Format: Hardcover, 432 pages
Release Date: October 3, 2023
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Dark Fantasy
New from the author of The Keeper of Night comes a dark YA fantasy duology set in an alternate Tang Dynasty China, where alchemy has flourished but so has income inequality, and a poor biracial girl with the ability to raise the dead gets caught up in the dangerous political games of the royal family. Perfect for fans of Julie Kagawa and Chloe Gong.
Zilan dreams of becoming a royal alchemist, of providing for her family by making alchemical gold and gems for the wealthy to eat in order to stay young forever. But for now, she’s trapped in her impoverished village in southern China, practicing an illegal form of alchemy to keep food on the table—resurrecting the dead, for a price.
When Zilan finally has the chance to complete her imperial exams, she ventures to the capital to compete against the best alchemists in the country in tasks she’ll be lucky to survive, let alone pass. On top of that, her reputation for raising the dead has followed her, and the Crown Prince himself seeks out her help, suspecting a coming assassination attempt.
The more Zilan succeeds in her
alchemy, the more she gets caught in the dangerous political games of
the royal family. There are monsters lurking within the palace walls,
and it’s only a matter of time before they—and secrets of Zilan’s
past—catch up with her.
The Scarlet Alchemist, by Kylie Lee Baker, is the first installment in the authors newest duology by the same name. The story is set in China beginning in the year 775. 100 years ago, royal alchemists discovered the secret receipt for gold that stopped you from aging, and made you blood the color of sunlight. Those who can afford the gold of immortality have basically been locked away in their mansions, while the poor continue to struggle to survive. Those like Fan Zilan who works in her families mingei store crated ghost vessels for those who passed.
Zilan has been experimenting on alchemy for years and hopes to follow in her father's footsteps. A father who came from Gaelic, Scotland to marry a Chinese woman. Zilan can tell you the ins and outs of various stones: Moonstones for healing and repair. Woodstones for manipulating plant and animal life. Metalstones for reshaping objects. Earthstones for transforming the mind. Firestones which are agents of destruction or great chaos. She's also been warned that you can not create good without creating evil which she temps every time she tries to bring someone back from the dead.
Something she has done twice before. Zilan dreams of becoming a royal alchemist, of providing for her family by making alchemical gold and gems for the wealthy to eat in order to stay young forever. But for now, she’s trapped in her impoverished village in southern China, practicing an illegal form of alchemy to keep food on the table—resurrecting the dead, for a price. When Zilan finally has the chance to complete her imperial exams, she ventures to the capital along with her cousins Wenshu and Yufei to compete against the best alchemists in the country in tasks she’ll be lucky to survive, let alone pass.
On top of that, her reputation for raising the dead has followed her, and the Crown Prince Li Hong seeks out her help, suspecting a coming assassination attempt. The more Zilan succeeds in her alchemy, the more she gets caught in the dangerous political games of the royal family. The more she gets closer to her end goal, the more there are people willing to stop her in her tracks and try to embarrass her. But there are monsters lurking within the palace walls, and it’s only a matter of time before they—and secrets of Zilan’s past—catch up with her.
*Thoughts* This is a series that is set in an alternate Tang Dynasty China where alchemy has flourished,
this world is decadent with gold and gems but teeming with death
underneath the glitter. In some ways, the author comes close to having this be a historical fiction novel since key characters like Empress Wu Zetian, the first and last female emperor of China. Zilan is a curious sort in that she had no clue what happened to her parents until one of the Royal Alchemists makes her understand her own history that makes her unique. Like the author herself, Zilan is half Chinese and Half Irish who has the ability to raise the dead, a power that ends up pushing her to levels she could only dream of when all is said and done. Kylie is a master at crafting plot twists that surprise at every turn,
and readers will be shocked to learn some of the details of Zilan's past
and how they've come to haunt her in the present.
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