In River of Stars , international bestselling author Guy Gavriel Kay weaves a dazzling tale of lives destined to intertwine amidst the turbulent backdrop of an empire in decline, inspired by China's Song Dynasty. Ren Daiyan was just a boy when he took the lives of seven men while guarding an imperial magistrate of Kitai--a moment that changed his life forever. Lin Shan is the daughter of a scholar, his beloved only child. Educated as if she'd been a son, she finds herself living a life suspended between two worlds. But when her father's life is endangered by the savage politics of the day, Shan must act in ways no woman ever has. With bitter court factions vying for control as dramatic events unfold on the northern steppe, the balance of power in the world shifts, leading both of them, and their world, towards a destiny no one could have foretold.