Hardcover, 400 pages
English language
Published July 22, 2022 by Random House.
The people suffer under the centuries-long rule of the Moon Throne. The royal family—the despotic emperor and his monstrous sons, the Three Terrors—hold the countryside in their choking grip. They bleed the land and oppress the citizens with the frightful powers they inherited from the god locked under their palace.
But that god cannot be contained forever.
With the aid of Jun, a guard broken by his guilt-stricken past, and Keema, an outcast fighting for his future, the god escapes from her royal captivity and flees from her own children, the triplet Terrors who would drag her back to her unholy prison. And so it is that she embarks with her young companions on a five-day pilgrimage in search of freedom—and a way to end the Moon Throne forever. The journey ahead will be more dangerous than any of them could have imagined.
Smart, skillfully written mythic fantasy, which succeeds in doing interesting things with voice and viewpoint. Bit gay. Some violence, but treated thoughtfully, with actual stakes. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
Jimenez does a phenomenal job at using an unusual mixed narration style (1st person plural, 2nd person singular, 3rd person limited) to draw the reader into a pan-Asian high fantasy depicting the fall of an empire tied to a queer romance and a family's legacy. Beautiful and immersive descriptions, easy to read, and captivating from beginning to end. Content warnings for depictions/descriptions of ableism, violence, gore, and incest.
I loved it, and I will take a long time to recover from it.
