Under Heaven ( book ) Under Heaven is the eleventh novel by Canadian fantasy author Guy Gavriel Kay . It was published in April 2010 by Viking Canada . Set in a fantasied Tang China , it is Kay ' s first work set outside of a fantasied European or Mediterranean setting . The novel is based on a fictionalized version of the An Shi Rebellion . Under Heaven takes place in a completely new world , as seen by it having only one moon as opposed to the two moon normally present in Guy Gavriel Kay ' s works . Overview . Shen Tai , the second son of a renowned general of Kitai , is given a lavish gift of 250 prized Sardian horses from the Kitan Empress of the neighbouring Taguran Empire to honour his work burying the dead of both sides at a battleground in the far west of Kitai still haunted by the ghosts of the slain soldiers . This extraordinary gift threatens to engulf Shen Tai in the political and dynastic struggles that surround the throne of the Kitan Emperor , but also permits Shen Tai to form friendships and gain access to the most powerful figures in Kitai . Narrowly escaping an assassination attempt with the assistance of the ghosts of the unburied , Shen Tai leaves the battleground on the western frontier to journey toward the capital , Xinan , protected by Wei Song , a female Kanlin warrior . Another line of narrative follows Shen Tai ' s sister Li - Mei who is sent north to be married off to a leader of the northern Bogü for the purposes of advancing the career interests of Shen Liu , their older brother . Shen Tai must determine a way forward for himself , which involves making choices between personal , family and imperial needs , choices which become all the more perilous when Kitai is convulsed by a military rebellion that threatens the ruling dynasty . The story weaves themes of loss , chance , honour and friendship in a world still haunted by magic . Detailed summary . The story takes place in a fictionalized China that corresponds approximately to the Tang era . The Empire of Kitai ( China ) has enjoyed a period of prosperity and peace under its now aging emperor Taizu in his capital at Xinan . Peace has been made with the Taguran Empire ( Tibet ) to the west , and with the Bogü ( Turkic or Mongolian ) peoples of the northwest . At the opening of " Under Heaven " Shen Tai , second of four children from a well - known family in central Kitai , has gone to the battle site of Kuala Nor near the western frontier of Kitai following his father ' s death to commence the task of burying the bones of the dead Kitan and Taguran soldiers killed twenty years earlier . At Kuala Nor Shen Tai is haunted by the ghosts of the dead whose cries can be heard at night . Word of his efforts spreads east to Xinan and west into the Taguran Empire , whose empress , a former Kitan princess , prevails upon the Taguran emperor to make Shen a gift of 250 prized Sardian horses ( Ferghana horse ) . Shortly after receiving word of this gift , however , an attempt is made on the life of Shen by an assassin posing as a Kanlin warrior , who succeeds in killing Chou Yan , a good friend of Shen Tai ' s , who has travelled from Xinan to advise Shen Tai that Shen ' s sister , Li - Mei , has been sent north to the Bogü as a bride for the son of the Bogü leader . The attempted assassination of Shen Tai is thwarted by the ghosts of the soldiers whose bones Shen has been working to lay to rest , and by the timely arrival of Wei Song , a true Kanlin warrior , sent by Shen ' s former lover Spring Rain , a courtesan who has now become the favoured concubine of Wen Zhou , the new prime minister of Kitai . Knowing that he has already been the target of assassination , and fearing that word of the extraordinary gift of the Sardian horses will only make his death more attractive , Shen devises a strategy designed to keep himself alive in order to deliver the valuable Sardian horses to the Empire with the assistance of Bytsan sri Nespo , a Taguran officer with whom Shen develops a lifelong friendship . Shen then sets out with Wei Song and a single Sardian horse to reach Xinan . Along the way another assassination attempt is made against Shen , this time thwarted by Wei Song . Xu Bihai , the military governor in the western city of Chenyao , who covets the Sardian horses , unsuccessfully attempts to gain control of Shen through his attractive daughter . At Chenyao Shen is befriended by