Distant Clouds

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Distant Clouds is a fantasy novel written by Asian-American author Lorraine Gregorian. It is the first book in the Samsara Series. It was published on June 30th, 2018.

Plot

When young Ayin’s fishing village is devastated by a terrible storm, she is offered the opportunity of a lifetime to pursue immortality. Choosing to abandon all that she had once known, she becomes the disciple of Elder Clearnight upon the misty mountains of Distant Cloud Sect, and soon grows into a prodigy of her generation.

Years later, upon coming of age, she sneaks away in pursuit of adventure, and is thrown into a complex world of magic and danger. In a land forsaken by gods and ravaged by demons, power means everything. When one of these adventures mercilessly strikes her from the heavens, she is stripped of everything she once thought was her identity and truth…

Beautifully written and deeply thought-provoking, Distant Clouds is the powerful story of humanity’s pursuit for deeper meaning, insightfully exploring themes of self-identity and impermanence through a hero’s doomed journey towards enlightenment.

Seamlessly weaving together elements of Far Eastern mythology and Western epic fantasy, Gregorian’s debut novel, and first in a series, lyrically unveils the romance of the Orient.

Characters

Main Characters

Ayin: Fisherman’s daughter, Elite Disciple of Distant Cloud Sect, disciple of Yeqing

Yeqing: Elder Clearnight of Distant Cloud Sect, teacher of Ayin

Shuran: Elite Disciple of Distant Cloud Sect, granddaughter of Elder Crimsoncloud

Laiya: Elite Disciple of Distant Cloud Sect, Sect Leader’s disciple, Phoenix High Priestess

Korin: Concubine’s daughter of Moon Clan, Borderland warrior

Supporting Characters

Yuge: Fisherman’s son, Ayin’s childhood playmate

Sect Leader: Leader of Distant Cloud Sect

Binger: Elite Disciple of Distant Cloud Sect, daughter of Elder Purplemist

Lianjun: Elite Disciple of Distant Cloud Sect, prodigy, disciple of Elder Purplemist

Fan: Administrative Disciple of Distant Cloud Sect

Hao: Inner Disciple of Distant Cloud Sect

Simei: Hostess of the Silverbrook Auction house

Phaeli: Golden Phoenix

Nephys: Old man, Deva High Priest

Granny Song: Steamed bun vendor

Terminology

Cultivation Ranks: Initiate, Apprentice, Practitioner, Master, Grandmaster, Transcendent, Exalted, Ascended

Tanden: Dantian, center of energy in the lower abdomen

Instance: Enclosed, separate space within a world, either naturally formed or artificially sealed off

Go: board game involving black and white stones, similar to chess or checkers

Formations: Battle strategies, a type of spell that controls space, ie. octograms, trigrams

Immortal Cultivators: Humans born with spiritual roots, allowing them to cultivate spiritual essence in the

world around them into spiritual energy, strive towards immortality

Dark Cultivators: Humans ‘blessed’ by the dark seed, cultivate dark essence in the world around them

into dark energy, strive towards immortality

Immortals: Powerful beings with unlimited life-spans, either born to immortal parents, or who

were once immortal cultivators

Demons: Powerful beings with unlimited life-spans, either born to demons, or who were once

dark cultivators

Sprites: Animals who embark on the path of cultivation towards immortality, can choose to

either become Immortal or Demon upon successful Ascension

Divine Races: Powerful beings beyond the three Realms, former protectors of the universe

Author

Growing up Asian American, Gregorian has always been mesmerized by anime and video games, as much as she enjoyed her Harry Potter and Hunger Games. Walking through the library would always open up an entire world of Western high fantasy, yet quality Eastern fantasy—even fiction—was always scarce. Determined, she set her heart to studying Chinese prose and literature, enchanted by the world of internet novels and wishing she could share them with her American friends. Years later, she finally poured her heart into creating Distant Clouds, the first novel of its kind—a Far-Eastern fantasy novel, written by an Asian-American author, for the Western audience.

When she is not writing by candlelight, Gregorian is a consultant at an LA consulting firm, or a world backpacker. She has traveled to over thirty countries, including Egypt, Japan and Poland, and her novels take inspiration from the places and culture she has seen.

References

This article "Distant Clouds" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Distant Clouds. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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