Meadow337
Former Moderator
This series is one of the best fantasy books based on Chinese myth that I have read. Kept me captivated through all three books. Highly recommended.
The island of Taishu may be a remote outpost of empire, but it is also the only source for true jade, which is far more than a symbol of imperial power. Rebellion has driven the young emperor from his capital; eventually, inevitably, he leads his defeated army to Taishu, a last stand for a lost cause. Crossing the strait, under which a dragon is said to lie shackled, he encounters a fisher-girl...
The balance of power has changed. Young emperor Chien Hua is no longer struggling for survival; now he is ambitious to reclaim his empire. As treacherous General Ping Wen whispers in the emperor's ear, not even Chien Hua's beloved concubine or his most trusted bodyguard can reason with him. Here on the island where jade is mined, no-one's life is untouched by the green magic: but all jade belongs to the emperor, and he is touched by it most of all.
Whatever they thought, this was always where they were going: to the belly of the dragon, or the belly of the sea.
As all sides of this seething conflict prepare for more butchery, a miner of magical jade desperately tries to save his clan cousin; a priestess loses her children, who are taken as pawns in a contest beyond her comprehension; and a fierce and powerful woman commits an act of violence that will entwine her, body and soul, with the spirit of jade itself. Amid a horde of soldiers, torturers, and runaways, these people will test both their human and mystical powers against a violent world. But one force trumps all: the huge, hungry, wrathful dragon.
The island of Taishu may be a remote outpost of empire, but it is also the only source for true jade, which is far more than a symbol of imperial power. Rebellion has driven the young emperor from his capital; eventually, inevitably, he leads his defeated army to Taishu, a last stand for a lost cause. Crossing the strait, under which a dragon is said to lie shackled, he encounters a fisher-girl...
The balance of power has changed. Young emperor Chien Hua is no longer struggling for survival; now he is ambitious to reclaim his empire. As treacherous General Ping Wen whispers in the emperor's ear, not even Chien Hua's beloved concubine or his most trusted bodyguard can reason with him. Here on the island where jade is mined, no-one's life is untouched by the green magic: but all jade belongs to the emperor, and he is touched by it most of all.
Whatever they thought, this was always where they were going: to the belly of the dragon, or the belly of the sea.
As all sides of this seething conflict prepare for more butchery, a miner of magical jade desperately tries to save his clan cousin; a priestess loses her children, who are taken as pawns in a contest beyond her comprehension; and a fierce and powerful woman commits an act of violence that will entwine her, body and soul, with the spirit of jade itself. Amid a horde of soldiers, torturers, and runaways, these people will test both their human and mystical powers against a violent world. But one force trumps all: the huge, hungry, wrathful dragon.
