Shanji Trilogy

On the planet Shanji, a ruthless emperor rules a subjugated people. Kati, raised by the lower caste Tumatsin, is taken captive by the emperor's troops, and then saved by the Searchers, who see her as the promised Empress of Light, whose psychic powers can control the hot light of creation. But those powers can destroy a planet or star, and could be beyond everyone's control. Kati must decide how to use her abilities when there is a planetary invasion from afar, led by a mighty empress whom she thought of as a friend and teacher. Kati must take charge of her own destiny, not only for herself, but also for Shanji and its neighboring worlds. Born with the heritage of two races, she must rise to rule them both.

Kati used the light of creation to win a war, and now, as empress, she must forge new alliances with former enemies. When her daughter, Yesui, is born with powers exceeding her own, Kati discovers that raising a super-being is no simple task. Yesui, a willful prankster, enjoys torturing her baby brother, Mengjai, who also turns out to be much more than he seems. But Yesui is the true Empress of Light and is later called upon to save a dying gaseous planet by adding mass to its core. There she falls in love with a gentle empath and must help in resisting a coup that endangers his family. Along the way, she discovers beings with powers even greater than her own, and learns that death is only a transformation to something new.

The Shanji Trilogy, which began with Shanji and Empress of Light, comes to its stunning conclusion with this tale of three generations of Creators. Kati, the light-wielding genetic changeling who saved her planet and became its empress, is now threatened with assassination. Yesui, Kati's daughter who came to control mass as well as light, faces revolution and learns the uses of diplomacy. And Bao and Shaan, Yesui's twin daughters, take the lineage to its limit. Leaving their universe behind, they spin forth a radiant new creation.