River of Stars by Guy Gavriel Kay
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Returning to Kay's richly drawn worlds is like falling into poetry, extensively researched history, and the becoming one with the horrors that beset these wonderful contemporary protagonists.

I'm tempted to call this silkpunk, but I must admit there is *almost* no fantasy and definitely no SF in it. Instead, it is just an immersive look at what could be the Song Dynasty, 400 years after the original novel Under Heaven that resembled the Tang Dynasty.

This is historical escapism at its best:
A educated woman making her way, doing the best she can in this world.
A hero warrior turned bandit and later becoming the spark to ravage the land in civil war.

The only thing I could do was float away in the text. :)

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