This is the most comprehensive collection of folktales ever published in English about Kancil, the Southeast Asian mousedeer or chevrotain. Such a small animal, but a big Trickster! He is extremely cunning and brave enough to cope with the most fearful predators, and his wisdom made him a king. Sometimes he is a merry troublemaker, in other tales, cruel and vicious. As the Judge of the Jungle he maintains peace and justice, other times he gets into trouble for his foolishness.

This volume is full of extraordinary stories worthy of his extraordinary being. Teresa Fuller's explanatory notes helped me to see through the various indigenous phrases and words. Some of them have a simpler folktale-like plot, others focus on some characteristic (animal or human traits) or illustrate games people play. The larger and more dangerous animals are usually portrayed with bad qualities (e.g. the Elephant is conceited, the Bear is greedy, the Rhino is in blind fury, the Tiger is impetuous), while the smaller ones are cunning, resourceful and even wise. The Monkey is between the two: sometimes misguided, sometimes mischievous. Crocodile is basically not the sharpest, but he compensate it with strength - and although he didn't go very far with it, he tried to be resourceful. I also liked the inclusion of the mysterious demon-like monster (raksa) that all the animals feared. It was interesting that some of the animals considered it a superstition. In one tale he actually appeared, in the other he was only Kancil in disguise.

Thanks to the author and Netgalley, I read an advanced reading copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This worked well in the genre and had that element that I was looking for in this universe. The characters were everything that I was looking for and enjoyed the overall story being told in this. Theresa Fuller wrote this so well and left me wanting to read more from her.

Eating the Liver of the Earth by Theresa Fuller is such a good book but it's not for me. I rated it 3 stars because despite of liking the story and the book, it didn't wowed me.