Under Heaven (TPB) nr. 1: Under Heaven (Kay, Guy Gavriel)
An epic historical adventure set in an alternate 8th century China, from the author of the 2008 World Fantasy winner, Ysabel. Under Heaven is a novel of heroes, assassins, concubines and emperors set against a majestic and unforgiving landscape. Honour is beyond measure But its price may be an empire… For two years Shen Tai has mourned his celebrated father and lived like a hermit beyond the borders of the Kitan Empire. There, by a mountain lake, the bones of the soldiers killed in great battles between the Kitai and the Tagurans lie unburied and their wailing ghosts strike terror into the living. Tai has laboured alone, laying to rest the mingled dead of both empires, until a letter arrives. It contains the promise of a poisoned chalice: Tai will be given two hundred and fifty Sardian horses by the Tagurans, legendary steeds from the far west, as a reward for his courage and piety. Now, Tai must try to return alive from solitude to a glittering, dangerous court. For to give a man even one of the famed Sardians is to honour him greatly; to give him so many is a reward which would overwhelm an emperor, and could be Tai's death warrant.
Udgivet af Harper Collins Publishers U.K.
Guy Gavriel Kay
Kanadisk forfatter. En af de første ting han lavede I fantasy genren var at hjælpe J.R.R. Tolkien's søn, Christopher, med at redigere sin fars bog "The Silmarillion". Desuden producerede og skrev han en kanadisk TV-serie I 80'erne. I 1985 udkom hans første roman "The Summer Tree", som var første del af trilogien "The Fionavar Tapestry". Kay fik hurtigt vist at han kunne skrive gode bøger hvor hans hovedpersoner havde det hårdt. Flere bøger er fulgt efter f.eks. "Tigana" og "A Song for Arbonne" og hans seneste "Sailing to Sarantium".