It's sixteenth century China and a temple has just been destroyed by a renegade monk intent on revenge. The grand master is dead and only five young warrior monks have survived the massacre. Each young monk is highly trained in kung fu and each has his own animalistic style: Malao is the supple, mischievous monkey, Seh is the serious, sinewy snake, Hok is the quiet, light crane and Long is the multi-talented dragon. Fu's totem is the tiger. Fu is stocky and headstrong and solitary and it is Fu's adventures we follow in this first book in Jeff Stone's ''Five Ancestors'' series.