The novel placed second in the 1996 Locus Poll Award for Best Horror/Dark Fantasy Novel , and won the 1996 Lord Ruthven Award for fiction. In this sequel to Those Who Hunt the Night , professor James Asher and his young wife, Lydia, are again swept up in
306-563: Was thoroughly versed in the whole of classical Western learning and arts. He studied medicine in Paris, where he trained as a surgeon. He returned to Louisiana to escape the memory of his late wife, a woman from North Africa. As a free black in Louisiana, he cannot find work as a surgeon. He earns a modest living by his exceptional talent as a musician. Windrose novellas/novelettes: The short story "Sunrise on Running Water" (2007, published in
324-505: Was undiagnosed for some time. Hambly's work has several themes. She has a penchant for unusual characters within the fantasy genre, such as the menopausal witch and reluctant scholar-lord in the Winterlands trilogy, or the philologist secret service agent in the vampire novels. Her writing is filled with rich descriptions and characters whose actions bear consequences for both their lives and relationships, suffusing her series with
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