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Empress, by Evelyn McCune
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"McCune has recreated the splendor and intrigue of the imperial court in the Tang dynasty...giving us entertaining and informative access to a brilliant time and a complex woman."
JEFFREY RIEGEL
Chair, Department of East Asian Languages
University of California, Berkeley
Sweeping through exotic, turbulent seventh-century China, EMPRESS is the captivating epic of one extraordinary woman who would become the only female emperor in all of China's history. The story of Wu Jao, set against the backdrop of medieval China, reveals not only an age of horrifying barbarism, daring treachery, and precarious power, but also an eternal culture of sophistication and enlightenment.
- Sales Rank: #2467082 in Books
- Color: Brown
- Published on: 1994-07-19
- Released on: 1994-07-19
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.50" h x 1.25" w x 5.50" l, 1.42 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 500 pages
- ISBN13: 9780449907498
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
From Kirkus Reviews
A romp through the tumultuous life of Wu Jao, China's only empress. In her first novel, McCune tells an intricate story of lust and rebellion spanning two generations in seventh-century China. At 13, Wu Jao, the second daughter of a minor nobleman's wife, is summoned to serve as a concubine to the Emperor Taitsung. She is placed in a section of the emperor's harem that is scandalized by internal conflict and mysterious deaths. Still, as she has been instructed by her family, Jao remains obedient and keeps her suspicions to herself. She does befriend the caretaker of the emperor's children, thus getting to know the royal heirs. But when Jao deduces the identity of a murderer within her harem and realizes that she is to be the next victim, she goes directly to the emperor--a highly risky and unheard of act. Her frank and gutsy attitude, however, wins the affection of the emperor. The two develop a closeness that becomes the envy of the higher-ranking concubines. When the emperor dies, his concubines are permanently moved to a convent. But the new emperor, Kaotsung, remembers Jao fondly from his childhood and sends orders for her to return to the palace. This unusual act disturbs his jealous wife, who is eventually dethroned, allowing Jao to rise to an even higher status. As the story proceeds, Jao uses her insight and savvy (both personal and political) to become the closest confidante of the emperor, after whose death, when none of her children can govern as well as she, Jao assumes the throne. McCune's expertise in Asian studies is apparent, but the story drags at the end. Filled with the trials and tribulations of palace life, this book often reads more like a creatively written history book than a novel. We meet many characters, but few other than Jao display any depth. -- Copyright �1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
From the Inside Flap
"McCune has recreated the splendor and intrigue of the imperial court in the Tang dynasty...giving us entertaining and informative access to a brilliant time and a complex woman."
JEFFREY RIEGEL
Chair, Department of East Asian Languages
University of California, Berkeley
Sweeping through exotic, turbulent seventh-century China, EMPRESS is the captivating epic of one extraordinary woman who would become the only female emperor in all of China's history. The story of Wu Jao, set against the backdrop of medieval China, reveals not only an age of horrifying barbarism, daring treachery, and precarious power, but also an eternal culture of sophistication and enlightenment.
About the Author
McCune worked for three agencies during the Korean War: the State Department, the United Nations Korean Reconstruction Agency, and the Library of Congress.
Most helpful customer reviews
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful.
Please don't judge the book by its cover.
By belle
While the cover may be a thousand years off, we would do well to attribute this mistake to the publisher not the author. As a scholar currently researching the Empress Wu Zetian I can tell you that coming up with historical information on her can be tricky and difficult. Yet, Evelyn McCune does a masterful job of filling in the historical outlines of Wu's life into a believable and somewhat plausible (although a bit romantic) account. If the job of historical fiction is to make historical sympathetic, then McCune certainly achieves this end- a laudable feat given that the historical figure in question was one of the most violent and ruthless despots in Chinese history. McCune not only humanizes Wu Zetian, but justifies many of her actions (even if some of the less noble moments are glossed over.) The book should not to be taken as the gospel truth, but it is a very enjoyable novel. Then again, that's why they call it historical *fiction* isn't it?
