The Dandelion Dynasty
4 primary works • 5 total works Complete
Book 1
Even the gods themselves are restless.
A wily, charismatic bandit and the vengeance-sworn son of a deposed duke cross paths as they each lead their own rebellion against the emperor's brutal regime. Together, they will journey to the heart of the empire; witnessing the clash of armies, fleets of silk-draped airships, magical books and shapeshifting gods. Their unlikely friendship will drastically change the balance of power in Dara... but at what price?
THE GRACE OF KINGS is the debut novel by Hugo-, Nebula- and World Fantasy Award-winner Ken Liu and the first in an monumental new epic fantasy series.
Book 2
Dara is united under the Emperor Ragin, once known as Kuni Garu, the bandit king. There has been peace for six years, but the Dandelion Throne rests on bloody foundations – Kuni’s betrayal of his friend, Mata Zyndu, the Hegemon. The Hegemon's rule was brutal and unbending – but he died well, creating a legend that haunts the new emperor, no matter what good he strives to do.
Where war once forged unbreakable bonds between Kuni's inner circle, peace now gnaws at their loyalties. Where ancient wisdoms once held sway, a brilliant scholar promises a philosophical revolution. And from the far north, over the horizon, comes a terrible new threat... The scent of blood is in the water.
Book 3
With the invasion of Dara complete, and the Wall of Storms breached, the world has opened to new possibilities for the gods and peoples of both empires as the sweeping saga of the award-winning Dandelion Dynasty continues in this third book of the “magnificent fantasy epic” (NPR).
Princess Théra, once known as Empress Üna of Dara, entrusted the throne to her younger brother in order to journey to Ukyu-Gondé to war with the Lyucu. She has crossed the fabled Wall of Storms with a fleet of advanced warships and ten thousand people. Beset by adversity, Théra and her most trusted companions attempt to overcome every challenge by doing the most interesting thing. But is not letting the past dictate the present always possible or even desirable?
In Dara, the Lyucu leadership as well as the surviving Dandelion Court bristle with rivalries as currents of power surge and ebb and perspectives spin and shift. Here, parents and children, teachers and students, Empress and Pékyu, all nurture the seeds of plans that will take years to bloom. Will tradition yield to new justifications for power?
Everywhere, the spirit of innovation dances like dandelion seeds on the wind, and the commoners, the forgotten, the ignored begin to engineer new solutions for a new age.
Ken Liu returns to the series that draws from a tradition of the great epics of our history from the Aeneid to the Romance on the Three Kingdoms and builds a new tale unsurpassed in its scope and ambition.
Book 4
The battle continues in this silkpunk fantasy as science and destiny collide against the will of the gods in this final installment in the epic Dandelion Dynasty series from Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Award–winning author Ken Liu.
The concluding book of The Dandelion Dynasty begins immediately after the events of The Veiled Throne, in the middle of two wars on two lands among three people separated by an ocean yet held together by the invisible strands of love.
Harried by Lyucu pursuers, Princess Théra and Pékyu Takval try to reestablish an ancestral dream even as their hearts grow in doubt. The people of Dara continue to struggle against the genocidal Lyucu as both nations vacillate between starkly contrasting visions for their futures. Even the gods cannot see through the Wall of Storms, for only mortal hearts can decide mortal fates.
Award-winning author Ken Liu fulfills the covenants first laid out a decade ago in a series delving deep into the connection between national myths and national constitutions in this ambitious, “magnificent fantasy epic” (NPR).
Books 1-4
Read the entire series, collected together for the first time, in this volume.
In THE GRACE OF KINGS, two men, Kuni Garu and Mata Zyndu, rebel together against tyranny – and then become rivals.
THE WALL OF STORMS sees Kuni Garu, now known as Emperor Ragin, struggling to meet the demands of the archipelago kingdoms of Dara.
In THE VEILED THRONE, the Lyucu leadership in Dara bristles with rivalries, as former Empress of Dara, Princess Théra, prepares to go to war with the Lyucu.
The final novel, SPEAKING BONES, sees the people of Dara continue to struggle against the genocidal Lyucu as both nations vacillate between starkly contrasting visions for their futures.
'Poetry on every page' HUGH HOWEY
'Ken Liu is a genius' ELIZABETH BEAR
'A triumph in storytelling' STARBURST MAGAZINE