A Spark Rekindled

If a donkey knows only to keep its eyes shut and turn the millstone, there's no doubt it's the finest donkey in the world.

But if it starts to wonder why donkeys are born to turn millstones while people are born holding whips, why we do the grinding while humans get to eat, then the donkey's rebellion is about to begin.

The Eternal Immortal Court has ruled this land for thirteen hundred years. They destroyed civilization, burned the classics, and overturned, rearranged, and assimilated everything.

And yet the flames of resistance have never gone out.

The protagonist, Lin He, starts out as a peasant in the countryside. Defying his village's custom of abandoning the elderly, he brings his parents home in the dead of night. The pressure of survival forces him to keep moving forward and thinking.

He learns when to speak and when to stay silent, the rules followed openly and in secret, trust and betrayal. He witnesses bloodshed and flames.

At last, he reaches a position from which he can change everything.