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Ten Thousand Lights: Saffron Dusk
What is meant to be will always find a way.
A prince from a strange land beyond the sea. Another who has never seen the sun set. Their fates intertwine in the palace of the Lunar Dynasty.
In a world where China never reunified following the collapse of the Tang Dynasty, the Kingdom of Wuyue has risen to become the world's most powerful empire. Envoys from around the world arrive to celebrate the thousand-year anniversary of Wuyue's founding, among them, Prince Erik of the Norden Empire. Prince Mingyue is intrigued by this foreigner, longing since he was a child to visit the world beyond the palace. But the Golden Age of Wuyue is about to come to an abrupt end. In these chaotic times, can Wuyue rely on its allies? And can Mingyue even trust those closest to him?
The two princes have destinies set on different paths, but will fate bring them together?
A prince from a strange land beyond the sea. Another who has never seen the sun set. Their fates intertwine in the palace of the Lunar Dynasty.
In a world where China never reunified following the collapse of the Tang Dynasty, the Kingdom of Wuyue has risen to become the world's most powerful empire. Envoys from around the world arrive to celebrate the thousand-year anniversary of Wuyue's founding, among them, Prince Erik of the Norden Empire. Prince Mingyue is intrigued by this foreigner, longing since he was a child to visit the world beyond the palace. But the Golden Age of Wuyue is about to come to an abrupt end. In these chaotic times, can Wuyue rely on its allies? And can Mingyue even trust those closest to him?
The two princes have destinies set on different paths, but will fate bring them together?
515 pages, Paperback
Published April 19, 2023
103 people are currently reading
145 people want to read
About the author
Yisei Ishkhan
7 books15 followersYisei Ishkhan is the pen name of a Canadian historical fiction, alternate history, sci-fi, and danmei author. His works include End of Serenity, Ten Thousand Lights, and The Tales of Abel and Mitra.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 31, 2025
Just finished reading and I'm ready to start the next book. The story left me guessing so many times. Twists were really unexpected and the characters seemed so alive. It's easy to get into the story and to imagine the characters and places. The relationship is so cute. All little awkward exchanges and overall cuteness got me. Also has to be the first book I have read with Livonia representation 😌
April 22, 2023
A very interesting read. Very imaginative. I can't wait to read the next one!
August 10, 2023
a lot of characters so I was a bit confused at the beginning but a great plot in general with a lot of twists ! Erik is just ❤️❤️❤️
November 7, 2025
TBA
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 13, 2024
I usually don’t write negative reviews on self published books because most of what I usually don’t like can easily be resolved with some editing. But this time I’ll make an exception because some things did really bother me a lot.
This book could have a lot of potential. It is set in a fictional universe where some alteration in our timeline changed the history as we know it. The story is set 1000 years after the end of the tang dynasty, so it should be around or shortly after 1907 in our current timeline (?). But in this universe major events haven’t taken place (for instance the pre-Colombian societies are still alive and thriving), Europe isn’t divided among different nations but is occupied by two main empires. You can somewhat recognise the main cultures and if you have enough history knowledge you can also find it pretty interesting and intriguing. So this was the most interesting part of this book for me.
Otherwise it is just a no no.
The PLOT could be interesting and intriguing, but the pace is somewhat unpredictable, sometimes just so slow and boring. I’m usually really clueless and a bit dim when it comes to guessing the culprit of hidden villain, but in this book I guessed who the villain was from the first time they appeared in the book. But after 500 pages we still don’t know why they exterminated most of the royal family. You’ll have to read book two 🙄
The CHARACTERS are all one dimensional clones of the MC, without any personality apart from being nice and gentle. There’s no psychological depth in any of them. Not even MC/ML. The only character’s personality that stands somewhat out is Irina, Erik’s fiancée, because she is so nasty. But again her actions and thoughts are without substance.
The ROMANCE. There’s no romance, it is marketed as danmei, the two ML barely interact, but still like each other very much. There’s just a quick kiss, with no tension nor fluff. Nothing at all. We only get here and there mentions of fluttering hearts at the sight of green eyes.
The CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT Wuyeye is the most powerful empire in this timeline (so how come it crumbles within a couple of months is really beyond my comprehension). It is described as a cosmopolitan empire, so much so that most of the characters , both nobles and servants, are all from different backgrounds and ethnicities. Which is really nice to read, but in my opinion it clashes with how closed off the royal palace is. Prince Mingyue has never left the city, never watched a sunset, but the court is a melting pot of different cultures. It was difficult to imagine.
Depiction of WOMEN and LGBT. Again there’s a strong dissonance between what the characters do and what they think. There are many women in powerful positions (there’s a crown princess, powerful dowager empresses, female warriors) but the characters still express lots of misogyny. I had the impression that the author was torn between portraying the typical misogyny of historical set novels and a world-building in which women have equal rights. Same for the representation of lgbt characters, apart from the two ML, there’s just one non binary individual. And almost every character expresses some sort of homophobia openly or just through their actions.
RELIGION. This is the part that put me off the most. I don’t know about you, but one of the main reasons I enjoy reading wuxia, xianxia and danmei is the rich philosophical and mythological background. I love reading bits of daoism, Confucianism and Buddhism intertwined in the stories. (For example Thousand autumns) I find it extremely interesting to read about the mythology (Guardian, husky and white cat), the Chinese views on the afterlife. If you are like me you will be disappointed: there’s none of it in this book. The only religions that are mentioned (in passing) are manicheism and Zoroastrism and some form of Christianity seems to be the main religion everywhere in this world(although it has another name, but they mention the father, son, Holy Spirit. There’s the symbolism of the cross and Christmas is mentioned many times). I found it so disappointing and disrespectful to set a story in a certain culture (china) and ERASE all of it.
One last thing: the way servants and nobles interact is so weird. Every time Mingyue gives an order he is opposed and defied by his servants and personal guards. I get it that probably the author wants to build a world without classism, but it is still a monarchy and even if you don’t want to portray a typical prince/servant relationship it is still that of an employer/employee.
This book could have a lot of potential. It is set in a fictional universe where some alteration in our timeline changed the history as we know it. The story is set 1000 years after the end of the tang dynasty, so it should be around or shortly after 1907 in our current timeline (?). But in this universe major events haven’t taken place (for instance the pre-Colombian societies are still alive and thriving), Europe isn’t divided among different nations but is occupied by two main empires. You can somewhat recognise the main cultures and if you have enough history knowledge you can also find it pretty interesting and intriguing. So this was the most interesting part of this book for me.
Otherwise it is just a no no.
The PLOT could be interesting and intriguing, but the pace is somewhat unpredictable, sometimes just so slow and boring. I’m usually really clueless and a bit dim when it comes to guessing the culprit of hidden villain, but in this book I guessed who the villain was from the first time they appeared in the book. But after 500 pages we still don’t know why they exterminated most of the royal family. You’ll have to read book two 🙄
The CHARACTERS are all one dimensional clones of the MC, without any personality apart from being nice and gentle. There’s no psychological depth in any of them. Not even MC/ML. The only character’s personality that stands somewhat out is Irina, Erik’s fiancée, because she is so nasty. But again her actions and thoughts are without substance.
The ROMANCE. There’s no romance, it is marketed as danmei, the two ML barely interact, but still like each other very much. There’s just a quick kiss, with no tension nor fluff. Nothing at all. We only get here and there mentions of fluttering hearts at the sight of green eyes.
The CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT Wuyeye is the most powerful empire in this timeline (so how come it crumbles within a couple of months is really beyond my comprehension). It is described as a cosmopolitan empire, so much so that most of the characters , both nobles and servants, are all from different backgrounds and ethnicities. Which is really nice to read, but in my opinion it clashes with how closed off the royal palace is. Prince Mingyue has never left the city, never watched a sunset, but the court is a melting pot of different cultures. It was difficult to imagine.
Depiction of WOMEN and LGBT. Again there’s a strong dissonance between what the characters do and what they think. There are many women in powerful positions (there’s a crown princess, powerful dowager empresses, female warriors) but the characters still express lots of misogyny. I had the impression that the author was torn between portraying the typical misogyny of historical set novels and a world-building in which women have equal rights. Same for the representation of lgbt characters, apart from the two ML, there’s just one non binary individual. And almost every character expresses some sort of homophobia openly or just through their actions.
