An Empire in the Clouds Ai Jiang 9781835414941

Riveting and highly inventive Chinese-inspired science-fantasy of a royal family torn apart, painful betrayal and deadly secrets. Set on a drowning continent full of corruption and deception and strange technology this is a richly envisioned and powerful debut novel from the winner of the Bram Stoker (R) and Nebula Awards.

On Piao, the floating empire of lotuses, Xilian discovers the royal advisors' ploy to overthrow her brother, Yun, the emperor, in the same way they had murdered their parents, by creating a deadly flood that will make Yun's death seem as though an accident. She flees to the drowning continent of Opera, a place of high tech and near environmental collapse where companies vie to sell a chance at immortality. There Xilian seeks out her exiled brother Lang to help in her efforts to disrupt the advisors' plans and remove them from court.

Also residing on Opera is the outcast, No Face. Abandoned by the empire of Piao, they plot to destroy those who tore their family apart. When Xilian is caught and imprisoned and No Face discovers the shocking truth about their past, the two must work together to stop the advisors and unify their two lands or lose everyone they love to flood and revolution.

Praise for A Palace Near the Wind:

Praise for A Palace Near the Wind:

Enchanting, mysterious, and strange, A Palace Near the Wind is a heartbreaking story of homecoming and self-discovery. Combining the best of folklore and science fiction, this eco-narrative on human greed and superhuman hope is not to be missed.
-Kritika H. Rao, author of The Surviving Sky

A fantastic and magical tale of survival and rebellion set against the backdrop of a struggle between nature and the forces of industry. Ai Jiang has written a beautiful and all too-fitting story that resonates with the choices we face in our times.
-P. Djeli Clark, author of The Dead Cat Tail Assassins and A Master of Djinn

A breathtakingly imagined story of ecological disaster, torn families, betrayal, and hope. Unlike anything I've ever read before-like Ghibli retelling Tolkien through Chinese myth-with tree-like deities, political intrigue, wind magic, and mecha. Utterly enchanting.
-A.Y. Chao, author of Shanghai Immortal

Beautifully written and intricately layered, this novella is part fairy tale and part tale of rebellion and hope. A compelling and complex story of court politics, hidden secrets, sacrifices, alliances, and characters fighting for their freedom.
-A.C. Wise, author of Wendy, Darling and Hooked

Haunting and lovely, Jiang creates a world of wonder in A Palace Near the Wind. Your heart will break as Lufeng must give up her home, her beliefs, and her sense of family. You'll root for her as she builds her courage to forge a new future for herself, and those precious to her.
-Julia Vee, co-author of The Phoenix Hoard trilogy

Elegant and otherworldly. A tale of family and duty, devotion and obligation - and the shattering secrets hidden in every past. A glorious new myth from a talented new voice.
-A.G. Slatter, author of All the Murmuring Bones and The Briar Book of the Dead

A beautiful, heart-rending parable about the ways grief and loss feed on the vitality of the living, eventually making ghosts of us all.
-Gareth L. Powell, author of Stars and Bones and Future's Edge

A case study for the delicate balance and self-assuredness required in the straddling of two cultures.
The Straits Times