An Epic Novel in 20th Century Asia
Life without freedom is meaningless for it is a part of nature to be free and independent in any culture. Freedom always comes with a great price and when needed, people will sacrifice for it. Such quests for freedom happened a long time age in Asia, and this is what readers will discover in the new novel In the Dragon’s Wake: Book One from author Paul E. Selinger.
Set during the final years of the 19th century, when China’s Qing dynasty was collapsing, this book tells the story of Korean trade minister Lee, who saves the life of a beautiful and adventurous French colonial woman while stationed in Peking. They fall in love and in defiance of social and racial taboos they remain together to raise a family. Japanese imperialism spreads throughout China and all Asia. Japan occupies and annexes Korea, cruelly crushing its independence while invading Manchuria. As a result, Lee becomes a man without a country. During his exile he goes on lead a resistance movement against the Japanese. From a 19th century Neo-Confucian royalist, Lee transforms himself into a 20th century man fighting for freedom and democracy. What happens next in this captivating novel will leave a deep impact on the reader, on Lee his family and cause, and on the rest of Asia.
Educational and dramatic from the core, In The Dragon’s Wake takes place during one of history’s most fascinating periods. It has sympathetic fictional characters placed in real history in a way that connects them with the real people who actually participated in the shaping of the historical and dramatic events that created the modern Asian world, especially China and Korea, and hence the world as a whole. Its cast of characters is so naturally presented, readers will care what happens to them. In addition, its context brings to life the many exotic locations, ancient cultures and historical events which many readers have yet to discover. Last but not least, the epic story emphasizes the struggle of oppressed minorities to throw off the chains of their oppressors and create free and just societies. In The Dragon’s Wake is a historical epic now available for your reading pleasure online at Xlibris.com, Barnesandnoble.com, Amazon.com, Borders.com and at your local bookstore.
In The Dragon's Wake
by Paul E. Selinger
Book One
Publication Date: June 29, 2006
Trade Paperback; $22.99; 369 pages; 1-4257-0658-4; 978-1-425706-58-6
Cloth Hardback; $32.99; 369 pages; 1-4257-0659-2; 978-1-425706-59-3