RELIGION. This is the part that put me off the most. I don’t know about you, but one of the main reasons I enjoy reading wuxia, xianxia and danmei is the rich philosophical and mythological background. I love reading bits of daoism, Confucianism and Buddhism intertwined in the stories. (For example Thousand autumns) I find it extremely interesting to read about the mythology (Guardian, husky and white cat), the Chinese views on the afterlife. If you are like me you will be disappointed: there’s none of it in this book. The only religions that are mentioned (in passing) are manicheism and Zoroastrism and some form of Christianity seems to be the main religion everywhere in this world(although it has another name, but they mention the father, son, Holy Spirit. There’s the symbolism of the cross and Christmas is mentioned many times). I found it so disappointing and disrespectful to set a story in a certain culture (china) and ERASE all of it.
One last thing: the way servants and nobles interact is so weird. Every time Mingyue gives an order he is opposed and defied by his servants and personal guards. I get it that probably the author wants to build a world without classism, but it is still a monarchy and even if you don’t want to portray a typical prince/servant relationship it is still that of an employer/employee.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 31, 2024
3.5 stars. This is a long book, and there are some good parts and some not-so-good parts.
Overall, I liked the characters. There are a lot of them, and some of the main group of friends is a set of decent, interesting characters, and they each are painted with enough uniqueness and idiosyncrasies that it makes them feel real.
I found the world-building interesting. It is a historical novel where a lot of the historical details are set in reality, but then others are different, so it’s easy to understand many of the descriptions and references, but at the same time the differences make it interesting.
Where the story failed for me, was the romantic development. If I’d rate the pace from zero (nothing happens) to ten (insta-love), I’d have to say it’s at 0.5. The MCs are mildly interested in each other, sometimes they have cute interactions, but their meetings are few and far in between for most of the novel, and interspersed by long periods of doing other things when they don’t even seem to be thinking of each other. The end got a little better in this respect and they spent more time interacting in the last pages, but their relationship just never got anywhere.
The other part that made the rating of this book lower is the lengthy writing. Scenes and things are described in too many words, and after a while it makes the prose heavy and boring.
Overall I’m still curious to see what happens next, and hope that the writing improves on the next installment.
Overall, I liked the characters. There are a lot of them, and some of the main group of friends is a set of decent, interesting characters, and they each are painted with enough uniqueness and idiosyncrasies that it makes them feel real.
I found the world-building interesting. It is a historical novel where a lot of the historical details are set in reality, but then others are different, so it’s easy to understand many of the descriptions and references, but at the same time the differences make it interesting.
Where the story failed for me, was the romantic development. If I’d rate the pace from zero (nothing happens) to ten (insta-love), I’d have to say it’s at 0.5. The MCs are mildly interested in each other, sometimes they have cute interactions, but their meetings are few and far in between for most of the novel, and interspersed by long periods of doing other things when they don’t even seem to be thinking of each other. The end got a little better in this respect and they spent more time interacting in the last pages, but their relationship just never got anywhere.
The other part that made the rating of this book lower is the lengthy writing. Scenes and things are described in too many words, and after a while it makes the prose heavy and boring.
Overall I’m still curious to see what happens next, and hope that the writing improves on the next installment.
April 4, 2024
This felt like a bible studded war novel with a little romance sprinkled in. I agree with other reviews that the world building and writing styles are enjoyable for what they are but it felt 20% about the MCs and 80% war and the massive amount of other characters. If you want two novels about a whole lot of war happening, talking about war, talking about planning war and talking about avoiding war this would be entertaining.
August 15, 2025
I dropped this story after the main character was described as having been able to perfectly play a musical instrument he'd never played before (just because he'd seen his mom play growing up), he even harmonized with the male lead, his first time playing! I cringed way too hard. Has the author ever tried to play a musical instrument before?
June 24, 2024
While this story was really good it was to many characters perspective going on I wished the May broke it up a bit by characters inside going back and forth, but still worth the read
Read
November 2, 2024I tried! But I just wasn't up for it right now. I'd wish to be able to try again later.
July 21, 2024
i think the author might be
gay
:/
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews