Description
A boy with few talents is thrust into the imperial spotlight when he becomes emperor of the imaginary Xie Empire, and his reign unfolds as a vivid, unsettling education in power. Told in the first person, his story moves from succession and fraternal rivalry to the shifting loyalties of palace women and the slow unraveling of authority. As court intrigue tightens and the throne slips from his grasp, he is cast into exile—where memory, identity, and survival take on new meanings. With Su Tong’s sharp, darkly comic sensibility and his talent for turning history into intimate psychological drama, this novel explores ambition, legitimacy, cruelty, and the fragile theater of rule—until the empire’s final collapse makes clear what power costs.
Available Editions
paperback
Hyperion
Published Feb 15, 2006
288 pages
ISBN: 9781401374044
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Details
First Published
2004
Language
chi
Translation
From: chi
Content Warnings
No content warnings identified.