The Book and the Sword Condition:Good leaders have risen up through

leaders have risen up through the ranks based on their cognitive abilities

leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope

contains a clue to the hiding place of a priceless chain of gold

and lies—a battle that threatens to destroy them all

The Book and the Sword Condition:Good leaders have risen up throughIn the Book and Sword, Louis Cha revives the legend about the great eighteenth century Manchu Emperor Qianlong which claims that he was in fact not a Manchu but a Han Chinese as a result of a "baby swap." The novel is panoramic in scope and includes the fantastical elements for which Cha is well known: secret societies, kungfu masters, a lost desert city guarded by wolf packs, and the mysterious Fragrant Princess.