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Segunda entrega de la trilogía La empreratriz de la seda. Una apasionante aventura que supone el encuentro entre Oriente y Occidente.

Ya convertida en emperatriz, la sensual y enigmática Wuzhao, en su marcha hacia la conquista del poder supremo, se verá obligada a hacer frente a temibles enemigos que la acusarán de haber organizado el crimen del Superior del monasterio de Peshawar, el mayor monasterio budista de la India. La desaparición, además, de valiosísimas reliquias desencadenará en China, la India y el Tíbet extraordinarios disturbios. Debido a ello, surgirán intrigas en las iglesias budistas, se verá amenazado el secreto de la fabricación de la seda y la policía imperial asediará a los traficantes. Pero también nacerá una gran pasión entre un monje budista y una joven cristiana. Tras enfilar la Ruta de la Seda, la pareja sólo sueña con vivir apaciblemente su amor, si bien los dos enamorados se prometen cumplir primero una misión: conducir de nuevo a China a los Gemelos Celestiales, dos misteriosos pequeños en quienes descansa el futuro del Imperio. Los Ojos de Buda, continuación de la trilogía de La emperatriz de la seda iniciada con El Techo del Mundo, nos vuelve a sumergir en esta apasionante aventura que supone el encuentro de Oriente con Occidente, el contraste de culturas y religiones, el nacimiento de un mundo sin fronteras, con la Ruta de la Seda como escenario.

432 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

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About the author

José Frèches

83 books16 followers
Education (school): São Paolo, Rome, Lisbon, Aix-en-Provence, Paris
Education (university): Institut d’Etudes Politiques of Aix-en-Provence,
Degrees in History of Art and Chinese, Masters in History, former pupil of ENA.
Professional career: curator of the Guimet museum at 21 years of age and lecturer at the Ecole du Louvre, José Frèches has held various positions in the communications, audiovisual and culture sectors (setting up the Vidéothèque of Paris and becoming President of Midi Libre)

Today, he is a member of the Artistic Council of the National Museums Group (Réunion des musées nationaux), and among other activities he puts his energy into a Parisian Communications Agency and is also the director of an art and antiques gallery in the Gard.

He initiated in 2005 the International Biennial of Chinese Contemporary Art in Montpellier, an event testifying for the huge development of China and of its culture. His novelistic trilogies, The Legend of the Jade and The Silk Empress (XO, 2002 and 2004) were tremendously successful: they sold more than one million copies and were translated into 11 languages. His biographical novel about Buddha, I Buddha, appealed to the general reader (90.000 copies were sold in France, apart from paperback) and to nine foreign publishers.

His first trilogy The Jade Disk is a story, set during the Warring States Period in disunited China. It tells the story from the character of the rich merchant and eventual prime-minister Lü Buwei - real father of the first emperor of China Qin Shi Huang. It portrays the struggles between the other kingdoms and Kingdom of Qin, destined to unite China.

His second trilogy The Empress of Silk is set in Medieval China during the Tang Dynasty. It depicts the story of Emperor Gaozong, the third emperor of Tang and his prominent and ambitious wife Wu Zetian, who after his death, virtually became the ruler of the country and the first female emperor in the history of China.

His latest series The Empire of Tears is set in mid-19th Century China, during the Opium Wars, where the empire is struggling and slowly decaying.

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5 stars
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
Profile Image for Haidé (Nox Lectio).
234 reviews3 followers
November 19, 2023
Esta trilogia foi comprada por ser histórico, trilogia e porque estava em promoção, aquelas compras que eu faço de intuição, na fé...
Romance, traição, luta, História, aventura.
Eu sonhava com a trama. Enquanto não a devorei, literalmente, não descansei. Eu lia no autocarro, quando chegava à escola, antes de dormir. Eu lia sempre que podia. É uma Trilogia intensa, muito bem conseguida, cheia de coisas boas mas também um tanto ou quanto pesada. E foi na altura em que não largava estes livros, que uma das minhas colegas começou a ganhar interesse na leitura e a começar o seu caminho nos livros. Para mim, além do interesse que desperta e do fascinante que é, além de muito instrutiva, esta trilogia ficará sempre ligada ao meu amor pela leitura e pelos livros e pela passagem do testemunho a uma não leitora que rapidamente se transformou numa leitora ávida. Foi a primeira pessoa que influenciei a ler. E ainda hoje, qd falamos de longe em longe, ela me diz que a culpa de gostar de ler e ter descoberto os livros, é minha. Gosto muito desta culpa e tenho mt orgulho nela!
Profile Image for Sara.
219 reviews24 followers
February 26, 2012
I didn't enjoy the book so much. The story was not overwhelming and the characters hadn't great personalities.
For all the book the story was fragmented and sometimes not so clear; also it was pretty boring in some parts because it was all about sex, religion and silk. I think that the author have done a fantastic work speaking of describing the Oriental culture and their tradition but, for the story itself, he could have done better. Maybe the problem is that there are lots of characters and you can not find a main character; Reading the synopsis you immediately think that Wuzhao, the empress, would have been the female protagonist and maybe, if the story would have been around her, the book would have been more interesting.
Nevertheless I think that the author is amazingly cultured: He has a huge knowledge about Oriental countries.
Profile Image for Véronique.
Author 1 book3 followers
January 27, 2014
I could not finish this book, read in French, title: Le toit du monde (trilogie:L'impératrice de la soie).
The historical facts and especially the details about religion, the different branches of Buddhism and they rivalry are very interesting. But I just could not read 500 pages of that first book of the trilogy (I gave up around page 200, really tried...), too much is dislike about it: the writing style, the ridiculous love stories, the simplistic characters (and plot), the 20th century dialogues in the mouth of people living in the first one etc.
I gave 3 stars because of the obvious research the writer has done to document this book, and also because I don't want people to think I give zero stars when I just don't want to give a rating having not finished the book.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews

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