An Empire in the Clouds, by Ai Jiang

Ai Jiang is a name I associate with creativity and gorgeous writing, and An Empire in the Clouds, her debut novel, is not an exception. A marvelous blend of science fiction and fantasy elements, together with Chinese opera and folklore, that delivers an evocative and quite unique story of political intrigue while feeling how Jiang paints a world of contrasts with her words.

A novel that revolves around two characters whose destinies would end up being entangled as they share a common goal. On Piāo, the floating empire of lotuses, Xīlián has discovered the plot of the royal advisors to overthrow her brother, Yún, the emperor, through a flood that will make the death look like an accident; in a risky move, she flees to the drowning continent of Opera, trying to find her exiled brother Làng and gather the help she can to stop the royal advisors' plan.
No Face is also an outcast residing on Opera; abandoned by Piāo, they plot to destroy those that pulled their family apart. After Xīlián is imprisoned, and No Face discovers the truth about their past, they will have to work together to stop the advisors and avoid the devastation of both continents, aiming to unify the lands both love.

The worldbuilding was one of the elements I enjoyed the most, especially as you can feel how it's not handholding you, just trusting the reader to create the image of this world of contrasts. Contrast is the keyword, as we can see the blend between cyberpunk-like levels of technology in the continent of Opera and the tradition that is at the core of Piāo; neither are presented as better, but we can see both having their own set of problems that we can use to explore themes such as environmental collapse, the importance of family, and the nature of truth and storytelling.
Interestingly, there's fighting in this book, but I loved how much of the confrontation is done through opera, Chinese opera; it's something quite unique. At the end, we could say that those opera confrontations are about storytelling, and how truth may change depending on who is telling it.

The characters are a bit conflicting by themselves, as they can feel faint in comparison with the worldbuilding; however, the more time we spend in their heads, the better we can understand their motivations and how they are acting. As with the worldbuilding, Jiang doesn't introduce much directly, letting the reader paint the full picture in their heads.

An Empire in the Clouds is a brilliant debut novel, a science-fantasy proposal infused with Chinese elements that engulfs you through the contrasts of its world to deliver a marvelous plot about political power and storytelling. Ai Jiang is one of those authors who goes straight to my auto-read list!