1
/
of
0
Penguin Random House
An Empire in the Clouds [Jiang, Ai]
An Empire in the Clouds [Jiang, Ai]
Regular price
$26.99 USD
Regular price
Sale price
$26.99 USD
Quantity
Out of stock
Couldn't load pickup availability
Author: Ai Jiang
Riveting and highly inventive Chinese-inspired science-fantasy of a royal family torn apart, painful betrayal and deadly secrets. Set on a drowning continent full of corruption and deception and strange technology this is a richly envisioned and powerful debut novel from the winner of the Bram Stoker(R) and Nebula Awards. Long isolated from her family following her parents' murder, Princess Xīlián of Piāo discovers the corrupt royal advisors are plotting to overthrow and kill her brother, the emperor. Desperately seeking help, she flees from the floating empire of lotuses to the drowning continent of Opera, a place of high tech and near environmental collapse where companies vie to sell a chance at immortality. There Xīlián tracks down her exiled brother Làng to assist in her efforts to disrupt the advisors' plans and remove them from court. Also residing on Opera is the outcast, No Face. Abandoned by the empire of Piāo, they plot to destroy those who tore their family apart. When Xīlián is caught and imprisoned and No Face discovers the shocking truth about their past, the two must work together to stop the advisors and unify their two lands or lose everyone they love to flood and revolution. A riveting and highly inventive Chinese-inspired science fantasy, this is a richly envisioned and powerful debut novel from the winner of the Bram Stoker (R) and Nebula Awards.
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Published: 09/15/2026
Pages: 384
Binding Type: Hardcover
ISBN: 9781835414941
Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 07/20/2026
Riveting and highly inventive Chinese-inspired science-fantasy of a royal family torn apart, painful betrayal and deadly secrets. Set on a drowning continent full of corruption and deception and strange technology this is a richly envisioned and powerful debut novel from the winner of the Bram Stoker(R) and Nebula Awards. Long isolated from her family following her parents' murder, Princess Xīlián of Piāo discovers the corrupt royal advisors are plotting to overthrow and kill her brother, the emperor. Desperately seeking help, she flees from the floating empire of lotuses to the drowning continent of Opera, a place of high tech and near environmental collapse where companies vie to sell a chance at immortality. There Xīlián tracks down her exiled brother Làng to assist in her efforts to disrupt the advisors' plans and remove them from court. Also residing on Opera is the outcast, No Face. Abandoned by the empire of Piāo, they plot to destroy those who tore their family apart. When Xīlián is caught and imprisoned and No Face discovers the shocking truth about their past, the two must work together to stop the advisors and unify their two lands or lose everyone they love to flood and revolution. A riveting and highly inventive Chinese-inspired science fantasy, this is a richly envisioned and powerful debut novel from the winner of the Bram Stoker (R) and Nebula Awards.
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Published: 09/15/2026
Pages: 384
Binding Type: Hardcover
ISBN: 9781835414941
Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 07/20/2026
About the Author
Ai Jiang is a Chinese-Canadian writer, winner of the Bram Stoker(R), Nebula and Ignyte Awards, and Hugo, Astounding, Locus, and BSFA Award finalist, and an immigrant from Changle, Fujian currently residing in Toronto, Ontario. Her work can be found in F&SF, The Dark, Uncanny, The Masters Review, among others. She is the recipient of Odyssey Workshop's 2022 Fresh Voices Scholarship and the author of Linghun and I AM AI. The first book of her novella duology, A Palace Near the Wind, is out now, with A River From the Sky coming in Spring 2026. Find her on most social media platforms and for more information go to aijiang.ca.