Near the end of the first century BC, in the grand imperial palace of the Han Emperor, three men develop a triangle relationship of love, lust and power with emotions so strong it will propel them to meet again and again for over two millennia. In each encounter, one of them attempts to set right the toxic relationship that has cursed the trio for two thousand years.
I’m always a little leery of books with critical acclaim, especially from mainstream media. They usually end up disappointing. “The Emperor and the Endless Palace” definitely does not disappoint. It’s a cleverly constructed epic story that transcends time and place.
The book is actually three stories woven together to tell the tale of the three men whose destinies seem inextricably linked. It all starts in 4 BCE, in the Chinese imperial palace where a young man seeks to get close to the emperor. The young man, Dong Xiang, thinks he’s playing the game of court politics, but he’s really just a pawn being used by people much more experienced in the intrigues surrounding the emperor. Don Xiang also seems unaware of the lust he engenders in some men.
The second story within the story takes place in eighteenth-century rural China, where Sichan, an innkeeper near the edge of a forest, meets a young man seeking medical help for his grandmother. Sichan travels into town to ask his old friend and lover, a renowned physician, for his assistance. Sichan’s world starts to unravel as secrets and lies are revealed.
Finally, in modern-day Los Angeles, River is a pre-med student just coming to terms with his homosexuality. His hookup with another young man named Calvin turns into an invitation to River’s first circuit party, where he meets and is inexplicably drawn to Joey, an enigmatic artist who seems to be under the thumb of a billionaire tech magnate. Joey seems equally attracted, perhaps even obsessed, with River, but something keeps him close to the billionaire.
It may seem like a challenge keeping track of three storylines as the chapters switch from one era to the other, but that wasn’t the problem I expected it to be. The real challenge, and I think it’s intentional, is figuring out which character is which from one era to another. I definitely got a few things wrong, which is natural since many things don’t become clear until almost the end of each story line.
This is definitely a very different kind of story. It might not appeal to everyone. Worth noting, although a bit of a spoiler, is that the book is billed as a romantic fantasy, yet it doesn’t have the kind of ending that many romance readers generally expect.
See BookBub for online sources where you can purchase “The Emperor and the Endless Palace”.