The eunuch's story begins.

“I have lived in the heart of the world. Amid many others of my kind, this eunuch slave has hurried silently, day and night, through the vermilion corridors of the Son of Heaven’s palaces to serve his needs as ruler of the world. Despite my utter insignificance, the Lord of Time has been so kind as to use this eunuch slave as one of his innumerable instruments in determining the way of life of unseen millions.”

This opens Douglas Penick's, compelling historical novel JOURNEY OF THE NORTH STAR. It's a unique book that brings to life the court of Zhu Di, the Yong Le Emperor, who ruled China from 1403-1424 and made it a world power. This account of politics, war , intrigue and spirituality in Ming China is narrated by the fictional eunuch Ma Yun, who serves the emperor as he shapes the oldest empire in the world into a new dynamic power.

JOURNEY OF THE NORTH STAR will appeal to any reader interested in exploring the traditions and assumptions that still live at the foundations of Chinese society as once again China becomes a major force in the world.

Publishers Weekly has called this novel a “meticulously researched... Extraordinarily evocative details, moments of disarming poignancy, and an overall verisimilitude suggest this might really be the found work of a devoted courtier. By the time the Emperor makes his final dictation and Ma Yun fades into obscurity, the reader is completely beguiled by this glimpse of a lost world.”

The author, Douglas Penick was a research associate at the Museum of Modern Art, NY, wrote the Canadian NFB’s series on the Tibetan Book of the Dead (Leonard Cohen, narrator) and libretti for two operas: King Gesar (Sony CD w/ Ma, Serkin, Ax, etc.) and Ashoka’s Dream (Santa Fe Opera) with Peter Lieberson. Among many other publications, he's also written commissions for the NY Philharmonic, for music by Philip Glass, etc. He is the author of three books deriving from the epic cycle on the life of King Gesar of Ling.

If this is of interest, JOURNEY OF THE NORTH STAR is available in any e-book format and you can look at the opening chapters on Amazon.