Book Review: My Life as Emperor by Su Tong

I've always been fascinated by the stories of the emperors and dynasties of China. I know those of you from the Chinese school get to learn and read about the dynasties during high school, and probably dread that, but I was unfortunate not able to read about them, except to learn from the TVB serials on TV.

I remember coming across the review for this book once in the weekend copy of The Star, but I never did looked for it until I came across this book again during my visit to Borders (okay, so I did managed to pick something up from Borders despite my gripes about the layout and settings).

The book chronicles the unexpected ascension of 14-year old DuanBai to the throne as the Emperor of the Xie Empire. It tells how the young Emperor is being manipulated by the Empress and the Empress Dowager (grandmother), how he grows up, unable to control his paranoia, his turn to cruelty and his own insecurity of his own impending demise, as foretold by a mad monk when he took to the throne.

Overall, I do find the book quite an interesting read. I am sure, some of the nicer "words" used in the Chinese language are lost in translation (the book is originally in Chinese). It describes quite vividly the emotions and the turmoil felt by the Emperor as he journeys from the lavish settings of his palace, to the warring borders out his empire, and to the streets as he seeks to find his place.