NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In a fallen kingdom one girl carries the key to discovering the
secrets of her nation's past—and unleashing the demons that sleep at its heart. An epic fantasy
series inspired by the mythology and folklore of ancient China.Perfect for fans of The Untamed.
I loved it!” —Shelley Parker-Chan bestselling author of She Who Became the Sun Once Lan had a
different name. Now she goes by the one the Elantian colonizers gave her when they invaded her
kingdom killed her mother and outlawed her people’s magic. She spends her nights as a
songgirl in Haak’gong a city transformed by the conquerors and her days scavenging for what
she can find of the past. Anything to understand the strange mark burned into her arm by her
mother in her last act before she died. The mark is mysterious—an untranslatable Hin
character—and no one but Lan can see it. Until the night a boy appears at her teahouse and
saves her life. Zen is a practitioner—one of the fabled magicians of the Last Kingdom. Their
magic was rumored to have been drawn from the demons they communed with. Magic believed to be
long lost. Now it must be hidden from the Elantians at all costs. When Zen comes across Lan he
recognizes what she is: a practitioner with a powerful ability hidden in the mark on her arm.
He’s never seen anything like it—but he knows that if there are answers they lie deep in the
pine forests and misty mountains of the Last Kingdom with an order of practitioning masters
planning to overthrow the Elantian regime. Both Lan and Zen have secrets buried deep
within—secrets they must hide from others and secrets that they themselves have yet to
discover. Fate has connected them but their destiny remains unwritten. Both hold the power to
liberate their land. And both hold the power to destroy the world. Now the battle for the Last
Kingdom begins.
