Lee Youngdo
Lee Youngdo is a Korean novelist known for his work in the fantasy and science fiction genre. He is best known for his Dragon Raja series of fantasy novels which is also his debut work and The Bird That Drinks Tears acclaimed for its distinct races and unique worldbuilding.
At the time Dragon Raja was first published in 1998, Korean readership for fantasy genre was considered unsubstantial and unaccounted for by press; but Dragon Raja reportedly sold close to 2 million books in 4 languages. This was a significant feat for the fantasy genre in Korea where the annual circulation of domestic literature and fiction titles as a whole, ranges between 12~20 million copies.
Dragon Raja's success has prompted a rapid growth of Korean fantasy and science fiction genre, and contributed to the growing acceptance of web fiction in 2000s, referred to as "Internet literature" at the time, both by the country's general public and literary world. Lee is widely regarded as one of the best-selling fantasy writers in Korea.
Background
Early life
Lee was born in 1972 in Busan, South Korea, the first child of two brothers. When Lee was 2 years old, his family moved to Masan in South Gyeongsang Province where he has lived since. As a child he read heavily in various subjects. In 1991 he entered Kyungnam University where he studied Korean language and literature.He started writing seriously from 1993, but didn't think that he would be writing novels.
Beginnings of the "typer"
Mid-1990s were when fantasy and science fiction literature was just being introduced to Korea. Lee remembered that "if you asked people what is fantasy, they would say 'Isn't that like western martial arts'" in a 2008 interview. He found the genre attractive and decided to try a story with it. At the time, several online services, similar to CompuServe in the U.S., emerged in Korea. Lee joined one such provider, Hitel, to start posting on its Serial forum what would be the first chapters of Dragon Raja.Lee serialized Dragon Raja from October 1997 to April 1998, referring to himself as "typer" rather than a writer, due to his method of composing directly on a keyboard. The work gained significant popularity during its run, reportedly attracting readers who waited online for new chapters, often posted after midnight. This pattern led to an informal nickname among fans, who humorously referred to themselves as zombies and to Lee as the Necromancer, a reflection of the serialized nature and late-night updates. Over the six-month serialization, Dragon Raja accumulated approximately 900,000 hits, prompting Golden Bough, an imprint of Minumsa Publishing Group, to acquire the publishing rights. The novel was subsequently released beginning in May 1998 in 12 paperback volumes.
In the midst of his debut success, Lee began typing his second novel Future Walker, a sequel to Dragon Raja. Future Walker was serialised on the same forum from October 1998 to June 1999, and published in August by Golden Bough in 7 paperback volumes.
Lee continued to use Hitel's serial forum for writing his novels such as Polaris Rhapsody, The Bird That Drinks Tears, The Bird That Drinks Blood and a few short stories. All of these stories were published upon completion or collected in later publications by Golden Bough, which remains Lee's publisher today.
This practice of online serialization and getting published based on its popularity surged in fantasy, science, romance fiction in Korea. Online forums dedicated to these genres opened in hundreds by 2000 attracting prospective writers, and caused the boom of the Internet literature.
Outside the forum he published a short story Over the Horizon as an e-book in 2000, and wrote a series of children's stories for RedPen study books published by Kyowon Co. Ltd.
After Hitel
The popularization of HTTP and the Web browser caused the decline of Hitel and other commercial online services, and Lee's readership on the forum was greatly reduced. But Lee continued to use Hitel forum to 2005, completing The Bird That Drinks Blood, the last of his multi-volume novels as of July 2014.After the forum was closed in 2007 Lee said in an interview that he was searching for a place to serialize his work online, saying that "the realtime feedback from the readers is a big joy, and I miss that feeling."
But he found it difficult to find a replacement to the old text-only forum, which was "easier for to access because 's white text on blue limited one's expression to text,
and it enabled to show individuality purely through words." The web's increased sense of community and of the writer's presence thereby, made it more difficult for him. "I believe words and people are separate," Lee said, "some people may like a writing and want to find about the writer, but I don't."
Between 2005 and 2008 Lee wrote several short stories for science fiction magazines, including Regarding the Translation of KAIWAPANDOM which has been translated into English.
There were talks of publishing Dragon Raja in the United States in 2006, to which Lee's response was "I don't want to disgrace our country."
Lee's publisher Golden Bough has run an online community from 2000 and invite the fan community to get involved in publication of Lee's books, such as limited edition campaigns, audiobook productions, and previews for upcoming works.
Officially, not much is known about Lee's life outside writing, other than that he helps out at his parents' persimmon farm in his spare time.
Writing (or Typing)
Since his debut with Dragon Raja Lee has been recognized for his prolific output, having published 40 books, including six novels, in the span of seven years. When asked about his writing speed, he remarked "it just gets written, and once started I can't contain it, and sometimes write as much as a day," while also noting that "each line after line is hard still."Lee often incorporates wordplay and philosophical discourse into his work, frequently exploring metaphysical themes. He described his approach as "the way I like is, even if it becomes difficult, separating what can be separated."
Korean fantasy genre
Lee is often credited as one of the pioneers for fantasy literature in Korea for helping legitimize the genre within the country's literary circles. His works are known for their large-scale worldbuilding and for incorporating political and philosophical themes. Lee has been reluctant to comment on critical interpretations of his work.In an interview with Naver Lee stated that "fantasy is better when read as fantasy", expressing concern that excessive allegorical readings could obscure a work's imaginative value. He remarked:
He continued:
Lee compared the experience of reading fantasy to entering another world to give or gain something, and then returning to reality, citing The Neverending Story by Michael Ende as an example. He also noted being "fantastic" has little to do with a fantasy work's overall quality.
