In the grand tradition of martial arts fantasy tales, Fledglings begins twenty-five years ago, when a pair of lovers ran for their lives from an angry prince. They washed up on an island where they adopted new identities–and found themselves blessed by an omen promising great things, a single golden phoenix feather. Their eldest child, a natural martial artist like his father, seems destined for those great things. The second son, an artist and a dreamer, has no desire for greatness–he wants to be left alone to paint. And the youngest, a daughter, used to wearing her brothers’ castoffs and trotting at their heels, is the least promising, always scamping her studies in favor of sword lessons and play. All three vowed to keep their parents’ dangerous secret. But in this first volume, the family learns that sometimes children must follow their own paths . . .

A generation ago, a sworn bodyguard and a reluctant bride fled an angry prince, married in secret, and vanished. That prince is now the emperor, with a very long memory. The children of the missing pair are now making their way in the world under assumed names, hoping to avoid the emperor’s wrath while following their special Talents. The eldest son Muin is rising the ranks of the army. The second son Yskanda, a remarkable painter, is a prisoner in the lethal, silken cage of the imperial court. The youngest Ryu, disguised as a boy, studies martial arts and the mysterious Essence power while leading the Redbark Sect that fights for justice for commoners. Her closest companion hides dangerous secrets of his own. Meanwhile the emperor’s own children test the boundaries of royal power and intrigue, stirring ripples that threaten guilty and innocent alike.

In the third volume of The Phoenix Feather epic martial arts adventure, the Redbark gang has broken up. Muin is rising in the imperial army; Yskanda lives day to day in the silken prison of the imperial court, hiding among his paints until an eerie encounter changes everything. Prince Jion returns to the imperial palace in disgrace; Ryu, tired of disguises, begins to cultivate her skills and talents as she finds her way back toward her old name and a new identity. . . . . . When she isn't crusading as Firebolt—and causing hunters on both sides to come after her.

The last installment of The Phoenix Feather martial arts epic, which readers are acclaiming as a spiritual cousin to The Goblin Emperor, puts the entire Afan family in action. Inspired by the great Chinese epics such as Dream of Red Chamber as well as wuxia and xuanhuan TV series such as Nirvana in Fi re, the four volumes of this story sweep from the imperial military academy to wandering martial artists, from the poetic duels of imperial courtiers to the everyday affairs of an innkeeper—and from the human world to the realm of the transcendent, before accelerating to a triumphant close. Once hiding on an obscure island, the Afan parents go seeking their children, as the emperor seeks them. Muin’s skills as a commander brings him to prominence in a terrible battle. Yskanda, imperial prisoner, transcends political boundaries through art—and comes to grip with his talents. Prince Jion, once a powerless wanderer, comes into his own as his beloved Ari inspires the world as Firebolt, before the two of them together face the most terrifying enemy of all.