The Secret Lives of Immortals

An exquisite tale of sorcery and power, and a centuries-spanning love story between a poet from the Imperial Chinese palace and the Roman mercenary who tricks her into eternal life, from a remarkable new voice in fantasy, debut author Ash Huang. 

He Ling is many things—storyteller, poet, con woman. She’s also lived for a very long time.

From the courts of Imperial China to the bloody gladiatorial pits of Rome, she’s witnessed the rise and fall of civilizations, embarked on great adventures, mourned the fleeting lives of her friends. 

Still, she can’t help but remember the one who came before all else: Quintus, the Roman mercenary who tricked her into immortal life. The only man she’s ever loved, and the one who haunts her still.

Now, after centuries apart, Quintus returns just as she has started to carve out a life of her own. As her past and present collide, Ling must answer the question that has chased her for eternity: for immortals like them, is forever a promise, or a curse?

The Secret Lives of Immortals is a genre-defying work of speculative fiction that will take you on a journey of infinite lifetimes.

• "Sharply-written, incisive, and true, The Secret Lives of Immortals is an ode to modernity by way of tradition, a clear-eyed examination of the forces that shape us across time, culture, and distance. Brilliant.”
   
  Shen Tao, author of The Poet Empress
• “Through this centuries-spanning love story, Huang weaves in a crucial question: who gets to wield power, and why? An insightful exploration of love, mortality, and the seductive nature of good intentions, The Secret Lives of Immortals asks whether living forever teaches us how to live, or just makes us blind to the reality of being human.”
  Sunyi Dean, USA Today bestselling author of The Girl with a Thousand Faces