Strike the Zither

In this epic YA fantasy about found family, rivals, and questions of identity, New York Times–bestselling author Joan He reimagines the Three Kingdoms, the first of the Four Classics of Chinese Literature.

The year is 414 of the Xin Dynasty, and chaos abounds. A puppet empress is on the throne. The realm's fractured into three factions and three warlordesses hoping to claim the continent for themselves.

But Zephyr knows it’s no contest.

Orphaned at a young age, Zephyr took control of her fate by becoming the best strategist of the land, serving under Xin Ren, a warlordess whose loyalty to the empress Xin Bao is double-edged; her honor draws Zephyr to her cause, but it also jeopardizes their survival in a war where one must betray or be betrayed. When Zephyr is forced to infiltrate an enemy camp to keep Ren’s followers from being slaughtered, she encounters the enigmatic Crow, an opposing strategist who is finally her match. But there are more enemies than one—and not all of them are human.

Joan He was born and raised in Philadelphia, and now lives in Chicago, IL. At a young age, she received classical instruction in oil painting before discovering that stories were her favorite kind of art. She studied psychology and Chinese history at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the bestselling author of The Ones We’re Meant to Find and Descendant of the Crane, her young adult debut novel.