July 2, 2020

AMBUSH

Ambush by Hongcheng Yu is the story of a feud between two warlords during the Qin Empire.


After the Qin empire was overthrown two thousand years ago, the kingdom split into many factions, and two of the strongest warlords, Xiang Yu and Liu Bang, struggled to become the ruler of China. One day Liu Biang's army launched a surprise attack against Xiang Yu's army in the Chu Kingdom, unleashing a war filled with betrayal and, yes, multiple ambushes. And while who will win is anyone's guess, the journey is colorful and full of adrenaline.


The illustrations, created from cut paper, inks, and watercolor paints, are evocative of imagery from the Han dynasty, but the colors that creator Hongcheng Yu chose to use help energize each scene. Yu is the first Chinese illustrator to win a best work award at the Bologna Illustration Fair, and it's no wonder why, what with her ability to turn an otherwise tragic period of time into a masterful work of art and storytelling. The texture of the paper seeps right through the watercolored images so that there's a sensation of delicacy to the pages as we journey through this violent piece of Chinese history.


Ambush published from Reycraft Books in May. And here's a peek underneath the dust jacket!




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