by Ken Liu
First published 2021
Emperor Ragin sits on the Dandelion Throne, but most people still remember him as Kuni Garu, the bandit who talked his way into a kingdom. Six years of peace have passed since he and Mata Zyndu, the Hegemon, fought over the fate of Dara. Kuni won. Mata died by his own hand on a battlefield, and the story of that death has grown into something Kuni cannot compete with. A brutal man died beautifully, and now the emperor who beat him must govern in that shadow. The men and women who fought beside Kuni during the wars find that loyalty forged in battle does not survive the boredom of court. His inner circle is fracturing. A scholar named Zomi Kidosu arrives with ideas that challenge the old ways of understanding the world. Then, from somewhere north of everything Dara has ever mapped, a fleet appears carrying soldiers unlike anything the empire has seen before. Kuni built his throne on a betrayal. Now he has to hold it against enemies outside the walls and doubt inside them.
Genres: drama, adventure, fantasy, epic-fantasy, historical-fantasy
Vibes: character-driven, dark, epic, political-intrigue, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family, internal-conflict, rise-to-power
Setting: Dara, Dandelion Throne
858 pages · Paperback · Head of Zeus -- an AdAstra Book
Content warnings: death, violence, war