The Emperor and the Endless Palace, Justinian Huang
The Emperor and the Endless Palace, Justinian Huang
2 Rating(s)
List: $28.99 | Sale: $20.29
Club: $14.49

The Emperor and the Endless Palace

Author: Justinian Huang

Narrator: Dylan J. Locke, Will Dao, Telly Leung

Unabridged: 9 hr 52 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/26/2024


Synopsis

"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.

 

About Justinian Huang

JUSTINIANHUANG’s debut novel, The Emperor and the Endless Palace, was an IndieNext Pick and a 2025 Stonewall Honor Book. It was hailed by Booklist as “a sweeping triumph,” and as “page-turning and deeply thoughtful,” in a starred review by Publishers Weekly. He lives in Los Angeles, where he also works as a film executive, most recently on KPop Demon Hunters. Justinian’s second novel, Lucky Seed, is a USA Today bestseller.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Lance

E-ARC generously provided by Harlequin in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much! 4.5 stars. Weaving three timelines together and examining sex, obsession, and the all-consuming nature of love, Justinian Huang's The Emperor and the Endless Palace is a triumph of a queer Asian fantasy story......more

Goodreads review by Monte

Despite my better judgement I did find myself perusing the reviews of this book as I spent my day running errands and listening to this story, and I can't really speak to the marketing of this book that seems to have left some of my fellow readers underwhelmed. Personally I haven't really seen this......more

.𖥔 ݁ 2.5 stars it was kind of camp tbh ❪ thank you to the publisher for the e-arc. ❫......more

2.5 stars rounded up Mixed feelings on this one, but it's a very specific sort of book. Erotic, gay fantasy romance with a reincarnation element? Although I would say it's definitely heavier on the sex than the romance and while I found elements of the book to be interesting I can't say I was ever ro......more