To possess the Mandate of Heaven, the female monk Zhu will do anything.

In rural China, 1345, two children, a girl and a boy, live under constant threat of starvation and bandits. A fortune-teller gives them each a fate: for the boy, greatness. For the girl… nothingness. A fate to be expected of a dying girl. But when bandits attack the village, it is the boy who succumbs to despair and dies. Desperate to escape her fated nothingness, the girl assumes the identity of her brother to seek refuge at a monastery as a monk novice. Disguised as a man and living as a monk, Zhu Chongba’s true identity—and her fate—hangs in the balance. To survive, Zhu must claim greatness, no matter the terrible price…

Definitely some of the most breathtaking fantasy I have ever read—the prose is stunning. Epic, tender, and totally intriguing. – Luka

Mulan meets The Song of Achilles in Shelley Parker-Chan’s debut novel. It is a bold, queer, and lyrical reimagining of the rise of the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty from an amazing new voice in literary fantasy.