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H. Leighton Dickson

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To Journey in the Year of the Tiger (The Rise of the Upper Kingdom Book 1) Kindle Edition

by H. Leighton Dickson (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.2 639 ratings

Book 1 of 4: The Rise of the Upper Kingdom

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In the Survival of the Fittest, Not All Men are Created Equal. Some are Created Lions.

Kirin Wynegarde-Grey is a young lion with a big job - ensuring the stability and order of the Upper Kingdom, a genetically-altered Empire built in the Ashes of the 'Ancestors,' where humans are legend and animals walk like men. When an Ancestor awakens in the West, Kirin must lead a team that includes his unpredictable brother, a lethal swordswoman and three mysterious specialists to eliminate this ancient threat before it can usurp the Way of Things and plunge all the kingdoms into a state of war.

It's 'Planet of the Apes' meets 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.' Fans of Tolkien, Game of Thrones, or Japanese anime will be entertained in these intelligent, beautifully written pages in a blend of science, fantasy and zoological speculation.

"Fantasy adventure fans will enjoy this." - Publisher's Weekly

fantasy, chinese fantasy, chinese zodiac, sword and sorcery, genetic engineering

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Powerful, Passionate and Poetic!" - West Coast Book Reviews
"Fantasy adventure fans will enjoy this!" - Publisher's Weekly

About the Author

H. Leighton Dickson grew up in the wilds of the Canadian Shield, where her neighbours were wolves, moose, deer and lynx. She studied Zoology at the University of Guelph and worked in the Edinburgh Zoological Gardens in Scotland, where she was chased by lions, wrestled deaf tigers and fed antibiotics to Polar Bears by baby bottle! She has been writing since she was thirteen and pencilled her way through university with the help of DC Comics. She has three dogs, three cats, three kids and one husband. She has managed to keep all of them alive so far.

A successful indie author, Heather has written the Scifi/Asian fantasy Upper Kingdom series along with Gothic thriller series, COLD STONE & IVY as well as the award-winning DRAGON OF ASH & STARS: The Autobiography of a Night Dragon. She also writes for Bayview Magazine, speaks at book conventions and is a photoshop wizard when it comes to book covers.

Come join the conversation at hleightondickson.com or on Facebook at facebook.com/HLeightonDickson

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B008E7JZT8
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Working Tiger, A Division of Laughing Fox Writers (January 13, 2014)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 13, 2014
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1951 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 378 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #26,224 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #22 in Asian Myth & Legend eBooks
- #372 in Epic Fantasy (Kindle Store)
- #461 in Sword & Sorcery Fantasy eBooks

Customer Reviews:
4.2 639 ratings

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H. Leighton Dickson

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H. Leighton Dickson grew up in the wilds of the Canadian Shield, where her neighbours were wolves, moose, deer and lynx. She studied Zoology at the University of Guelph and worked in the Edinburgh Zoological Gardens in Scotland, where she was chased by lions, wrestled deaf tigers and fed antibiotics to Polar Bears by baby bottle! She has been writing since she was thirteen and pencilled her way through university working for DC Comics.

Now repped by Looking Glass Literary & Media's Desiree Wilson, Heather got her start as an indie author with the Sci/Fi fantasy series, RISE OF THE UPPER KINGDOM. Next came the Gothic thriller series, COLD STONE & IVY and then award-winning DRAGON OF ASH & STARS: The Autobiography of a Night Dragon. She also writes for Bayview Magazine, speaks at book conventions and is a wizard when it comes to book covers.

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4.2 out of 5

639 global ratings

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Jennifer Quail

Fascinating, Exotic, Original Fantasy

Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2015

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I'm writing this before finishing the book, because I take forever to read eBooks (no reflection of their quality) and I wanted to do it before I forget. I'm actually looking forward to my next excuse for a train trip as I tend to read ebooks on them and would love having time to sit down and concentrate on this one! First, the usual concern about Kindle books--there are some tiny stylistic things in the writing that bug me a bit (things like author-voice intrusions of 'truth be told' sort of narration) but on my Kindle for PC, the formatting's just fine and the writing's sophisticated and generally well-edited, so there are none of the quality-control issues people might worry about.

I am absolutely loving the world-building. Asian cultures tend to get overlooked quite a bit in Western-written fantasy, but the society here is real, the characters are unique and fascinating, and the dropped references to recognizable cultural artifacts and languages work perfectly. The atmosphere feels like a real world and the characters make sense in context. Do not let the idea of cat-people put you off. It makes complete sense and elements of feline biology fit in logically with the characters. I am very picky about world-building in my fantasy (and have put down a lot of fantasy novels I've picked up because I hit the made-up names and the same-old same-old Fake Middle Ages setup and can't even) and this world is engrossing and makes me want to read more and become engrossed in it. I am glad I picked this one up and am looking forward to delving deeper.

14 people found this helpful

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Athene Five

Enjoyable new series and a very good read!

Reviewed in the United States on December 24, 2013

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I usually prefer hard core SF to Fantasy...but I am a cat lover, all kinds of cats...so I picked this up looking for a nice afternoon's read and am very glad I did. This is an indie publishing book, but it far transcends its humble entry into the publishing world. The story concept is original, the characters are well-drawn and believable, and the author, H. Leighton Dickson is a fine wordsmith.

In a far Earth future, perhaps humanity has extinguished itself through warfare, plagues, and environmental abuse; but before it became history, some humans tried to save the human genome by creating human-animal genes. Millenia later, this story opens in a high culture, medieval, pre-Industrial very stable and class-structured Asian society based on a combination of Japanese/Chinese/Indian cultures with a bit of the Raj for good measure. The members of this society are human-animals genetic heirs including sapient cats of every sort, monkeys, dogs and other former animals, now persons in their own right and who have somehow been guided by the 'Ancestors' (extinct humans) into a semi-historical human social structure that also includes some abilities that humans may never have had - practices of what we would call Magick, and the high spiritual arts and mastery over the elements. The story opens with something going wrong. a mystery that upsets the stability of the Empire.

For me, what lifts this book out of the standard medieval fantasy romance genre is the reawakening of the link to the human past, the sciences of genetic engineering and cryoscience. The story is a tale of the journey of discovery, not only of how to prevent the unexpected change of a long-standing Empire, but also is a personal journey of two Lion brothers, Kirin who is a Captain of the Imperial guards, devoted to Bushido and very much an upholder of the rules of the Empire, and twin brother Kerris, a bohemian genius of interesting powers. With brotherly rivalry and distrust, they embark with a very interesting party to solve the mystery. The questors represent not only varying
races making up the Empire, but the prejudices and class and racial problems that exist among the various kinds of cats- Lions, Tigers, Panthers, Snow Leopards. Cheetahs, and mixed breed Mongrels- all persons but not all considered equal in the eyes of the Empire.

This is not just a romp with characters dressed up in Lion suits. The author has created believable characters who are truly Lions, and other cats, who face real situations, make real, difficult decisions and live with the terrifying consequences. I have read all three books now, enjoyed them all immensely and can recommend to other readers who enjoy a bit of fantasy, a bit of romance, a bit of SF and very good writing and story- telling.

3 people found this helpful

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Vashist Reddy

A fantastic voyage!

Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2018

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I have read the first book of this fantasy series and I am utterly mesmerized. Definitely the author has taken much care to develop the characters of each protagonist in the story. There is a certain consistency and logic on how they evolve and grow as one goes through the narration. In background one gets to discover the type of society that is prevailing, with inspirations derived from the Helenic civilization, the caste systems from the hindus, the samurai code of feudal Japan, the kingdom of Tibet and Chinese empire among others. All have been beautifully synthesized to give life to the story and provides the setting within which these cat people revolve. At first I thought it was a pure fantasy world like middle earth from Tolkien creation but there is a twist. Suffice to say here that clues are there with the familiar names of the places and other regions, as one rides along with the protagonists in their journey. Regarding the prose, it is one of the best I have read. The writing is fluid and enjoyable and the author is a true master of words. As I finished ‘To journey in the year of the tiger’, there are still many questions unanswered in my mind. Hmm, for that, the reader in me wants to jump on to the next three arcs soon. I don’t need much to be convinced. I will indubitably accompany Kirin and his bands of cats in his mysterious quest and mission. Dear Mrs Dickson, thank you for this fantastic voyage!

5 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

A wonderful surprise of a story

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 14, 2020

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I wasn't sure what to expect from this story and went in thinking that, as it was a free first in series offering, that I shouldn't expect too much.
Wow was I surprised. This is a wonderful blend of history, fantasy and scifi. I have already bought the 2nd one and am looking forward to reading it immensely.

Digital Panache

Original and good

Reviewed in India on October 8, 2018

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There are some areas where the author could have made it easy for the readers to absorb new concepts but for patient readers this is a treat. The characters are well developed and strong and the story comprises many areas in China, India and other places. The book is a good blend of fantasy and real cultures which helps you relate so much with it. Atleast for Asians it won't be difficult to follow the story and nuances. A well written book by the author. Looking forward to more.

BastetFurry

Auf nach Sha'Hadin

Reviewed in Germany on December 3, 2017

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Reisen im Jahre des Tigers, um einer Macht zu begegnen die die mächtigsten Männer des Reiches einer nach den anderen auf mysteriöse Weise umbringt, vom Himalaya die große Mauer der Antiken entlang bis in die Türkei, in einer Welt in der intelligente humanoide Katzen herrschen und die Menschheit nur noch eine ferne Erinnerung ist.

Vorsicht, Suchtgefahr!

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Sandra Wallace

To journey in the year of the tiger

Reviewed in Australia on April 22, 2017

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Finally a book so well written it is a joy to behold. Looking forward to the second book in series.

Liz

So very glad I found this!

Reviewed in Canada on November 16, 2014

Verified Purchase

I finished reading To Journey in the Year of the Tiger a couple of weeks ago and found it hard to sit down and write a review. It should be easy, considering how very much I adore this book but then again, that could be what makes it such a challenge to find the right words. Now that I'm half way through the second book, To Walk in the Way of Lions, I have a good idea what to say.

I've never read anything like this. The idea of big cats living in the hierarchy and values of Imperial China caught my attention and the mystery and characters held me to the story. Each powerful character avoids stereotype. From the amazed and energetic Scholar, the dark and seductive Alchemist to the honour-first Captain each was well rounded, developed and managed to surprise me while staying in character.

The descriptions of everything from scenes to garments draws on my knowledge of Imperial China and builds on my own imagery without making me struggle to make things fit in my own mind. I could use words like vivid and stunning because they would be true but the fact that the complex settings are so digestible makes this book so very rich.

I found both books one and two in this series free and made sure I paid for book three before I found it free as well. Didn't feel right to enjoy this book so much without supporting the author with a few dollars. To Journey in the Year of the Tiger is like finding a bag of treasure and knowing you've stumbled upon something fantastic. It is definitely worth purchasing.

To Journey in the Year of the Tiger is seductive and crass, powerful and humble, wicked and pure, humorous and stoic and rich and simple. The power of this book is in the contrasts it presents.

Experience it.