A young girl detective

Have you ever dreamed of entering a magic kingdom through a cartoon? Cartoonist Wu Miao, 29, has done this in his book series, The Tales of Tarsylia

The Tales of Tarsylia tells of how four different wizards grow up in a kingdom of magic. They do different magic tricks, and go on all sorts of adventures.

For instance, one wizard falls in love with a fairy but she disappears.Where is she? He starts on a long journey to find his love. Along the way, he meets different kinds of creatures and has many adventures. Though he doesn't win her in the end, he gains the wisdom to become a master magician.

Wu became interested in Japanese cartoons when he was in junior high school. Before that he had loved reading science fiction. He decided to put the two together in his drawings.

But his tastes changed as he grew older. "As I read more widely, I became dissatisfied with Japanese cartoons. They were just about characters fighting with each other," said Wu. "I wanted more depth." It was this need that lead to his interest in fantasy stories such as The Lord of the Rings.

"The most important thing for a cartoonist is patience," said Wu. "You have to be able to put up with the loneliness, and be prepared for a hard life if necessary. It's not the well-paid work some people imagine."