At the end of the Tang dynasty, the heavens collapsed in the northwest and the earth sank in the southeast. Huang Chao's flames consumed the splendor of three centuries of the Great Tang, along with the ideals of two close friends.
Chen Nuo wants to rebuild human order amid the ruins of Jianghuai with the power of the written word, and raise a city beyond the reach of warfare.
Li Duan wants to carve out a bright new world amid the blood and flames of the north with the iron spear in his hand, and end the age of chaos through sheer force.
One path is civil governance, thorny at every turn. The other is a military path soaked in blood. They go their separate ways, each convinced that his own course is the only way to save Chinese civilization.
When the Khitan hooves shatter the land, they finally realize that each of them is merely one of two broken stones trying to mend the heavens in a collapsing age. This novel depicts the turmoil of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms in full, and the unquenchable flame passed down through the generations of Chinese civilization in its darkest hour.
