The Bird That Drinks Tears

infobox Book |
name = The Bird That Drinks Tears("눈물을 마시는 새")
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = Cover design for the 4th volume of "The Bird That Drinks Tears"
author = Lee Yeongdo
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country = South Korea
language = Korean
series =
genre = Fantasy novel
publisher = Golden Branch
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media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
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isbn = NA
preceded_by = None
followed_by = The Bird That Drinks Blood

The Bird That Drinks Tears (눈물을 마시는 새, "Nunmul'l mashinuun saeh") is a fantasy series written by Lee Yeongdo, a Korean fantasy writer. A rare example of the genre Korean Fantasy, the stock characters and clichés of normal western fantasy such as elves, magic, dragons and Latin languages are instead replaced by Korean concepts such as dokkebis, ssirum, yut and ancient Korean languages (Arazit).

Publishing

The novel was first serialized in Hitel, an internet forum site, continuing the tradition that all novels by Lee Yeongdo are first serialized in the internet. After the conclusion of the serial, the book was later published through Golden Branch, a publishing company of South Korea. Due to its length, the story was published in four separate books.

*Book 1-"Nagas Who Extract Their Hearts"
*Book 2-"Lekons Who Pursuit Their Desire"
*Book 3-"Dokkebis Who Play Their Fire"
*Book 4-"Humans Who Seek Their King"

Main characters

Kaigon Draka - A mysterious human who hunts and eats nagas. He is chosen as the "pathfinder" of the Rescue Party that must rescue a naga and bring him to Haensha Archtemple.

Bihyung - A cheerful dokkebi, the butler of castlemaster. He is chosen as the "magcian" of the Rescue Party.

Tinahan - An arrogant lekon who bent on the dream of climbing on the back of Sky Fish. He is chosen as the "defeater" of the Rescue Party.

Ryun Pei - A young naga that is ever haunted by the murder of his father that he witnessed. He is sent on a mission to leave Keyboren and reach Haensha Archtemple, where he must help to save all four mankinds.

Races

The fictional world of "The Bird That Drinks Tears" is inhabited by four major intelligent races - Human, naga, lekon and dokkaebi. Other than the humankind, the races that appear in "The Bird That Drinks Tears" are in most respects Lee Yeongdo's original creations, even though the race of naga and dokkaebi originates from Indian and Korean legends, respectively.

Sequels

Currently, Lee Yeongdo has written only one sequel to "The Bird That Drinks Tears" which is "The Bird That Drinks Blood".

It is expected that Lee Yeongdo will write two more sequels, because of the quote in the series that mentions four birds. In the book there is a riddle about four bird brothers. One bird drank water, one drank poison, one drank blood and one drank tears. The riddle asks who of the four birds will die first. This riddle appears repeatedly throughout both "The Bird That Drinks Tears" and "The Bird That Drinks Blood", and is entwined with many of the themes that run through two series.

Because of this riddle, many people expect that Lee Yeongdo will write two more sequels to this Bird series, "The Bird That Drinks Poison" and "The Bird That Drinks Water". However, Lee Yeongdo has not yet confirmed this rumour and whether he would actually continue to finish all four birds is still unknown.