In his
latest innovative novel, the award-winning author evokes
the dazzling Tang Dynasty of 8th-century China in a story
of honor and power.
Inspired by the glory
and power of Tang dynasty China, Guy Gavriel Kay has
created a masterpiece.
It begins simply. Shen
Tai, son of an illustrious general serving the Emperor of
Kitai, has spent two years honoring the memory of his late
father by burying the bones of the dead from both armies
at the site of one of his father's last great battles. In
recognition of his labors and his filial piety, an
unlikely source has sent him a dangerous gift: 250 Sardian
horses.
You give a man one of the famed Sardian
horses to reward him greatly. You give him four or five to
exalt him above his fellows, propel him towards rank, and
earn him jealousy, possibly mortal jealousy. Two hundred
and fifty is an unthinkable gift, a gift to overwhelm an
emperor.
Wisely, the gift comes with the
stipulation that Tai must claim the horses in person.
Otherwise he would probably be dead already...