Small Shen

Small Shen is the prequel to the Dark Heavens series of novels by Australian author, Kylie Chan, and is illustrated by Queenie Chan. The narrative alternates between the time period just before White Tiger (1995-2002) and times before this (1720-1995), and ostensibly tells the story of Gold, the small shen who ends up working for John Chen (Xuan Wu), the Dark Lord of the Northern Heavens, but also details the events surrounding Simone’s birth and her mother, Michelle’s death, ending with the introduction of Emma Donahoe. Chan gives the reader lots of background to the Dark Heavens stories and even a clue to John’s Yang serpent. The “times before” sections are lavishly illustrated by Queenie Chan’s graphics, although the last chapter shows that Queenie’s forte is illustrations of sumptuous scenes of times ago. The cover demonstrates just how gorgeous these illustrations would have been in colour. Fans of this series will be grateful for this taster while they wait for the first of the Celestial Battle series, Dark Serpent.