The Poet Empress
Meet the epic fantasy debut of 2026
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- Published: Jan 20 2026
- Pages: 400
- ISBN: 9781399628969
House of the azalea, where thorn meets bud;
Brother betrays brother, blood forgets blood.
Young rice farmer Yin Wei was forced to become concubine to Prince Guan Terren - a monstrous wielder of poetry magic, and heir to the Azalea throne - to save her family from the famine blighting the land of Tensha.
Now confined to the imperial court, Terren's cruelty is not the only danger Wei faces. He and his honourable older brother are locked in a deadly succession war, while Terren's thirty concubines are fighting a war of their own, for the position of future empress.
To survive, Wei must harden her heart, rely on her wit, and become dangerous herself - even if it means learning the one forbidden poem that can kill Terren and save both herself and the nation.
But there's a problem - for the spell to work against a man she hates, it must be written with love.
Debut author Shen Tao introduces readers to the lush, deadly world of The Poet Empress, a sweeping, epic and intimate fantasy perfect for fans of The Serpent & the Wings of Night, The Song of Achilles and She Who Became the Sun.
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Brother betrays brother, blood forgets blood.
Young rice farmer Yin Wei was forced to become concubine to Prince Guan Terren - a monstrous wielder of poetry magic, and heir to the Azalea throne - to save her family from the famine blighting the land of Tensha.
Now confined to the imperial court, Terren's cruelty is not the only danger Wei faces. He and his honourable older brother are locked in a deadly succession war, while Terren's thirty concubines are fighting a war of their own, for the position of future empress.
To survive, Wei must harden her heart, rely on her wit, and become dangerous herself - even if it means learning the one forbidden poem that can kill Terren and save both herself and the nation.
But there's a problem - for the spell to work against a man she hates, it must be written with love.
Debut author Shen Tao introduces readers to the lush, deadly world of The Poet Empress, a sweeping, epic and intimate fantasy perfect for fans of The Serpent & the Wings of Night, The Song of Achilles and She Who Became the Sun.
Press Reviews
- Andrea Stewart, Sunday Times bestselling author
The Poet Empress is a hidden knife, one that cuts so deeply and cleanly that it excises your heart and makes you like it. I have rarely had such a breathless reading experience, where each page reveals the ways in which humanity's beauty and ugliness run lockstep with one another. Terrifying and enthralling!
- Kritika H. Rao, Sunday Times bestselling author of THE LEGEND OF MENEKA
Taut, sharp, and compelling. With haunting prose and characters vividly real, THE POET EMPRESS is a devastating composition, revealing intrigue, magic, and politics turn by thrilling turn. Impeccably paced, vicious and romantic, this is a deadly debut that'll have you at the edge of your seat
- Kemi Ashing-Giwa
The Poet Empress will surprise you. It will, at times, terrify you. But Tao's rich tale is multifaceted-it is brutal, yes, but also beautiful and full of hope and kindnesses both big and small. If you love court intrigue, creative magic systems, and protagonists who know that empathy is a strength and not a weakness, even as they are forced to make impossible decisions, this is the book for you.