Under Heaven

Name: Under Heaven
Rating: 4.2 (19073 reviews)

by Guy Gavriel Kay Book 1 in the Under Heaven series.

First published 2010

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4.2(19,073)

Shen Tai spends two years at Kuala Nor burying the unclaimed dead of a border battle in honour of his late father. A princess of Kitai, married into the neighbouring Taguran court, rewards his labour with two hundred and fifty Sardian horses. The gift is so valuable that it can alter military and court politics, making Tai a target before he can return to the capital and decide whom he can trust with it.

His journey draws together his warrior brother, his sister Li-Mei, the poet Sima Zian, imperial officials, assassins and factions surrounding the emperor’s favoured concubine and a powerful frontier general. As personal rivalries become part of a wider contest over succession, military command and the empire’s future, the splendour of Kitai approaches catastrophe. Inspired by eighth-century Tang China and the events leading to the An Lushan Rebellion, the novel shows how a single act of honour can expose the fault lines of an entire state.