Speaking Bones
The conclusion to Ken Liu's chronicle of the Dandelion Dynasty – one of the Greatest Fantasy Series of all Time (Time Magazine).
Ukyu-Gondé.
Stalked by foes and dogged by betrayal, Princess Théra is pursued across a continent vaster than she could ever have imagined, to the hidden valleys of the World's Edge Mountains, into the barrows and subterranean halls of the City of Ghosts, across the ice floes of the far north. She breached the Wall of Storms intent on taking war to the Lyucu homelands, but how do you conquer the unconquerable?
Dara.
Empress Jia, Prince Phyro and Pékyu Tanvanaki find themselves bound to paths they never would have chosen. Amid atrocity and subterfuge, they will discover that the Courage of Brutes is no substitute for the Grace of Kings, and that little separates the Grace of Kings from the Madness of Tyrants.
On both sides of the Wall of Storms, defeat's bitter tears mix with the fruits of knowledge new and ancient as two empires bound by blood and bone, by writ and iron, by time and custom, face a whirlwind that threatens to utterly consume them.
The teeth, as they say, are on the board.
Ken Liu
Ken Liu (born 1976) is an American science-fiction and fantasy writer and translator of science fiction and literary stories from Chinese into English. His short stories have appeared in F&SF, Asimov's, Analog, Lightspeed, Clarkesworld, and multiple "Year's Best" anthologies.
His short story "The Paper Menagerie" is the first work of fiction, of any length, to win the Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy Awards. His short story, "Mono no aware" won the 2013 Hugo, and his novella "The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary" was also nominated for a Hugo. His translation of the novel The Three-Body Problem won the 2015 Hugo Award, the first translated novel in the awards' history to have won that honor.
The Dandelion Dynasty
The Dandelion Dynasty follows Kuni Garu, a charming bandit, and Mata Zyndu, the son of a deposed duke. At first, the two seem like polar opposites, yet, in the uprising against the emperor, they quickly become the best of friends after a series of adventures. The scope of the series is epic, involving gods, massive armies, diverse cultures, multiple plot lines, numerous characters, polities, war, courtly intrigue, and love.
The Dandelion Dynasty consists of four books — considered a complete series. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
