I've fallen prey to the mystique of the East

[Corvo]

Can anyone recommend any fantasy books with an Eastern/Oriental theme, rather than, say, a medieval theme? Something with katana's instead of broadswords, Emperors instead of Kings, pagodas instead of castles, that sort of thing. Something either set in Asia or in an alternate world equivalent. It wouldn't have to be very fantastical, just so long as it's got some fantasy ingredients, such as wars or quests or something, or if it's just set in the past so it's got that ancient, mythical feel. I guess more of these sorts of novels are published by Asian authors, so I would be less likely to have heard of them.

Although I haven't read them, the following come to mind:

Across the Nightingale Floor (Lian Hearn)
The Years of Rice and Salt (Kim Stanley Robinson)
Legend of the Five Rings series

One that I have read is "The Journey to the West" (Wu Cheng'en) which is a mythical folk story. Anything like that is right up my alley, don't discount it because it's old.

Oh, I just thought of another example: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. It's not a fantasy in that it's set in the real world, but it's definitely got elements of a fantasy story. And it's set in the past. Unfortunately, the book version hasn't been translated into English yet.

 

[Oponn]

Across the Nightingale Floor has two sequels available, just in case you haven't read them.

Other reccomendations would be:
The Empire Trilogy - Raymond Fiest and Janny Wurts (better than anything either has written seperately)
Genpei - Kara Dalkey. It is based on Japanese folklore. It takes placed during the Genpei wars that happened in Japan. It's has strong historical ties, but, throws in the fantastic tale that history is so often color'd by.
Gonji - T.C. Rypel. These are out of print, but, their are five books in the serious about wandering Samurai who travels over Europe. Alternate type History with magic.. Hard to find though
The Sunset Warrior series - Eric Van Lustbader
Sean Russell's excellent Gatherer of Clouds and The Initiate Brother.
David Wingrove's Chung Kuo -series (if possible, don't read the last book which is awful)
E. Hoffman Price’s The Devil Wives of Li Fong.
The Chosen - Ricardo Pinto (one of my favourite series (the second is called The Standing Dead), however the first half of this book is very slow)

 

[GreenMonkey]

The Empire Trilogy - Raymond Fiest and Janny Wurts (better than anything either has written seperately)

Agree 100%. One of my very favorite trilogies.

 

[Themistocles]

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, though not really fantasy, may be just what you want. It's huge though.

And I'm going to have to pimp Kaze no tane no Nausicaa again here. It's a future fantasy manga, but it's one of my favourite pieces of literature. An engaging and touching epic, with a host of perfectly-imagined characters, in which shades of grey predominate. Sublime.

 

[Corvo]

I've heard of Eric Van Lustbader, and I know that some of his books have words like "ninja" in the title, but that's as far as my knowledge goes. I got the impression they were more along the lines of thrillers or crime stories. Am I way off?

I've also heard of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Do you know of an unabridged English translation?

And thanks for the suggestions.

 

[funes]

It may be a little out of your wheelhouse, but you should take a look at Barry Hughart's Bridge of Birds. There is also a guy who writes alternate history/detective books set in a world in which the Ottoman empire still exists, but I can never remember his name.

 

[Themistocles]

I've heard of Eric Van Lustbader, and I know that some of his books have words like "ninja" in the title, but that's as far as my knowledge goes. I got the impression they were more along the lines of thrillers or crime stories. Am I way off?

I've also heard of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Do you know of an unabridged English translation?

And thanks for the suggestions.

Here 's the first volume of the unabridged version of Romance of the Three Kingdoms (it's from my Amazon wish list so .co.uk). Links to the others are on the page, IIRC.