Winner of the Elgin Award! "It's as close to perfect as a book can get... I already know this will be one of my favorites for the year. A favorite book, period." - Beth Cato, two-time Rhysling Award winner Drawing on Chinese and Mongolian elements, SFPA Grand Master Mary Soon Lee has penned an epic of politics, war, and the reach of dragons - perfect for fans of Game of Thrones and Beowulf. As the fourth-born prince of Meqing, Xau was never supposed to be king. But when his brothers are deemed unfit to rule and eaten by a dragon, as is the custom, Xau finds himself on the throne. The early years of his reign are marred by earthquake, flood, and war. Then a demon thought long-dead returns, leaving devastation in its wake, and Xau must broker peace with his enemies. Can their combined strength vanquish the demon before it destroys them? In the tradition of the Iliad, the Epic of Gilgamesh, and Beowulf, The Sign of the Dragon is told in poetry. Many of the individual poems appeared in award-winning magazines such as Apex Magazine, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and Strange Horizons. This is the revised ebook edition of the entire epic and is accompanied by forty extraordinary full-page illustrations by Gary McCluskey. Praise for The Sign of the Dragon: "What an utterly beautiful, impressive, & occasionally heartbreaking reading experience!" - Ann K. Schwader, SFPA Grand Master "This is an absolutely stunning work that I will read and reread." - T. Frohock, author of the Los Nefilim series

Mary Soon Lee was born and raised in London, but has lived in Pittsburgh for thirty years. She is a Grand Master of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association, and a three-time winner of both the AnLab Readers' Award and the Rhysling Award. Her work has appeared in a wide range of publications including American Scholar, the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and Science. She is also the author of two collections of science poetry: How to Navigate Our Universe and Elemental Haiku: Poems to honor the periodic table three lines at a time. Once upon a time, she earned a degree in mathematics from Cambridge University. She hides her online presence with a cryptically named website (marysoonlee.com).

Drawing on Chinese and Mongolian elements, award-winning poet Mary Soon Lee has penned an epic tale of politics, intrigue, and dragons perfect for fans of Game of Thrones and Beowulf.As the fourth-born prince of Meqing, Xau was never supposed to be king. But when his three older brothers are all deemed unfit to rule and eaten by a dragon, as is the custom, Xau suddenly finds himself on the Meqinese throne. The early years of his reign are marred by brutal earthquakes and floods, and the long-simmering tension with the neighboring country of Innis finally erupts into war. Worst of all, a demon thought long-dead walks the realm again, leaving death and destruction in its wake. In a desperate gamble, Xau must broker an uneasy peace with his former enemies and hope their combined strength is enough to vanquish the demon before it destroys them all.The Sign of the Dragon is comprised of over 300 individual poems, including the Rhysling-winning "e;Interregnum."e; The first 60 poems appeared in the 2015 Dark Renaissance Books publication Crowned, which won the 2016 Elgin Award, and many individual poems have appeared in award-winning literary magazines such as Fantasy & Science Fiction, Spillway, and Strange Horizons. Collected together in its entirety for the very first time, with over 200 never-before-published poems, readers can finally enjoy King Xau's story of sacrifice and war and dragons from beginning to end.Mary Soon Lee is a poet and storyteller who has won the Elgin and the Rhysling awards. Her work has appeared in Analog, Asimov's, Daily Science Fiction, F&SF, Fireside, Science, and American Scholar. She is also the author of Elemental Haiku: Poems to honor the periodic table three lines at a time. Born and raised in London, she now lives in Pennsylvania with her family.