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
Wonderful topic, atrocious writing
By Jenny Zhang
I discovered this book while browsing amazon on my kindle. I am an avid reader of historical fiction, and recently, I've been enamored with books about the ancient East. When I discovered this book, I went ahead and bought it for my kindle despite the 3 star rating. I had assumed that the criticism was from the kitschy and inaccurate cover art, and decided to give the book the benefit of the doubt (and adhere to the adage about judging books by their covers). However, after plowing determinedly through this book, I seriously regret my purchase. The product description says it is a "captivating epic" - I beg to differ for several reasons.
1. There is little to no character development, even the protagonist, Jao, is decidedly one-dimensional. Part of this is due to the author's struggle with the third person narrative. The novel is told in a very objective fashion, and only very rarely so we see the subjective, third person omniscient. As a result, a huge portion of the book is wasted on Jao's actions - she walks, she sits, she sometimes does somersaults, and she chatters pointlessly with other characters. While actions are described with excruciating detail, they do not tend to give the reader any glimpses into any of the characters' feelings, thoughts, or motivations. The other characters in the book are little more than cardboard figures, with little purpose other than populate the book. The author also seems to have difficulty introducing characters other than having them introduced through pure dialogue with the main character. Imagine if an entire book consisted of characters making their appearance by saying, "Hi Jao, my name is so and so, I am from this family in this area of China, and I am a servant/eunuch/concubine/etc, I am so happy/unhappy to meet you."
2. The character interactions are very stiff and awkward. Oftentimes, it seems as if a character is introduced and a conversation is held only in order to interject some trivial historical fact about the time and place. Clearly the author has done some research about ancient China. This research must have been tediously awful for her, since she sees the need to make sure we're aware of everything she's discovered by injecting facts everywhere, regardless of the plot flow or appropriateness of the moment. Furthermore, the author seems very inconsistent in her characterizations, even for minor characters. An early example of this in the novel is Nurse Wang, Jao's nurse from her family home who accompanies her on her journey to the palace. During the journey, the nurse discovers that Jao's half-brother has stolen the jewels that Jao's mother had packed for Jao for her future life as a woman in the imperial harem. The nurse only sees fit to tell Jao this when Jao specifically asks about her belongings, and does so in a careless, off-hand manner that seems very unusual. Then when Jao begs her to help her retrieve the stolen jewels, the nurse insists she must be paid until she is shamed into helping by the other characters who overhear the conversation. Later, when Jao arrives at the capital, the nurse discovers she is going to be sent away. Suddenly, the author inundates us with various characters, including Jao, saying how Wang is a good nurse, and Wang herself is suddenly portrayed as the loyal old servant, who won't touch her mistress's money, even when offered to her.
3. The writing is not tight at all. This novel sorely needed a good editor. The author is unable to make the story progress without going through every step relevant or not. A week long journey in the story is exactly that - seven days splayed out before us, with the minutiae of the character's daily actions, regardless of whether or not the days contain anything that contribute to the plot. Better authors make the time flow, cutting tedious journeys where nothing happens to one line, "ie. It took a week of hard travel before we arrived..." and then fleshing out the really interesting parts of the story where action occurs by going into detail when appropriate.
All in all, I would not recommend this book to anyone. In fact, it was bad enough that I deleted it from my kindle after reading it even though I have plenty of memory space. I just couldn't bear the reminder of such a waste of time and money.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
Empress
By Summer
The novel, Empress, by Evelyn McCune, is an extraordinary epic of one woman's journey through life to become a powerful ruler of China. This story begins with the young Wu Jao, an insignificant child, who is summoned to the palace to become one of Emperor Taitsung's new concubines. Because of Wu Jao's honesty, intelligence and logic, combined with her innocence and beauty, she earns the friendship and love of the great emporer. Upon his death though, she finds herself banished to a convent.
The new emperor, Emperor Kaotsung, remembers Wu Jao from his childhood, how fond of her he was, and sends for her to return to the palace. When she returns, she finds herself in a place of horror. She fights for justice in this land that has changed for the worse since Emperor Taitsung's death. Evelyn McCune writes wonderful descriptions of seventh-century China, both the land and customs, and the character of Wu Jao is bold, strong and inspiring, though she doesn't go into much depth on other characters. Some parts were long while reading, but this is a novel rich in content and enchantment. She combines sophistication with treachery and creates the perfect atmosphere for her story. This was a wonderful reading experience.
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