Under Heaven

An epic historical adventure set in a pseudo 8th century China, from the author of the 2008 World Fantasy winner, Ysabel. Under Heaven is a novel of heroes, assassins, concubines and emperors set against a majestic and unforgiving landscape.An epic historical adventure set in a pseudo 8th century China, from the author of the 2008 World Fantasy winner, Ysabel. Under Heaven is a novel of heroes, assassins, concubines and emperors set against a majestic and unforgiving landscape.For two years Shen Tai has mourned his father, living like a hermit beyond the borders of the Kitan Empire, by a mountain lake where terrible battles have long been fought between the Kitai and the neighbouring Tagurans, including one for which his father – a great general – was honoured. But Tai's father never forgot the brutal slaughter involved. The bones of 100,000 soldiers still lie unburied by the lake and their wailing ghosts at night strike terror in the living, leaving the lake and meadow abandoned in its ring of mountains.To honour and redress his father's sorrow, Tai has journeyed west to the lake and has laboured, alone, to bury the dead of both empires. His supplies are replenished by his own people from the nearest fort, and also – since peace has been bought with the bartering of an imperial princess – by the Tagurans, for his solitary honouring of their dead.The Tagurans soldiers one day bring an unexpected letter. It is from the bartered Kitan Princess Cheng-wan, and it contains a poisoned chalice: she has gifted Tai with two hundred and fifty Sardian horses, to reward him for his courage. The Sardians are legendary steeds from the far west, famed, highly-prized, long-coveted by the Kitans.

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Historical fantasist Kay (Ysabel) delivers an exquisitely detailed vision of Kitan, a land much like Tang Dynasty China. Shen Tai's father died leading troops in battle, so he spends his mourning year burying the bones of soldiers on both sides, laying their ghosts to rest. He attracts the attention of Cheng-wan, a princess of his people sent to wed one of the enemy. As her gifts make Shen Tai wealthy, an assassin kills his best friend. Shen Tai hires a bodyguard, Wei Song, to keep him alive while he figures out what to do with his riches and who wants him dead. Kay writes deftly of women who are sexually suborned by their societies, neither minimizing their constraints nor denying their agency, and the complex intrigues of poets, prostitutes, ministers, and soldiers evolve into a fascinating, sometimes bloody, and entirely believable tale. (May) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Bookmarks Magazine

What a lush and expansive world Kay has created here, wrote the critic from the SF Review. Indeed, most critics were quite in awe of Under Heaven, an ambitious undertaking that proved almost impossible to put down. With its unparalleled character development and marvelous storyline, Kay's latest is sure to appeal to lovers of historical fiction and fantasy fiction, as well as to readers who never thought they'd pick up a fantasy novel. There were a few quibbles: one reviewer felt that secondary characters were occasionally lost in the crowd. Well, that's just part of life in the world of thick, world-building fiction. Under Heaven is a strong entry in that category.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* In a prefatory note to his magnificent new history-based fantasy, inspired by Tang Dynasty China, Kay explains why he prefers to mix history and fantasy rather than write straight historical fiction. Should the justification bring him more readers, they and he will both profit. In the mountains of Kitai a young soldier, Shen Tai, has spent two years alone, burying the dead of both sides at a battle site. He does this to honor his late father, the commanding general in the last imperial war. At night he can hear ghosts crying. When a voice falls silent, he knows that a spirit has been granted rest. One morning he is quite surprised to learn that the court of Kitai's recent enemy has chosen to honor him by granting him 250 coveted western horses. This is a gift fit for the emperor and can bring Tai great power—or get him killed in short order. Kay says he wants his readers to keep turning pages until two a.m. Under Heaven should certainly help him achieve that goal. The plot is intricate, including fascinating by-ways and characters as real as they are numerous. Yet the main thread—Tai's journey to court and the resolution of who gets the horses—is never lost. --Frieda Murray

The Washington Post

“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” and depicts the unimaginable consequences of a single generous gift. Most important of all, it is the novel you’ll want for your summer vacation.”

The Miami Herald

“Guy Gavriel Kay is peerless in plucking elements from history and using them to weave a wholly fantastical tale that feels like a translation of some freshly unearthed scroll from a time we have yet to discover.”

The Huffington Post

“A magnificent epic, flawlessly crafted, that draws the reader in like a whirlwind and doesn’t let go.”

Laura Miller, Salon Book Reviewer

“Completely transporting...combines the best of historical and fantasy novels to create a great read where you don't know what could happen next.”

Locus More Praise for the Novels of Guy Gavriel Kay

“Guy Gavriel Kay, hunting in the twilight zone between fact and dream, has written a shimmering novel, a fantasia on T’ang China, the epitome of Chinese civilization...a beautiful, compulsive read.”

The New Yorker

“[Read] anything by Guy Gavriel Kay...His strengths are strong characters and fantastic set pieces.”

The Washington Post Book World

“History and fantasy rarely come together as gracefully or readably as they do in the novels of Guy Gavriel Kay.”

Booklist

“Kay shows why he’s the heir to Tolkien’s tradition.”

#1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson

“Kay is a genius. I've read him all my life and am always inspired by his work.”

Time Magazine, Canada

“A storyteller on the grandest scale.”

About the Author

Guy Gavriel Kay is the international bestselling author of numerous fantasy novels including The Fionavar Tapestry trilogy, Tigana, The Last Light of the Sun, Under Heaven, River of Stars, and Children of Earth and Sky. He has been awarded the International Goliardos Prize for his work in the literature of the fantastic, and won the World Fantasy Award for Ysabel in 2008. In 2014 he was named to the Order of Canada, the country’s highest civilian honor. His works have been translated into more than twenty-five languages.

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