Kay: Under Heaven review

This particular tale is set in a world based on China's Tang Dynasty in the mid-eighth century. The main character, Shen Tai, has gone to an old battlefield at the edge of Kitai to spend a 2½ year mourning period burying the dead soldiers. He is mourning his father, who commanded in the great battle 20 years earlier.

Everyone who hears about his work revers him because he's putting the ghosts to rest (and there's plenty of ancestor worship in the culture). The queen of Tagura (the enemy of Kitai) is so moved by Tai's act that she offers him the gift of 250 Heavenly Horses. These horses are rare and highly prized in Kitai and even one would be an amazing gift. He expects the gift will be his death, as others attempt to take the horses for themselves.

On top of that, someone has sent an assassin to kill him even before learning of the horses. So, Tai has to try to figure out who is already trying to kill him, and who else might kill him for the horses. And add to that plenty of intrigue in the imperial court where the emperor must give Tai a gift greater than the 250 horses or suffer the shame of having another monarch honoring one of his people more than he has.

It's a really great story with some of the best-written characters in recent memory. The only drawback is that the ending is rather abrupt. All of the various story lines get wrapped up extremely quickly. It makes the tale lack something, but I'm not exactly sure what...
/ [Viking]

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