Setting aside the retellings of online fantasy, this work is a comprehensive survey of China's gods and demons that returns to their roots. It traces the origins of traditional mythology, draws on the orthodox deities recorded in Daoist scriptures, includes folk gods nurtured by local traditions, and gathers the myriad spirits and monsters found throughout the land. Every immortal, god, ghost, and demon recorded here is based on ancient texts or folk legends, not invented out of thin air by the author. Rather than calling it a novel, it would be more fitting to call it a true-to-source compendium of China's immortals and spirits.
