Search Worlds Without End

A sweeping epic set in medieval China; it is the story of a group of women, the Jin-Shei sisterhood, who form a uniquely powerful circle that transcends class and social custom.

They are bound together by a declaration of loyalty that transcends all other vows, even those with the gods, by their own secret language, passed from mother to daughter, by the knowledge that some of them will have to pay the ultimate sacrifice to enable others to fulfil their destiny.

The sisterhood we meet run from the Emperor's sister to the street-beggar, from the trainee warrior in the Emperor's Guard to the apprentice healer, from the artist to the traveller-girl, herself an illegitimate daughter of an emperor and seen as a threat to the throne. And as one of them becomes Dragon Empress, her determination to hold power against the sages of the temple, against the marauding forces from other kingdoms, drags the sisterhood into a dangerous world of court intrigue, plot and counterplot, and brings them into conflict with each other from which only the one who remains true to all the vows she made at the very beginning to the dying Princess Empress can rescue them.

An amazing and unusual book, based on some historical fact, full of drama, adventure and conflict like a Shakespearean history play, it's a novel about kinship and a society of women, of mysticism, jealousy, fate, destiny, all set in the wonderful, swirling background of medieval China.

The Known World is a sprawling region ruled by mortals, protected by gods, and plied by magicians and warriors, merchants and beggars, royals and scoundrels. Here, those with the gift of the Erjak share a psychic bond with animals; a far-reaching fraternity unites criminals of every persuasion in a vast army of villainy; and upon the mighty river Alt, the dead will one day sail seeking vengeance on the enemies of their descendants.

But for all the Known World's wonders, splendors, and terrors, what has endured most powerfully is the strange legacy of Ji. Emissaries from every nation--the grand Goranese Empire; desolate, frozen Arkary; cosmopolitan Lorelia; and beyond--followed an enigmatic summons into the unknown. Some never returned; others were never the same. Each successive generation has guarded the profound truth and held sacred the legendary event. But now, the very last of them--and the wisdom they possess--are threatened. The time has come to fight for ultimate enlightenment... or fall to infinite darkness.

The second installment in the internationally bestselling and prize-winning Secret of Ji fantasy series

The Known World's greatest secret has proven a heavy burden for the last heirs of the Ji emissaries: a death sentence from the goddess Zuïa and her band of implacable Judges and a fleeting glimpse of another world that could devastate the Upper and Lower Kingdoms. Now, after barely eluding a band of Züu assassins, these unlikely heroes find themselves hunted once more. A dark, armor-clad figure brought Zuïa's judgment upon them, but he remains inescapable and nameless. They call him simply the Accuser.

Yet there is still hope for the accused. A century-old journal promises to unravel the secret of Ji, and priestess Maz Lana can show them the way. With the Accuser drawing ever closer and the fate of the Known World hanging in the balance, the heirs must harness new abilities--and enlist the help of the gods--before the Known World's greatest secret is lost forever.

From Romine's Deep Tower to the Grand Temple in Ithare, from the Murky Mountains to the Warrior's Vale, the heirs continue their desperate quest--whose outcome will decide the fate of the Upper Kingdoms. Will they have to recklessly desecrate one of the gods' most jealously guarded secrets? Every discovery condemns them.

Armies gather, conspirators reveal themselves, schemes are unveiled. The heirs' time is short.

Unraveling the mysteries of Nol and the emissaries will bring the heirs behind the Curtain, deep into the Eastern Kingdoms. Only there, if they can survive the most dangerous of the guardians, will they find what really hides in the shadow of the ancients.