Sima Zian , a famous poet some twenty years Shen ' s senior , who accompanies Shen to Xinan and emerges as one of the few people that Shen can trust unreservedly . Before reaching the capital , however , Shen is approached by the most powerful figures in Kitai , each trying to assess the prospects for acquiring control of the famed Sardian horses . These include Wen Jian , the Precious Consort , a dazzling young woman of good family with whom the elderly Emperor Taizu has become infatuated , and An Li , known as ' Roshan ' , the military governor of barbarian origins who has become an increasingly powerful figure , commanding the forces of three military districts in the northeast . Shen Tai continues toward Xinan , and as he approaches the great metropolis he is swept into palace intrigue . At Xinan there is a brief reunion with Spring Rain . A parallel plotline to the story of Shen Tai follows his sister Shen Li - Mei ' s forced exile beyond the Long Wall to serve the empire by becoming the bride of the khagan or leader of the Bogü ruling clan . This idea was supported by the eldest Shen brother , Shen Liu , chief advisor to Prime Minister Wen Zhou , as a way of advancing his own interests at the court . In his early military career , before the novel ' s opening , when Shen Tai had been on a previous military expedition beyond the Long Wall that protects the northern borders of Kitai , he had interrupted a magic rite being performed on Meshag , a kinsman of the Bogü ruler , that would have transformed him into a wolf spirit , but that had progressed far enough to create a link between Meshag and a wolf . Grateful to Shen Tai for having interrupted the shamanistic ritual , Meshag intervenes to separate Shen Li - Mei from her escort and with the assistance of a number of wolves , including the wolf with which Meshag has been linked . Meshag then undertakes an epic journey across the northern steppes to return Shen Li - Mei to Kitai . Li - Mei , who has known only a sheltered life of privilege , is forced to endure hardships and to learn to trust Meshag who is not only a barbarian , but who has intimidating links with the wolves that accompany them . Shortly after Shen Tai ' s arrival in Xinan the powerful An Li ( ' Roshan ' ) rebels against Taizu ' s imperial authority . The arrogant Wen Zhou orders the execution of An Li ' s son , and then gives an order to the military commander Xu Bihai that results in a disastrous defeat for Kitai ' s forces , the forced abandonment of Xinan and the slaughter of thousands of its inhabitants , including many members of the imperial family . The upheavals set in motion by An Li ' s rebellion are reported to result in the deaths of up to forty million Kitans from war , disease and famine . Shen Tai manages to warn Spring Rain of the coming disaster in time to permit her to flee Xinan before it is taken by An Li , a bitter enemy of Wen Zhou , but Shen Tai and Spring Rain are not destined to meet again . News of Xu Bihai ' s defeat sparks a rebellion at an outpost where Emperor Taizu , his heir Shinzu , Wen Zhou the prime minister and Wen Jian the Precious Consort have stopped for the night . This revolt , by a mere handful of men , results in the violent deaths of several principal characters and the abdication of Taizu . Shen Tai , whose brother Shen Liu is one of the persons executed by the rebels , travels southwest to claim the Sardian horses , but elects to return to his home rather than to take the horses himself to the embattled Emperor Shinzu , after acknowledging his feelings for and commencing a sexual relationship with Wei Song . Reaching his home , Shen Tai is reunited with his family , including Shen Li - Mei who has made her way home , and arrangements are made for the marriage of Shen Tai and Wei Song . Characters . Shen Tai , the novel ' s primary protagonist , through whom a major part of the narrative is experienced . Shen Tai is the second son of Shen Gao , a famed general in the Kitai military . His past includes periods spent as a soldier , a Kanlin acolyte and a scholar in Xinan . In Xinan he became very attached to a courtesan , Spring Rain . Following the death of his father two years before the opening of the novel , Shen Tai retired to Kuala Nor , site of a battleground twenty years earlier , to begin the task of burying the bones of the deceased warriors . In leaving Xinan he was obliged