The Heavenly Sword

Set in a world of human conflicts, fantastical martial arts, sorcery and celestial magic, Alice Poon's debut fantasy, The Heavenly Sword, follows a martial maiden's heartbreaking adventures in her quest for love and justice.The goddess Chang'e, reborn as Shandong village girl Tang Sai'er, is sent by the Deities to the mortal world to impede a future tyrant. Her mission requires her to be both a warrior and also chaste. The Prince of Yan, Zhu Di, the Sky Wolf incarnate and once Chang'e's suitor in heaven, incites a brutal civil war to usurp the throne. He secretly covets Sai'er, but also fears her power. Ma Sanbao, a eunuch in Zhu Di's Palace, falls in love with Sai'er while they train together in Wudang kung fu. Sai'er is enamored of Sanbao, but knows she must focus on her celestial mission and her desire to protect her family and village folks from the tyrant. When Sai'er and her allies pit themselves against the wicked new Emperor and other adversaries, one being the vicious Green Dragon, Sai'er has to enlist the help of the immortals. But even with their help, she finds that her dreams are on a collision course with her mission. The Heavenly Sword is the first part of a spellbinding duology weaving Chinese mythical folklore and speculative history into a sweeping tale of family love, fellowship loyalty, loss, sacrifice and kung fu rivalry.