Empire of Heaven: A Novel of Nineteenth Century China

by Linda Ching Sledge

After healing Hung, leader of the Taiping Rebellion in mid-nineteenth-century China, Rulan becomes his obsession and to avoid him she must take refuge as a spy in the mansion of the rebellion's opponent, General Li

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical

576 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1990

Reviews

[Aidan Darnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read, 30 years after publication. Well written, with some interesting arcs, and a good sense of the sweep of history of this time period. Zooming in and out between Imperial households (though I would have liked a few more instances of this) and the peasant heroes, it's a satisfying - if a little uneven - story of revolution, love, and the search for a place of heavenly peace on Earth.

[Ane Cathrine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars (come on Goodreads, when do we get half stars?). It is a dated book and it read dated, but I was surprisingly capitivated by the characters? And I NEEDED to know where they ended up. But I’m not sure I would recommend unless you can abstract from the writing. That being said, I really enjoyed the historical bits about China and how the author kept challenging the sexism in the time period with both her female and male characters.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Feature's a remarkably strong woman protagonist on an arduous journey. Colorful. Fascinating.

[Ang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this epic read.

[Sharon Howe · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really a dumb book. Poor story line. Attempts to be historical. You're better off reading an history book on China in the mid nineteenth century then wasting your time on this attempt at historic fiction. No beauty, no humor, no strong characters, questionable history.

I'm throwing this book away. No reason to waste someone else's time.

[Annette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite an interesting read. This is the story of a peasant born Chinese woman during the Taiping period. Fiction based on history, it is a great story. I love this type of book, one that transports me to a time I could never have known, full of betrayal, honor, poverty and a long lost culture... It would be one of those really wonderful 'summer reads'...

[Julianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a great book, but fascinating nonetheless. I enjoyed this during a very trying trip to the hospital, and it kept me turning the pages. Very unusual; I have never read anything quite like it. It is very long and takes time to get through.

[Madeleine McLaughlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Big, long book but a nice plot that keeps you reading and when you read the historical notice about the author at the end, you realize that it's probably based on something that did happen, it makes it better. A nice, strong female main character.

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this years ago, but I do remember it was hard to put down and that after I read it I immediately bought the sequel, A Map of Paradise.

[Weng · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love love love this book. It brought me back to Ancient China and the intrigue, mystery, the whole plot compelled me to not wanting to put the book down till I'm done.