A wily young thief must use her wits to survive futuristic, alternate
history Beijing in this Les Misérables-inspired young adult cyberpunk
that is perfect for fans of Six of Crows and Fullmetal Alchemist.
When Zhong Ning'er takes the job, she expects a smash-and-grab burglary
she's doing to make rent and help out a friend. What she doesn't expect:
a sad-eyed army boy who dreams of insurrection, a former rebel leader
trapped inside a secret lab, a group of aspiring revolutionaries who are
first collaborators, then compatriots, and then, perhaps, friends.
But this is Beijing, nearly a hundred and fifty years after General Yuan
Shikai successfully declared himself emperor in 1915. His descendants
rule the country from their seat in the imperial city, their
gendarmerie--the Beiyang Army--run the streets, aided by cyborgs and the
Brocade Guard. Walls have risen, dividing the city into districts called
Rings--nominally only by geography, but in truth by class. Earthquakes
devastate the northern farmlands, crops drown in the southern typhoons,
and all over the country people are hooked on a drug they call
Complacency.
As a Sixth Ring girl who watched previous uprisings crushed brutally by
the court, Ning'er isn't much of an optimist, and she's certainly no
revolutionary. But that might not be up to her--as the stakes get
higher, the time for passivity is quickly running out, and she must
decide if she wants to sit idly in her cynicism, or embrace the
breathless, terrible possibility of hope.
