The Emperor and the Endless Palace

By: Justinian Huang

Narrated by: Dylan J. Locke, Will Dao, Telly Leung

"A sweeping triumph in queer romance." –Booklist

“What if I told you that the feeling we call love is actually the feeling of metaphysical recognition, when your soul remembers someone from a previous life?”

In the year 4 BCE, an ambitious courtier is called upon to seduce the young emperor—but quickly discovers they are both ruled by blood, sex and intrigue.

In 1740, a lonely innkeeper agrees to help a mysterious visitor procure a rare medicine, only to unleash an otherworldly terror instead.

And in present-day Los Angeles, a college student meets a beautiful stranger and cannot shake the feeling they’ve met before.

Across these seemingly unrelated timelines woven together only by the twists and turns of fate, two men are reborn, lifetime after lifetime. Within the treacherous walls of an ancient palace and the boundless forests of the Asian wilderness to the heart-pounding cement floors of underground rave scenes, our lovers are inexplicably drawn to each other, constantly tested by the worlds around them.

As their many lives intertwine, they begin to realize the power of their undying love—a power that transcends time itself…but one that might consume them both.

An unpredictable roller coaster of a debut novel, The Emperor and the Endless Palace is a genre-bending spicy romantasy that challenges everything we think we know about true love.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The Emperor and the Endless Palace is a heart-pounding romantasy, full of shocking twists, morally shifty characters, and erotic thrills. When it comes to the romance within this novel, you can expect equal parts mess and swoon, but its central thread is an epic tale of true love against all the odds.

©2024 Justinian Huang (P)2024 Harlequin Enterprises, Limited

What a story!

I was enthralled in the story. It made me hope for the best but at the end it was a happy ending when the happy ending I thought

An ambitious book

This was a sexy and ambitious book that didn’t really click with me most of the time. There was a lot to love, and the sex scenes were sexy, but I often found the rest of the plot confusing. I wanted to love it but I never got there unfortunately.

Probably one of my favorite books now!

The story is brilliant. the plotline is intriguing, very good use of imagery, a clear knowledge of Chinese History and mythology was put into consideration by the author. The love story was beautiful and poetic, whilst it was also tragic and evoked strong feelings. Excellent as a representation of queer romance as well, it felt natural as if no one would even realize this is nothing except a well written story of two people in love that is for all audiences. amazing job.

sexy, fun, beautiful prose

I went in with low expectations but was delighted to find a highly enthralling story of love, messy relationships and lots of hot scenes to boot. I thought the choice to make the story switch between characters whom were connected, but a few thousand years apart was a really good choice and kept things spicy with lots of great cliff hangers and twists. If you're a fan of fantasy, gay erotica or both (like myself) definitely pick this up!

Twist and Turns and Pure Amazement

This book is not like any other. It’s a slow burn, but once you’re in it, you can’t stop. It’s so good. I didn’t know how it end, as it kept surprising me. This is a beautiful book.

Intriguing Story

This story was definitely unique and very intriguing. The plot was well done and easy to follow most of the story. But there were definitely some places I had to back up and listen again to completely understand what was happening. The characters and interactions were captivating and sexy in the right places.

I was a bit disappointed with the ending. While not every story gets or needs a happy ending. I didn't feel like it was completely wrapped up, and wasn't expecting it to end so abruptly with no resolution to 2000 years worth of lifetimes. I feel like I could have been okay with no happy reunion / finally being together, if It hadnt ended feeling like not a single character had resolution or closure.

A story of Soul Mates

I'm not much of a fantasy fiction reader but this story won my heart! A love story of soul mates! Great performance of characters as well.

An amazing book

This was amazing and the only complaint is I wish there was more. The narrative is compelling, the story is gripping, and the readers give an amazing performance. I look forward to hearing more of this authors work. I can’t wait to see what else Justinian Huang will write!

It was a lovely, if at times, tragic love story.

There were some plot lines that were left unfinished and unresolved but maybe there will be a sequel.

Audio was Great, Story Could Be More Compelling

I wanted to like this book more than I did. The idea of it sounded great, however, the execution was not the best.

I definitely enjoyed the spice, but it seemed like it was more of a quantity over quality when writing the spice. I got so bored reading about their “influence.” There were parts that were written quite beautifully but then it became repetitive. (The spice did get better in the second half of the book)

Something about the characters and or how they were written didn’t have me rooting for them. I’m not sure what it was but I didn’t gain any kind of feeling (good or bad) about the characters.

I did like the aspect of trying to figure out who was who in the previous lives. And had a nice surprise when it came to reveal one of them.

There were something’s that I felt were forgotten or the details of how some things fully worked weren’t flushed out.

Overall I thought the book was fine and had an interesting concept. I feel like I may need to read it again to see if I just didn’t pick up on somethings. I am excited about this author though because I do see great potential with his writing so I will continue to check out his work.