2018 School Spending Survey Report
River of Stars
Roc: Penguin. Apr. 2013. 575p. ISBN 9780451464972. $26.95; ebk. ISBN 9781101608937. FANTASY
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As a boy, Ren Daiyan kills seven outlaws while helping guard an imperial magistrate, and he flees into the forest to emerge many years later as a folk hero who eventually gains the ear of influential generals and courtiers. Lin Shan, raised by her scholar father to be a gifted poet, musician, and calligrapher, finds her unwomanly skills valued by certain powerful people. Set in the Empire of Kitai during a decadent period of imperial excess and the emergence of an aggressive barbarian horde, Kay's historical fantasy takes place in the same world as Under Heaven but separated by 400 years. Mirroring the glittering, doomed Song Dynasty of China, it portrays a world of changing traditions, casual cruelty, and strict codes of honor and respect.
VERDICT The author captures the nuances and subtleties of life in China during the Mongol invasions while simultaneously creating a fully realized imaginary world, much as he did in Song of Arbonne (medieval France) and Tigana (medieval Italy). A powerful and complex tale told with simplicity and elegance, this alternate history should attract those who love the genre as well as the author's many fans.
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