Zheng Yuanjie (No.3 main list)

Fantasy rising

Besides the main Richest Writers List, there were four other lists released this year: Richest Comic Book Authors, Richest Online Writers, Richest Foreign Writers and Richest Scriptwriters. With the exception of scriptwriters, the first place of all the lists is occupied by fantasy authors: comic book author Zhou Hongbin, Zhang and JK Rowling.

Yang, who tops the main list, said in an interview with the paper, "Fantasy stories have a very strong foundation within Chinese traditional culture."

He pointed out that Chinese ancient literature such as Classic of Mountains and Seas and Journey to the West show that fantasy stories cannot be neglected in Chinese history. And in Western countries, fantasy novels such as the Harry Potter series and A Song of Ice and Fire are always on the bestseller lists.

One of Yang's bestselling series, Dragon Raja, tells stories about a student studying in America who goes on an adventure to find out the mysteries behind dragons. It's mainly based on Western legends. Another of his series, Jiu Zhou, focuses on ancient Chinese myths.

But despite its success and enduring popularity, not everyone is impressed by the fantasy genre.

Typical of the mainstream's dismissive attitude is this commentary from the Shenzhen Economic Daily: "Compared to traditional writers, online writers like Zhang show a virtual world which is totally different from reality with their impressive thoughts and creativity. But online literature is fixated on fantasy. Authors are continuing their own work, and few of them are trying to change."