This experience contributed to his appreciation for cultures and mastery of several languages, particularly Mandarin but also English, Russian, Tibetan, and Blackfoot American Indian. The family dwelt in various areas of the East Indies, primarily in what is now Indonesia and Jakarta, for most of Robert’s youth. His father, Willem van Gulik, was a physician in the Medical Service of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army, a position which required frequent foreign postings. His mother came from a family of musicians and piano manufacturers, a fact that greatly influenced Robert’s life. Robert Hans van Gulik was born on Augin Zutphen in the Netherlands. Van Gulik’s novels are worlds apart from Jane Austen and Regency romance, quite literally, nevertheless, attention to historical detail and excellent storytelling are universal and, for me, inspirational. van Gulik because he is such a fascinating person, and today I am finally getting around to doing that!Īs a youth, and long before easy internet searching, I knew nothing about the author of these books other than that his name didn’t sound Chinese! In fact, not until fairly recently did I discover who Robert van Gulik was, and as a massive JRR Tolkien fanatic, the similarities between the two are remarkable.

I noted at the time that I would revisit Mr. Links to those posts are in the Pemberley Library, down the page a bit under “Cinema & Literature” and the submenu “Books and Music.” One of the literature authors I mentioned was Robert van Gulik, who wrote the Judge Dee series of detective mystery novels. In November 2021 I wrote a series of blogs on my favorite novels, both in the broad Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre and in general literature.

The Emperor's Pearl by Robert van Gulik