Time of the Dragons

by Robert Shea Book 1 in the Shike series.

First published 1981

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Newly initiated into the secret Order of Zinja, the warrior-monk Jebu is sent from his mountain temple to escort Shima Taniko to an arranged marriage at the imperial capital. Their journey begins a love that conflicts with Jebu’s vows and Taniko’s obligations, while the rivalry between the Takashi and Muratomo clans draws them into court intrigue, rebellion and war. The altered clan names mirror the historical Taira and Minamoto, and Muratomo no Yukio is a fictionalised counterpart of Minamoto no Yoshitsune.

Political defeat carries Jebu and Yukio beyond Japan to Song China and the expanding Mongol world. Taniko’s own fortunes bring her close to Kublai Khan, joining the intimate story of divided loyalties to the larger struggle for power across East Asia. The first volume compresses the approach to the Genpei War and later Mongol expansion into a single epic chronology, establishing the conflicts that continue in The Last of the Zinja.