to leave behind Spring Rain . Shen Li - Mei , the younger sister of Shen Tai , and daughter of General Shen Gao . Assigned to the Empress initially , Li - Mei is then made a princess and betrothed to a Bogü leader and sent north beyond the borders of Kitai . Li - Mei ' s journey outward , rescue and return to Kitai have a profound effect on her character development , and a significant portion of the narrative follows Li - Mei ' s viewpoint . Spring Rain was born in Sardia , a land far to the west of Kitai . A courtesan from the North District of Xinan , she is the beloved of Shen Tai , but he is obliged to leave her upon the death of his father , and she is acquired as concubine by Wen Zhou . When she discovers Wen Zhou ' s plot to kill Shen Tai , she dispatches Wei Song to protect Tai . Compassionate as well as beautiful , Spring Rain inspires loyal devotion among some of her household staff and a crippled beggar that allows her to escape the occupation of Xinan by General An Li . Wen Zhou is the prime minister of Kitai , and is aligned against General An Li in a struggle for power around the throne . His appointment as Prime Minister was facilitated by the fact that he is the cousin of Wen Jian , the emperor ' s new favourite concubine . He buys Spring Rain from the North District brothel where she works and establishes her in his household as favoured concubine , and then moves against Shen Tai , a rival for her affections . Shen Liu is the eldest of the Shen siblings . An intellectually brilliant and subtle mandarin , he has become principal advisor to Wen Zhou , and was behind the plan to exile his sister Li - Mei as a bride to the Bogü to enhance his status . Taizu is the aging emperor of Kitai . At the beginning of the story the reader learns that he has become completely enamoured of his new concubine Wen Jian , and has begun receiving alchemical treatments to enhance his vigour and prolong his life . Wen Jian the Precious Consort , is the favoured concubine of Emperor Taizu , originally intended as a bride for Prince Shinzu . Beautiful , seductive and manipulative , Wen Jian becomes adoptive mother to the powerful General An Li and makes suggestive overtures to Shen Tai . Wei Song , a Kanlin warrior , is sent by Spring Rain to prevent the first assassination attempt ordered by Wen Zhou . Thereafter she accompanies Shen Tai on his journey toward Xinan , and then south to collect the gift of the Sardian horses . Sima Zian , known as ' the Banished Immortal ' , is a poet of renown some twenty years older than Shen Tai . Tai is a great admirer of Sima Zian ' s poetry and the two become staunch friends and drinking companions as Tai makes his way toward the capital . An Li , known also as ' Roshan ' , is an aging general in command of the forces of three military districts . Disdained by many at court because of his non - Kitan origins , being a ' barbarian ' from beyond the Long Wall , his illiteracy and his huge size , he is drawn as a character of insight and intelligence , justly feared for his cunning and ambitions . Ultimately he unleashes a brutal rebellion against the emperor which results in the collapse of control and order in large parts of the empire . Meshag is the eldest son of Hurok , the Bogü khagan or leader . A capable leader , Meshag is struck down by a shamanic spell several years before the novel starts , leaving him in a coma - like state near death . Another shaman attempts to perform another ritual on Meshag , but this is interrupted by Shen Tai , leaving Meshag in a partially transformed state between human and non - human , but nevertheless grateful to Shen Tai for having saved him from the dark magic . Reception . Under Heaven has been well received by the Toronto Globe and Mail , with reviewer Robert Wiersema describing it as : Michael Dirda , in his review for The Washington Post , " Beware Gift Horses " noted that Kay has leavened the story with " appealing minor characters " that enhance the richness of the plot . In a less glowing review , Matthew Burridge for the Montreal Gazette , while acknowledging Kay ' s overall strengths as a storyteller , also finds that some of the characters lack nuance and that some of the main characters ' emotional reactions to certain situations are over - thought . Burridge also finds that Kay ' s reluctance to describe sex " undercuts his depiction of sexual manipulation " .