Booklist, Starred Review: "The author’s talent for dramatic, well-timed dialogue, and portrayal of women’s friendships and emotions—especially dislike, jealousy, and fear—intensifies the reader’s understanding of palace intrigue." Library Journal, Starred Review: "A must-read for fans of historical fiction set in ancient China, this novel offers a compelling look at a woman’s unprecedented rise to power and a fresh take on the often vilified Empress Wu."

The Empress of the Bright Moon, is the sequel to Moon in the Palace It is the continuing story of Mei, who eventually becomes the only female ruler in China.This book is beautifully written just as the first book was,but I felt it dragged in parts.It is an engaging story that tells the cultural history of China.There is plenty of intrigue and drama as Mei struggles to become Empress Wu.I liked very much Weina Dai Randel explains in the end of the book what is true and where she became creative.

Unlike the first in the series, my interest simply kept fading until I simply had to put the book down. Same characters but darker palace intrigue and hopeless outcomes, or constant manipulation and outmaneuvering evil forces. Maybe if I'd had both to read one right the other, an enthusiastic momentum would have helped. Writing ok but not as strong as first in series.

3.5 stars if I could . This sequel to The Moon in the Palace depicting the royal court in ancient China focuses on the strong women who influenced the times and in particular , Wu Mei , whose story is "based on a true historical figure , the one and only female ruler in China, Wu Zetian , also known as Empress Wu." Royal advisers pitted against each other for their own gain , to retain power and influence , concubines and other women in the court jockeying for position to be close to the Emperor...

"The Empress of Bright Moon" is the second book in a duology. This is the continuing story of Mei, a concubine who rises up to be the new potential empress in ancient China. In this book, Mei is now more confident in her skills and power. When her lover becomes the new Emperor, Mei knows that she must force her way to the top any way that she can. She knows that she will be better for Pheasant than any other women, including his current wife. Like I said, this is the second book in a duology. De...

This book is better than the first half, but still suffers from the passive narration. The woman doesn't actually do much, everything happens to her, or around her. But a lot more happens here than in the first book. The scenes are more exciting and the emotional impact is well developed.Unfortunately, everyone keeps making the same mistakes over and over.The ending is a bit abrupt, and the author's note says that the Empress lives a long time after the book ends, so perhaps a bit more of the st...

Wowser, this book is truly exceptional and a fine, fine finale to the story of Mei (Empress Wu) that was begun in beautifully crafted The Moon In The Palace set during the Tang Dynasty.Mei's story began in the first book as she fought to gain herself a place with the Emperor, while being in love with his son Pheasant. She saw the rise and fall of many, both rich and poor, royal and not while rising and falling herself, over and over again. Now Mei has reached a point in her life, with the death

Horrible. Can't understand any reviews that give this more than 2 stars. By page 99, I wanted to give up because I was so tired of the endless stereotypes of the good (childbearing fertile beautiful poor desirable) concubine Mei and the bad (barren fat ugly bipolar rich mean) empress wife. I had thought that Fifty Shades of Gray was the worst book ever written until I read this. Predictable boring plot.

A very good conclusion to the story of the only female emperor of China. The first book is The Moon in the Palace, which I highly recommend.

Book 2 in the series continues the amazing story of Mei, a concubine in the Emperor's Palace in 7th century China.Upon the death of the Emperor, Mei thinks her dreams of great power may come true. After all, she is now free, and her lover has been proclaimed the new Emperor. Everything is falling into place, or so she thinks.However, her lover's chief wife has it in for Mei and makes her life a living hell. Mei, however, is not easily frightened and will not cower to her in her quest to have the...

This novel, the sequel to "Moon in the Palace" is riveting, well written and very enjoyable! Weina's in depth research makes this novel realistic, with the reader able to visualize each scene, person and place described. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical novels!

Riveting & stirring read. The royal court of Imperial China is just as bloody, ruthless, & calculating as its European counterparts if not more. Mei, or Empress Wu's life and ascent to the throne is full of intrigue, death, yet inspiring nonetheless.

Really good historical fiction about the only female ruler of China. This was the second book in the series and it was just as good as the first. If you love historical fiction you need to read these two books about ancient China's one and only female ruler!

3.5/5A decent if somewhat shortchanged ending to WDR's version of Empress Wu/Wu Zetian. This covers the years of Emperor Gaozong’s early reign, his path to power over the regent and his wife Empress Wang. TEOBM is kinder to Mei/Wu than most historians/writers have been in the centuries after her reign. Weina Dai Randel affords Mei the benefit of doubt and attributes some of worst alleged deeds to others, chiefly Wujin and Wang. However, as promising as the series has been I am admittedly disappo...

This book was a lot better than the first. More romance and a little less crazy (If you don't count the Empress).This book is the embodiment of the saying 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.'I actually felt the tiniest bad for the Empress at the end, when it was revealed that she was most likely NOT barren. But that her husband hadn't sleep with her except for the wedding night!!I'm proud of Pheasant that he was very loyal to Mei. Especially since it was unheard of in that day for a noble m...

THE EMPRESS OF BRIGHT MOON by Weina Dai Randel is the sequel to The Moon in the Palace. The second book had been in my to be read pile for quite a while and for some reason never got to it. I’m one of the people who can’t watch a movie if two minutes have played, and I hate to read a book’s sequel with remembering the first one. So I sat down to binge read both books this weekend. I enjoyed reading The Moon in the Palace as much as the first time and found Randel’s story telling skills wonderful...