Title: The Kingdom of the Three (The Zither Player / The Gong’s Song)
Author: Joan He
Publisher: Lumen
Year: 2023, 2024
Pages: 432, 424
Language: French
Condition: second-hand, like new
Publisher’s summary:
In this war to the death, she will have to betray or be betrayed
In the year 414 of the Xin dynasty, chaos reigns in a divided kingdom. In the north, a puppet empress who is still only a child, manipulated by a ruthless regent named Miasma. In the south, a young queen ready to do anything to avenge the death of her elder sister. In the middle, Xin Ren, a landless lady nevertheless loved by an entire people – the most idealistic, the only one who remains truly loyal to the empire. But in a merciless conflict where anything goes, the young war leader’s integrity may well cost all her supporters their lives.

Their only bulwark in the storm is Zephyr, one of the country’s finest strategists... The young woman is also forced, in order to prevent a massacre, to defect to the enemy, at least in appearance. She meets the enigmatic Choucas, one of the regent’s tacticians... At last, an opponent worthy of her! Will she be able to change the entire course of a war by performing miracles to manipulate him?

For the young strategist is surrounded by enemies on all sides – and not all of them are human! Magical zither duels, love thwarted by conflicting allegiances and a life-and-death friendship between comrades-in-arms... Masterfully written by Joan He, this duology draws on The Three Kingdoms, one of the great classics of Chinese literature, reinventing it with a host of female leads and more than a touch of magic. A fantastic epic full of twists and turns that will keep you captivated until the final page!