Set in a fantasy world with equally incredible characters, our hero, Liu Ming, works his way through years of spiritual growth and martial arts achievement to gradually become far more powerful than he ever expected. In Demon's Diary Book II, Liu Ming continues along his cultivation journey in the Barbarian Ghost Sect, learning more about the world of the sects while working towards becoming a Spirit Apostle. Although Liu Ming is still labelled a Three Spiritual Pulse disciple incapable of successfully cultivating to become a Spirit Master, Liu Ming proves to everyone that he is a force to be reckoned with — many heads start towards the young man with the help of his mentors such as Zhu Chi, Scholar Gui, Martial Aunt Zhong, and a couple of unexpected elders and sect disciples from within the sect. Nicknamed the "Mission Man," Liu Ming puts himself on the board by completing various sect missions by utilizing new techniques and spells to gain more experience and expand his skill set. Liu Ming slowly gains acceptance and praise from the people around him with each mission and battle event, but with the Large Competition on the horizon, how will Liu Ming move up the ranks and ultimately prove his self-worth?

    

    Is it for children, or for adults? Is it fantasy or a psychological novel? In its great range, it encompasses poetry and farce, comedy and tragedy -and sudden flights of schoolboy humour. White's `footnote to Malory' (his own phrase) resulted in the last major retelling of the story based on Malory's Morte Darthur, and Elisabeth Brewer explores the literary context of White's finest work as wellas considering his aims and achievement in writing it.White's story of Arthur begins with his `enfances', set in an imaginary medieval England, but it is far removed from the conventional historical novel. White was writing in wartime England, a country increasingly absorbed by a need to find an antidote to war. Through the medium of the Arthurian story he found his own voice, his unique contribution to keeping alive the flame of civilisation. Malory's chivalric virtues are rejected in favour of White's own twentieth-century values; the love affair of Lancelot and Guenever is interpreted in terms of modern psychology.The books which eventually made up The Once and Future Kingof 1958 appeared in distinctly different editions. In discussing these, Elisabeth Brewer looks at some of the ways in which White drew on his own personal experience at a deep psychological level, while also incorporating into his story material inspired by his antiquarian pursuits and by his years as a schoolmaster. She completes her study with an account of White's use of historical material, and the relationship of The Once and Future King to the Morte Darthur.ELISABETH BREWER lectured in English at Homerton College, Cambridge. She is the author of books and articles on Chaucer and the Arthurian legends