The Dandelion Dynasty

Series · 6 books · 2015-2022

By Ken Liu

Books in series

The Grace of Kings

2015

Wily, charming Kuni Garu, a bandit, and stern, fearless Mata Zyndu, the son of a deposed duke, seem like polar opposites. Yet, in the uprising against the emperor, the two quickly become the best of friends after a series of adventures fighting against vast conscripted armies, silk-draped airships, and shapeshifting gods. Once the emperor has been overthrown, however, they each find themselves the leader of separate factions—two sides with very different ideas about how the world should be run and the meaning of justice.

The Wall of Storms

2016

Kuni Garu, now known as Emperor Ragin, runs the archipelago kingdom of Dara, but struggles to maintain progress while serving the demands of the people and his vision. Then an unexpected invading force from the Lyucu empire in the far distant west comes to the shores of Dara—and chaos results. But Emperor Kuni cannot go and lead his kingdom against the threat himself with his recently healed empire fraying at the seams, so he sends the only people he trusts to be Dara’s savvy and cunning hopes against the invincible invaders: his children, now grown and ready to make their mark on history.

The Veiled Throne

2021

With the invasion of Dara complete, and the Wall of Storms breached, the world has opened to new possibilities for the gods and peoples of both empires as the sweeping saga of the award-winning Dandelion Dynasty continues in this third book of the “magnificent fantasy epic” (NPR). Princess Théra, once known as Empress Üna of Dara, entrusted the throne to her younger brother in order to journey to Ukyu-Gondé to war with the Lyucu. She has crossed the fabled Wall of Storms with a fleet of advanced warships and ten thousand people. Beset by adversity, Théra and her most trusted companions attempt to overcome every challenge by doing the most interesting thing. But is not letting the past dictate the present always possible or even desirable? In Dara, the Lyucu leadership as well as the surviving Dandelion Court bristle with rivalries as currents of power surge and ebb and perspectives spin and shift. Here, parents and children, teachers and students, Empress and Pékyu, all nurture the seeds of plans that will take years to bloom. Will tradition yield to new justifications for power? Everywhere, the spirit of innovation dances like dandelion seeds on the wind, and the commoners, the forgotten, the ignored begin to engineer new solutions for a new age. Ken Liu returns to the series that draws from a tradition of the great epics of our history from the Aeneid to the Romance on the Three Kingdoms and builds a new tale unsurpassed in its scope and ambition.

Die Götter von Dara

Seidenkrieger

2016

1\. Teil der Übersetzung von "The Wall of Storms" \\\\\\\\\\\\\_ Mächtige Himmelsschiffe, fantastische Kreaturen und eigennützige Götter: Ken Lius High Fantasy-Epos mischt asiatische Mythologie mit tödlichen Ränkespielen und dem Kampf um die Macht im Inselreich Dara. Zehn Jahre nachdem Kuni zum Kaiser von Dara aufgestiegen ist, herrscht ein brüchiger Friede im Land. Kunis Feinde planen ihre Rache sorgfältig, und die Götter sind dem Kaiser keine Stütze - und all seine Pläne geraten ins Wanken, als sich an den Grenzen des Reiches eine neue Bedrohung formiert.

Speaking Bones

2022

The conclusion to Ken Liu's chronicle of the Dandelion Dynasty – one of the Greatest Fantasy Series of all Time (Time Magazine). Ukyu-Gondé. Stalked by foes and dogged by betrayal, Princess Théra is pursued across a continent vaster than she could ever have imagined, to the hidden valleys of the World's Edge Mountains, into the barrows and subterranean halls of the City of Ghosts, across the ice floes of the far north. She breached the Wall of Storms intent on taking war to the Lyucu homelands, but how do you conquer the unconquerable? Dara. Empress Jia, Prince Phyro and Pékyu Tanvanaki find themselves bound to paths they never would have chosen. Amid atrocity and subterfuge, they will discover that the Courage of Brutes is no substitute for the Grace of Kings, and that little separates the Grace of Kings from the Madness of Tyrants. On both sides of the Wall of Storms, defeat's bitter tears mix with the fruits of knowledge new and ancient as two empires bound by blood and bone, by writ and iron, by time and custom, face a whirlwind that threatens to utterly consume them. The teeth, as they say, are on the board.

Le Mur de Tempêtes

2016

Après de multiples épreuves, Luan Zya est enfin parvenu à franchir le Mur de Tempêtes, mais ce n’est là que le début de son odyssée. Pendant plusieurs mois, il dérive sur un océan sans fin, à bord des restes de son cerf-volant, devenu radeau de fortune. Alors qu’il commence à perdre tout espoir – et la raison –, les fabuleuses crubènes viennent à son secours et lui indiquent la terre des Lyucu. Ces derniers ont pris le contrôle des îles de Dara, grâce à leurs prodigieux garinafins et à la cruauté de leur chef. Si l’empereur Kuni apparaît désormais désemparé depuis que son fils Timu s’est constitué prisonnier afin de sauver son peuple – en vain –, sa fille, la princesse Théra, et l’ingénieuse Zomi, refusent de courber l’échine. Et c’est en secret qu’elles vont mettre leurs compétences et savoirs en commun afin de percer les failles des Lyucu, à commencer par celles de leur fantastiques créatures, les garinafins.

Author

Ken Liu

Author · 38 books

Ken Liu (http://kenliu.name) is an American author of speculative fiction. He has won the Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy awards, as well as top genre honors in Japan, Spain, and France, among other places. Ken's debut novel, The Grace of Kings, is the first volume in a silkpunk epic fantasy series, The Dandelion Dynasty, in which engineers play the role of wizards. His debut collection, The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories, has been published in more than a dozen languages. He also wrote the Star Wars novel, The Legends of Luke Skywalker. He has been involved in multiple media adaptations of his work. The most recent projects include “The Message,” under development by 21 Laps and FilmNation Entertainment; “Good Hunting,” adapted as an episode of Netflix's breakout adult animated series Love, Death + Robots; and AMC's Pantheon, which Craig Silverstein will executive produce, adapted from an interconnected series of short stories by Ken. Prior to becoming a full-time writer, Ken worked as a software engineer, corporate lawyer, and litigation consultant. Ken frequently speaks at conferences and universities on a variety of topics, including futurism, cryptocurrency, history of technology, bookmaking, the mathematics of origami, and other subjects of his expertise. Ken is also the translator for Liu Cixin's The Three-Body Problem, Hao Jingfang's Vagabonds, Chen Qiufan's Waste Tide, as well as the editor of Invisible Planets and Broken Stars, anthologies of contemporary Chinese science fiction. He lives with his family near Boston, Massachusetts.