by Guy Gavriel Kay. In a prefatory note to his magnificent new history-based fantasy, inspired by Tang Dynasty China, Kay explains why he prefers to mix history and fantasy rather than write straight historical fiction. Should the justification bring him more readers, they and he will both profit. In the mountains of Kitai a young soldier, Shen Tai, has spent two years alone, burying the dead of both sides at a battle site. He does this to honor his late father, the commanding general in the last imperial war. At night he can hear ghosts crying. When a voice falls silent, he knows that a spirit has been granted rest. One morning he is quite surprised to learn that the court of Kitai's recent enemy has chosen to honor him by granting him 250 coveted western horses. This is a gift fit for the emperor and can bring Tai great power or get him killed in short order. Kay says he wants his readers to keep turning pages until two a.m. Under Heaven should certainly help him achieve that goal. The plot is intricate, including fascinating by-ways and characters as real as they are numerous. Yet the main thread Tai's journey to court and the resolution of who gets the horses is never lost. --Booklist
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