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Hpaung Daw U Pagoda (also spelt Hpaung Daw Oo or Phaung Daw Oo) is a notable Buddhist site in Myanmar (formerly Burma), located on the Inle Lake in Shan State.

The pagoda houses five small gilded images of Buddha, which have been covered in gold leaf to the point that their original forms cannot be seen. The gold-leaf application to such excess is relatively recent. Old photographs hanging on the monastery walls show some of the images in a more pristine form. It is reported that some gold has been removed on occasion to reduce its mass. Although the monastery is open to all for veneration, only men are permitted to place gold leaf on the images. Another part of the ritual for pilgrims is to place a small robe or thingan around the images, and to take the robe back to their houses and place it on their own altar as a token of respect for the Buddha and his teachings.

Here Abides Monsters - Andre Norton - cover artist Jack Gaughan by Cadwalader Ringgold

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DAW paperback collectors #121 - published October 1974

comments by CR:

Here Abide Monsters by Andre Norton [review 0848 - Fantasy novel]

The fantasy novel "Here Abides Monsters" by Andre Norton (1912-2005) was first published in 1973. For this reader, a sincere admirer of her books, it was a challenging yet ultimately rewarding reading experience and I can recommend this title.

Our young male protagonist, Nick Shaw, is troubled by a new step-mother who is infringing on his life and his relationship with his dad. He's looking forward to getting away alone to the family camp for some relaxation, fishing and time to sort out his future. Nick is introspective, self-reliant and resourceful. In fact he is the typical young male character Norton used to great success in her many science-fiction novels. While helping a young lady, Linda Durant, find a friend's camp they are somehow transported to a land populated with a menagerie of magical beings, monsters - most out of British folklore; many groups of other disorientated transported folks; two types of warring flying saucers; and an unapproachable fairy like castle.

Nick and Linda meet and join up with a group from WW2 era England who somehow had escaped from a crashed saucer. Most of the book consist of interactions between the group members, observing the incredible inhabitants of the land and stealthily traveling from one refuge to another seeking safety and food. Talk of escape and return to home and what exactly is the purpose of the land are major topics of discussion. We are never enlightened to any firm conclusions - just speculations dictated by limited understanding of the significance of their unwelcome existence.

The land starts to exhibit a miasma of increasing dark menacing creatures and some cryptic warnings are given to the group. Are the dreaded creatures a reflection of personal fears or is a major conflagration about to take place? As the book concludes a desperate escape attempt results in a inconclusive ending of the story.

Norton wrote no further books concerning this land which is untypical of her. Early in the story Nick Shaw and a store keeper friend discuss local folks who have apparently "disappeared" or have been "taken" never to return. Some actual books: "Our Haunted Planet"[1971] by John A. Keel; "More Things"[1969] by Ivan Sanderson and books by Charles Fort are discussed in light of the historical disappearances in the area. To say the least this is a strange book but it does tie in to Norton's major interest in the occult and folklore which are main topics of many of her later books. A strange story that kept my interest told by a master story teller.

This novel was written by Ms. Norton with no "collaborator" listed on the cover. I am very skeptical of Ms. Norton involvement with the many collaborations that were published very late in her life. I suspect that for the most part a contract writer was hired to expand upon a theme and characters from one of her series with just the permission to use her name. Therefore for this fan only those books attributed solely to "Andre Norton" are her true cannon of works and the others are very suspect indeed - read at your owe risk - buyers beware as they say.

daw 197 by Boy de Haas

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Philip José Farmer: Flight to Opar.

Daw Books 1976.

Cover art by Roy Krenkel.

daw 650 by Boy de Haas

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John Norman: Dancer of Gor.

The chronicles of Counter-Earth volume 22.

Daw Books 1985.

Cover art by Ken W. Kelly.

DAW 325 by Uilke