The Emperor and the Endless Palace

Several months ago, before the cover had even been unveiled, I was intrigued about The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang. Spanning three disparate timelines, spotlighting gay Chinese men, and infusing it all with a theme of rebirth and fate, this is a fantasy debut I knew could not be missed.

Special thanks to Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Summary

In 4 BCE, Dong Xian is an ambitious courtier with a new mission: to seduce the emperor. In 1740, He Shican is a humble innkeeper with a strange new visitor: a fox spirit asking for a strange medicine. And in the present day, River attends his first all-night rave and meets a mysterious man. Following him into a world of billionaires and rare art, River sets off on a journey of danger and unfathomable self-discovery. Between these three timelines, magic, drugs, and lore intertwine for a strange, centuries-spanning connection.

Review

The Emperor and the Endless Palace is one of the strangest books I’ve read, not fitting neatly into any one box, and in all honesty, it’s a bit hard to decide how I feel about it. It’s certainly fascinating and has a particular vibe, even if everything transpired differently than I might have expected.

Between the three different timelines, each has a distinct feeling to it. In 4 BCE, following the courtier Dong Xian, everything becomes more and more surreal as time progresses. It’s almost absurd what’s going on, in a decidedly uncomfortable and creepy way. The chapters set in 1740, with innkeeper He Shican, are more straight-forward in the fantasy genre, with a fox spirit and an unusual medicine to be procured. Things unfold surprisingly, but it doesn’t have the same darkness. Then the parts following River in present-day Los Angeles feel more like a work of noir. He’s attending raves (circuits?) and going to parties hosted by a billionaire and seeing really weird statues. There are drugs and nighttime activities and a general feeling of unease.

A recurring theme between the three timelines is of sex as power. This comes up the most strongly and frequently in the parts set in 4 BCE. Yes, there are numerous scenes depicting sexual encounters, always between men. However, it’s not shown via a glamorous or romantic lens. Instead, it usually comes across as unsettling and uncomfortable. It’s voyeuristic, about power, and sometimes escalates to assault or rape. It’s not fun!

Even so, there is a sort of love story at play here. It feels like a spoiler to say it, but it’s in the official summary, so I guess it’s fair game: There is a theme of reincarnation and fate. Deciphering who’s who might be a challenge, and there’s an antagonist thrown into the mix. But even with this ill-fated love story, I wouldn’t call The Emperor and the Endless Palace a romance. It’s been marketed as a romantasy, but… it just doesn’t have the right elements to qualify as a romance in my opinion. It’s too dark, it has totally different beats, and it doesn’t have the most conventional ending for that genre.

And speaking of the ending (don’t worry, no spoilers)… I need someone who’s read the book to talk to, because I have complicated feelings about it. Is it a satisfying ending? Is it what I wanted? What I expected? I couldn’t say, but I could use a book club to discuss this with!

Final Thoughts

The Emperor and the Endless Palace is a genre-defying novel that achieves a very particular vibe throughout. It’s creepy, and it has recurring themes and symbols throughout (like peaches and jade), but it also highlights gay men in historical China and in present-day Los Angeles. It’s engrossing, if unsettling. It’s worth the read, but don’t expect an HEA romantasy!

Get the Book

You can buy The Emperor and the Endless Palace here – it’s available as a hardcover, ebook, and audiobook.

The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang
Audience	Adult
Genre	Fantasy; Romantasy
Setting	China; California; Thailand
Number of Pages	320
Format I Read	Ebook (NetGalley ARC)
Original Publication Date	March 26, 2024
Publisher	MIRA

Official Summary

“A sweeping triumph in queer romance.” –Booklist

“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 spicy romantasy that challenges everything we think we know about true love.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: The Emperor and the Endless Palace is a heart-pounding romantasy, full of shocking twists, morally shifty characters, and erotic thrills. When it comes to the romance within this novel, you can expect equal parts mess and swoon, but its central thread is an epic tale of true love against all the odds.