Deathly Fates
-
- $11.99
Publisher Description
A sweeping debut inspired by the Chinese folk practice of necromancy, Deathly Fates is perfect for fans of Descendant of the Crane, The Bone Shard Daughter, and A Magic Steeped in Poison.
As a priestess paid to guide the deceased home, Kang Siying has never feared death. However, when her beloved father collapses, Siying realizes that even she is not free from the cruel grasp of mortality. Desperate to provide her father with the medical aid he needs, Siying accepts a dangerous job that promises a generous commission, and travels to a hostile state to retrieve the corpse of a missing prince.
But the moment Siying places her reanimation talisman on the dead prince's head, rather than make the corpse obedient to Siying's commands, the talisman brings the prince back to life. Worse, he won't stay alive for long—not unless he absorbs enough qi, or life force, to keep his soul anchored to his body.
In return for a reward worth twice her original commission, Siying agrees to aid the frustratingly handsome prince in finding and purifying evil spirits for their qi. As they journey across the countryside, encountering vengeful ghosts and enemy spies alike, they gradually uncover dark secrets about the prince's death—secrets that could endanger both Siying's father and their entire kingdom.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Evocative prose layered with Chinese folklore guides readers along a fantastical adventure filled with necromancy, political intrigue, and blossoming romance. Teen Kang Siying is a ganshi, a priestess who tracks down missing corpses and reanimates them into obedient puppets whom she guides home. Struggling to provide for her family after an epidemic kills her mother and leaves her father gravely ill, Siying accepts a job from an official of the kingdom of Sian, who offers her an exorbitant sum to retrieve the body of a dead soldier from a hostile territory. Siying capably locates her charge, but when she reanimates him, she's shocked to learn that he still possesses traces of his own life force, or qi—and that her magic has temporarily resurrected him. Revealing that he is no ordinary soldier but Meng Renshu, the second prince of Sian, he offers to double Siying's fee to help restore him to life permanently, for if he doesn't regain enough qi to anchor his soul to his body, he will die for good. Debut author Tsai leverages grumpy-sunshine relationship dynamics to imbue sweet vibrancy into the protagonists' adventure, which reads like a series of episodic murder mystery quests as the two encounter evil spirits on their life-and-death journey across the kingdom. Ages 13–up.