Style and major themes
Lee's writing style is characterized by frequent use of defamiliarization, with metaphysical and philosophical conversations forming a core element of his narratives.A recurring theme in Lee's work examination of human nature, especially humanity's capacity for change. In Dragon Raja series, humans are portrayed as a race defined not by innate strength—unlike elves, dwarves, or dragons—but by their ability to change the world and shape time. This theme is further developed in Future Walker which explores how this transformative capacity influences the future.
In Polaris Rhapsody Lee explores the human desire for revenge and freedom within feudal conflicts and pirate wars. The story also introduces the Highmasters of Pandamonium, figures comparable to Seven Princes of Hell, who collectively vote on the fate of humanity.
Lee's novels often delve into religion and political power structures. In Polaris Rhapsody a religious institution resembling the medieval Catholic Church coexists with the Highmasters, who play active roles in politics and warfare. In The Bird That Drinks Tears, the world is shaped by a cosmology of four gods, each associated with a specific race. Each race receives distinct traits and gifts from its patron deity, and the balance of power among these gods sustains the flow of the world. If any one is disrupted, the world's cycle is thrown into disorder. The title of the novel refers to an ideal ruler—one who "drinks the tears" of others; symbolizing compassion and the burden of leadership.
The concept of the king—an ideal ruler—reappears throughout Lee's works. In The Bird That Drinks Tears the human race is portrayed as seeking the king, and its sequel, The Bird That Drinks Blood, depicts an empire founded by this ideal king. The empire achieves peace and order, governed from a grand flying capital. The story is presented through multiple character perspectives, each relating to the empire's power and their own roles within or against it.
Wordplay involving Korean language appears frequently in Lee's character and creature names. In Dragon Raja and Future Walker, for example, the character name "Karl" reflect his sharp intellect, as "kal" means "knife" in Korean. Similarly, "Sanson" alludes to strength in battle, derived from "ssen son" meaning "strong hands." In Polaris Rhapsody, the brothers Sopala and Sosara have names that translate to “Sellcow” and “Buycow.”In The Bird That Drinks Blood, the brothers Saramal and Paramal mean “Buyhorse” and “Sellhorse” respectively. The same novel features two skyrays from opposing factions named Sori and Mali. These names carry multiple meanings in Korean: Sori can mean "sound" or "cow-ry,” and Mali can mean “jasmine flower” or “horse-ry."
''Dragon Raja'' series
Set in a fantasy world influenced by the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and Dungeons & Dragons, the series explores themes of change, identity, and power.Dragon Raja Future Walker Marks of Shadow - Set a thousand years after the original novelsShort stories
Golem Chimera- ''The Source of Happiness''
Children's book
Wisdom of the Desert - An illustrated story published as part of Dragon Raja 's 10th anniversary edition''The Bird'' series
Critically noted for its use of archaic Korean and mythological depth, the series features four races and their deities.The Bird That Drinks TearsShort story collections
You Are My - A special short story published for the 20th anniversary of The Bird That Drinks Tears.Sketches - Contains six short stories by Lee, published for the 20th anniversary of The Bird That Drinks Tears.Spin-off
Elegy of the Forest - A fan-fiction anthology of six short stories set in the Bird series universe, written by other authors and selected via a competition held by the publisher. Lee contributed commentary on each story.''Over'' series
Set in a small frontier town protected by Deputy Sheriff Tir Strike and Sheriff Ifari, blending fantasy and social commentary.- ''Over the Choice''
Short stories
Over the Horizon Over the Nebula- ''Over the Mist''
Other works
Polaris Rhapsody tells the story of pirates, medieval empires and the church.Chapter of Shiha and Kanta - A Story of the Mart Sir Urstam's Last Words- * Related short stories: Esoril's Dragon, ''Shangpi's Miners''
Speculative short fiction
Collected in Regarding Starknitting Mysterious Stories Spring Is Here Regarding the Translation of KAIWAPANDOM – English translation availableRegarding the Robot that Became A Savior Regarding the Meaning of Teleportation The Eye Looking at Me Regarding Starknitting- ''Regarding the Mother of Vengeance''
Other collected works
Lee Youngdo's Stories of Fantasy Over the Horizon: A Collection of Lee Youngdo's Fantastic Stories- ''Over the Horizon: Short & Novella by Lee Youngdo''
Adaptations
Video games
Dragon Raja & Future Walker
The world and characters of Dragon Raja and Future Walker have been adapted into several games. One of the earliest was Dragon Raja Online, a PC MMORPG released in 10 countries, including Taiwan and China, where it was marked under the title 龍族. The novel was published as the same title and promoted alongside the game in these markets.Several mobile games based on Dragon Raja have since been released, including the action RPG Dragon Raja M and Dragon Raja Origin.
The Bird That Drinks Tears
In August 2022, the game company Krafton announced Project Windless, a video game adaptation of The Bird That Drinks Tears. The company unveiled concept art and cinematic trailers and published an art book Crossing the Limit featuring development insights and artworks by 17 artists including renowned film designer Iain McCaig.The project is currently under development by Krafton Montreal, led by a team that includes former Ubisoft developers.
Illustrated editions
The Japanese edition of Dragon Raja and Future Walker are illustrated by Eiji Kaneda, best known for his work for the anime Genesis of Aquarion.Some of Lee's short stories Regarding the Translation of KAIWAPANDOM and Regarding Starknitting include illustrations.
The 20th anniversary editions of The Bird That Drinks Tears and The Bird That Drinks Blood feature new artworks by Seongmin Baek, known for his Korean painting style graphic novels.