Forest of a Thousand Lanterns

Xifeng is eighteen and lives in a remote village at the edge of Feng Lu, raised by her harsh aunt Guma. Guma reads cards, and her reading promises Xifeng a future as Empress. Xifeng has grown up trusting that her beauty and her destiny will carry her out of poverty.

Wei, her childhood sweetheart, asks her to leave with him and make a quiet life together. The throne pulls harder. To reach the imperial court, Xifeng has to give up the people she loves and turn to a blood magic that feeds on the hearts of the dead.

Once inside the palace, she faces the emperor's favorites and rivals, Lady Sun the concubine among them. A dark presence guides her there, and its demands for power keep growing.

This is the first book of the Rise of the Empress duology, a fantasy inspired by East Asia. It tells the origin of the Evil Queen who appears before the tale of Snow White. The question it turns on is whether the crown is worth the price Xifeng pays for it.