Ken Liu, Writer

Author of The Grace of Kings and The Paper Menagerie

dandelion dynasty

There’s a Draft of the Conclusion of the Dandelion Dynasty

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You ready for this?

Remember how for the last three-plus years I’ve been working on the same book, and every time you asked me about it the answer has always been, “I’m still working on it”?

Well, now we have a new answer.

The Dandelion Dynasty is complete! Ahahahahahaha!!!

I started working on The Dandelion Dynasty ten years ago, and a decade later, I finished it exactly the way I wanted to. The very last scene of the book had been in my mind before I even set down the first word, and the thrill of finally completing that arc is … indescribable.

Not to worry, as I did not, in fact, drop a cargo truck on my editor’s desk. The poor man has suffered enough as I toiled away on the conclusion of the saga all this time.

But it would be nice to give you a glimpse of the manuscript, wouldn’t it? Here it is:

printed version of the end of The Dandelion Dynasty

That’s right, I needed two binders to fit the conclusion in there. Hehe.

I am so excited about this, y’all! Honestly, I think the best person to introduce the end of the saga to you would be Stefon from SNL because “Dara’s hottest chronicle has … EVERYTHING.”

Stefon

There are epic battles in the most unlikely of locations; new weapons pushing the limits of my fantasy engineering skills; a general whose most ardent desire is a silkmotic-heated bath; a restaurant critic channeling the spirit of Gordon Ramsay; a sovereign whose greatest accomplishment can never be recorded on their epitaph; new creatures, new lands, new philosophies, new ways to write books … 

I hate to dangle the end of the adventure before you like this … but yeah, I’m bouncing off the walls with joy and exhaustion and trepidation and anticipation and every shade in between.

Now, this is just a draft, so publication information is still unsettled. But I promise you more updates soonest!

Announcing the Title for Book II

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For most of December I worked on the edits to TGOK 2.

Well, since it’s a new year and I’ve turned in my edits, I’m going to announce the title of the sequel: The Wall of Storms (I’ll get a page up for it soon).

Like the title to the first book, which can be read in multiple ways (as the concept of “grace” gets worked out — and it’s also a quote from Henry V), the title for this second book is also meant to be read in multiple ways that will become clearer over time.

Without giving too many spoilers away, I can tell you that it’s a story about succession and revolution, about change and pushback, about betrayal and portrayal. It is bigger, better, and deeper than Book I, and it will start out seeming to be one kind of book before turning out to be another.

Along with many of the old characters you got to know from Book I (Luan, Gin, Jia, Kuni …), you’ll also get to meet many new ones: a scholar who fights with her wits and logograms instead of the sword, a warrior who must devise new strategies against foes she has not fought before, a princess who goes on the greatest adventure of them all: discovering the secrets of nature … And the gods now have a few new tricks up their sleeves.

And it’s got a new map (why, you ask? Hmmm… no spoilers!) as well as tons of cool silkpunk technology. Tons. I’ve been doing a great deal of research for this series, and I’ve loved every second of it. Just about every cool idea I had went into this book. I can’t wait till you get to see it.

And … release date is October this year!

You’ll get a sneak peek at TWOS in the mass market paperback edition of TGOK, scheduled to be released on February 23. But there will be other ways to get previews later in the year as well, as I give readings and send out more updates.