It is the season of war.
As the plum blossom winds herald spring in the Empire of Wa, Initiate Brother Shuyun, spiritual advisor to Lord Shonto, the military governor of the northernmost province of Seh, receives a shocking message from the barbarian lands. The massive army of the Golden Khan is poised at their border. Forced to retreat south, Lord Shonto is caught between the pursuing barbarian hordes and his own hostile emperor’s Imperial Army.
Meanwhile, the beautiful young Lady Nishima again becomes involved in court intrigue as well as in a dangerous romantic liaison.
Even as this trap closes on Shonto and his allies, Brother Shuyun faces a crisis of his own. For in the same scroll that warned of the invasion was a sacred udumbara blossom, a sign his order has awaited for a thousand years, a sign that the Great Teacher has finally been reborn. And now it may fall to one young monk with extraordinary powers to save his empire.
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"A wonderful book of an asian land with exquisite formality. The story of a monk, his lord, the brotherhood of monks an emperor and so much, much more. An excellent writer who needs no explosive and grand actions to succeed in his efforts. Better than the first. Highly recommended. " — Ronando (4 out of 5 stars)
"A wonderful book of an asian land with exquisite formality. The story of a monk, his lord, the brotherhood of monks an emperor and so much, much more. An excellent writer who needs no explosive and grand actions to succeed in his efforts. Better than the first. Highly recommended. "
“The two books, combined, are about 1200 pages of extraordinarily rich storytelling…Best of all, while conjuring up a world as lush as Tolkien’s Middle Earth, Russell manages to end his book, not with something as arbitrary as casting a magical ring into a sea of molten rock but rather with something far more like the real world, as a great invasion dashes against the rock of human nature….[This is] the best of contemporary fantasy.”
“Intelligent fantasy—subtle, exciting, well-crafted.”
" Review coming after it goes up at FanLit. "
" Also one of the inspirations for my own series. "
" The second half of Initiate Brother. This is not a "series" but a continuation of the story which was too long for one novel. Enjoy it while it lasts. "
" A fun, complex world and story written well. High literature? No. Worth reading? Yes. This book and the previous one (1/2 and 2/2) really feel like a single long book that was just too big to publish in a single volume. "
" A fantasy book with an apparently eastern perspective on magic. "
Sean Russell, born in Toronto, Ontario, in 1952, decided he wanted to be a writer at age ten and was later heavily influenced by J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. He began writing fantasy novels in 1991 and then historical fiction under the name of S. Thomas Russell.
Elijah Alexander has worked professionally as an actor for over fifteen years. He has worked and lived in New York, where he performed in numerous productions, including the Tony Award–winning play Metamorphoses. He worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company for two years and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for two seasons, as well as regionally at various other theaters. In Los Angeles, he has worked on critically acclaimed productions of Sleuth, produced by Garry Marshall, and other works. His film and television credits include Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Emily’s Reasons Why Not, JAG, Summerland, So NoTORIous, and Guiding Light. He was the voice of Vayne Solidor in Final Fantasy XII and has done several commercial voiceovers. He is currently the voice of Kenmore and has narrated more than ten audiobooks, including James Jones’ acclaimed novel From Here to Eternity.
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