The Poet Empress
By Shen Tao
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A LibraryReads pick!
DELUXE EDITION―featuring gorgeous gilded edges, detailed endpapers, and beautiful case art under the book jacket!
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 Poppy War, and A Game of Thrones.
In the waning years of the Azalea Dynasty, the emperor is dying, the land is consumed by famine, and poetry magic is lost to all except the powerful.
Wei Yin is desperate. With her family and village on the brink of starvation, she will do anything to save those she loves. Even offer herself as concubine to the cruel heir of the beautiful and brutal Azalea House—where written magic is power, and women are forbidden to read. But the palace stands on the knife-edge of civil war and Wei becomes trapped in its center, at the side of a violent prince.
To survive and save her people, Wei must become dangerous herself. Even though it means risking execution, she must learn to read—and compose the most powerful spell of all: A ballad of love… and death.
The Poet Empress is an epic fantasy that explores dark themes, subjects, and scenes that may not be suitable for all readers. Please see the author's content note at the beginning of the book.
These book club questions are from Reading Group Choices.
Guide written by Amy Root Clements
Book club questions for The Poet Empress by Shen Tao
Use these discussion questions to guide your next book club meeting.
The novel begins with the tragic loss of Larkspur. How is Wei able to resist corruption and remain fiercely protective of her family (especially Bao) after leaving her village? How would Terren and Maro have fared if they had been born into Wei’s circumstances?
In chapter 3, “The Joke of Guishan,” Wei is initially rejected by Ciyi, but she makes a split-second decision to beg to be let into the carriage. If you had been in her situation, would you have accepted rejection as your fate?
How does Wei reconcile the contradiction of the heart-spirit poem as both a deadly weapon and a poem of love?
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Create My ClubThe servants and rulers of Azalea House must contend with continual lies and a lack of evidence to help them discern what is true. What traits are necessary to survive in their world? How do the teachings of Wei’s parents give her an advantage over city girls? How does the clarity of Maro’s diaries compare to the murky rumors about him?
What did you predict would happen when Wei formed an alliance with Silian? How do both women subvert the patriarchal system that was meant to keep them subservient? In what ways does that system also harm the boys and men it was designed to empower?
In chapter 69, “The Greatest Nation,” Wei asks whether a nation is worth saving if it cannot keep its own children safe and fed. What can rulers in our contemporary nations learn from Muzha’s dilemma? As he chooses between the invincibility of Terren—whose ruthless violence could restore Tensha’s territory—and the economic schemes of Maro, why is it hard for him to put any hope in a third option, embodied in Isan, of serving the neediest?
Chapter 18, “Sanctuary,” contains the first of several narrations by Hesin. How does his point of view compare to Wei’s? How did your opinion of him shift as his story unfolded?
How did you react as the life story of Terren unfolded and the actions of Lady Autumn at the Violet Heron Tower were revealed? Where is the line between explaining cruelty and excusing it?
Lines of poetry appear in several of the chapter openers and are interwoven with the text. Which of these lines resonated with you? In the novel, what determines whether a literomancer’s message becomes a path for healing or destruction? Do you believe that words can possess magical qualities?
In the final chapter, how is the spiritual world of the Ancestors fused with the earthly realm? What are the repercussions when humanity loses its connection to the natural world—both in The Poet Empress and in real life?
The Poet Empress Book Club Questions PDF
Download a printable PDF of these discussion questions to bring to your meeting.