The Emperor and the Endless Palace
Justinian Huang
“What if I told you that the feeling we call love is actually the feeling of metaphysical recognition, when your soul remembers someone from a previous life?” In the year 4 BCE, an ambitious courtier is called upon to seduce the young emperor—but quickly discovers they are both ruled by blood, sex and intrigue. In 1740, a lonely innkeeper agrees to help a mysterious visitor procure a rare medicine, only to unleash an otherworldly terror instead. And in present-day Los Angeles, a college student meets a beautiful stranger and cannot shake the feeling they’ve met before. Across these seemingly unrelated timelines woven together only by the twists and turns of fate, two men are reborn, lifetime after lifetime. Within the treacherous walls of an ancient palace and the boundless forests of the Asian wilderness to the heart-pounding cement floors of underground rave scenes, our lovers are inexplicably drawn to each other, constantly tested by the worlds around them. As their many lives intertwine, they begin to realize the power of their undying love—a power that transcends time itself…but one that might consume them both. An unpredictable roller coaster of a debut novel, The Emperor and the Endless Palace is a genre-bending romantasy that challenges everything we think we know about true love.
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**I was provided an electronic ARC from the publisher through NetGalley.**
Justinian Huang presents The Emperor and the Endless Palace, a Chinese history inspired fantasy romance that follows two men through three reincarnated lifetimes. Readers spend time with Joey and River in modern day, with He Shican and Huang Jiulang in the 1740s, and with Dong Xian and Liu Xin in 4 BCE Han Dynasty China. Dong Xian and Liu Xin are true historical figures. He Shican and Huang Jiulang are characters reimagined from the folktale written by Pu Songling.
Huang handled each of the shifting time periods admirably and it was interesting to see which perspective was chosen for each time period as well as which characters would recur across time. Conceptually, the idea of soul mates across lifetimes is one that isn't all that uncommon, but Huang gave a magical and sensual flair to the stories of these two men that had finesse and was evocative of folklore across the timelines.
I was also grateful that the time spent in each timeline was pretty even with a little more time afforded to modern day as a way of tying together the story. Unlike many stories that use multiple timelines, I actually didn't have a clear favorite and enjoyed all of them which speaks to Huang's skill. Each timeline procided a snippet of the characters' lives where they encounter one another again, and though I didn't feel strongly about the ending, I felt settled and secure in it as it felt inevitable based on the premise of the story.
Overall, I enjoyed my time with The Emperor and the Endless Palace and look forward to future works by Justinian Huang.
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