In 1300s China, Zhu Chongba has escaped a life of starvation on the high plains to become a powerful monk and military strategist. Yet Zhu has a secret: to avoid her own predicted fate of nothingness, she has stolen her dead brother's identity and his predicted fate of greatness and renown. As she moves up in the world and becomes more powerful, she must balance her secret with her ambition.
This is listed as fantasy in our catalog and on our shelves, but I don't know that that's necessarily a great place for it. Yes, there is a bit of glowing for anyone who is deemed to have the mandate of the gods (a common enough trope in anything imperial), but really this is a fascinating historical fiction of a woman trying to function in a man's world without being found out. Definitely a good book, but don't go into it expecting great workings of magic.
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