After bloody battles with the remnants of the Mugen army and Hesperian allies who want to appropriate Nikan wealth, Rin is again left with nothing. Betrayed and crippled, she flees Arlong to muster her strength and strike at the enemy. But her new allies in the leadership of the Southern Coalition are sly and unreliable, Rin quickly realizes that the real power in Nikan is the millions of ordinary people who seek revenge and revere her as the goddess of salvation.However, as her power grows and the intoxicating voice of the Phoenix grows stronger, calling on her to burn the whole world. And it's getting harder and harder to resist...A spectacular conclusion to the "Opium War" trilogy, Rebecca Kuang's acclaimed, award-winning epic fantasy that combines China's history from both the Middle Ages and the recent past with a dangerous world of gods and monsters .