Emperors Once More

All the pivotal characters in Duncan Jepson's new Hong Kong crime novel – including its cosmopolitan protagonist – are preoccupied with indignities China has suffered at the hands of foreign powers, from the Opium Wars to a fictional 21st century European debt default.

Emperors Once More is set in near-future Hong Kong, a "formerly fragrant harbor" in decline after its "zenith in early 2013." The main action occupies the two days leading up to an 18 August 2017 crisis meeting between G8 nations – that is, the West – and so-called "Outreach Five" nations, the most powerful of which is China.