In his critically acclaimed novel Under Heaven , Guy Gavriel Kay told a vivid and powerful story inspired by China’s Tang Dynasty. Now, the international bestselling and multiple award-winning author revisits that invented setting four centuries later with an epic of prideful emperors, battling courtiers, bandits and soldiers, nomadic invasions, and a woman battling in her own way, to find a new place for women in the world – a world inspired this time by the glittering, decadent Song Dynasty. Ren Daiyan was still just a boy when he took the lives of seven men while guarding an imperial magistrate of Kitai. That moment on a lonely road changed his life—in entirely unexpected ways, sending him into the forests of Kitai among the outlaws. From there he emerges years later—and his life changes again, dramatically, as he circles towards the court and emperor, while war approaches Kitai from the north. Lin Shan is the daughter of a scholar, his beloved only child. Educated by him in ways young women never are, gifted as a songwriter and calligrapher, she finds herself living a life suspended between two worlds. Her intelligence captivates an emperor—and alienates women at the court. But when her father’s life is endangered by the savage politics of the day, Shan must act in ways no woman ever has. In an empire divided by bitter factions circling an exquisitely cultured emperor who loves his gardens and his art far more than the burdens of governing, dramatic events on the northern steppe alter the balance of power in the world, leading to events no one could have foretold, under the river of stars.

盖伊·加夫里尔·凯（Guy Gavriel Kay）生于1954年11月7日，他的作品是奇幻文学中的独特声音，他在读者脑中与心里创造了栩栩如生的奇幻世界和故事。他的小说不多，却本本精良。说起他怎样写起奇幻小说，背后还有一段曲折的故事。

结缘托尔金

当年，《魔戒》的创始人托尔金去世之后，他的儿子克里斯托弗·托尔金整理父亲留下的魔戒相关遗稿。要整理这些资料是一个艰巨的工作。他需要一个助手。正巧，年轻的盖伊·G·凯的父母认识托尔金一家，顺理成章地成了克里斯托弗的助手。从1974年起，他搬到了牛津。整理托尔金的遗稿是一项极其费力的工程。不仅因为作品是手写的，稿件又十分零散，而且，还有一些是写在年代久远的碎纸上，字迹模糊不清，角色名字经常转换。只有深入了解，领会托尔金的思想，才能完成这项繁琐而痛苦的工作。正是在这过程中，盖伊爱上了托尔金，也喜欢上了奇幻文学。而他俩一起整理编撰的遗稿就是大名鼎鼎的《精灵宝钻》。

1976年，盖伊又回到了加拿大，毕业于多伦多大学法学系。他精通法律又擅长写作，不久就在加拿大广播公司谋到一份工作，给广播剧The Scales of Justice当助理编导。凭借此剧，他非常幸运地获得由加拿大法律改革委员会颁布1985年年度最佳广播剧法律类节目奖。照理说，盖伊完全可以继续凭此佳绩，走上影视导演的道路。然而，他却坚持写奇幻小说。事实上，1984年，他以亚瑟王为背景的《费奥纳瓦织锦三部曲》（The Fionavar Tapestry）的第一部，包括《夏日之树》（The Summer Tree）出版并且获得奇幻创神奖（Mythopoeic Fanatsy Award for Adult Lterature）提名。系列第二部《流浪的火焰》（The Wandering Fire）不仅赢得1987年英语类的极光奖，也因为小说里极佳的推理色彩而荣获了卡斯帕奖（Casper Award）最佳推理小说。三部曲之后，他另一本以文艺复兴时期意大利为背景的《提嘉娜》（Tigana）同样大受好评。之后的各部作品陆续获奖。成为当代加拿大世界最受赞誉的奇幻小说家。

作者主页：http://www.guygavrielkay.ca/