The Poet Empress, Shen Tao
The Poet Empress, Shen Tao
List: $32.99 | Sale: $23.10
Club: $16.49

The Poet Empress

Author: Shen Tao

Narrator: Eric Yang, Katharine Chin

Unabridged: 15 hr 43 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/20/2026


Synopsis

A USA TODAY BESTSELLER!

Debut author Shen Tao introduces listeners to the lush, deadly world of The Poet Empress, a sweeping, epic and intimate fantasy perfect for fans of The Serpent & the Wings of Night, The Song of Achilles and She Who Became the Sun.

"Narrators Katharine Chin and Eric Yang create an immersive fantasy setting for this powerful story about legacy, hierarchy, power, and politics.” — Kirkus

In the waning years of the Azalea Dynasty, the emperor is dying, the land consumed by famine, and poetry magic lost to all except the powerful.

Wei Yin is desperate. After the fifth death of a sibling, with her family and village on the brink of starvation, she will do anything to save those she loves.

Even offer herself as concubine to the cruel heir of the beautiful and brutal Azalea House.

But in a twist of fate, the palace stands on the knife-edge of civil war with Wei trapped in its center…at the side of a violent prince.

To survive, Wei must harden her heart, rely on her wit, and become dangerous herself. Even if it means becoming a poet in a world where women are forbidden to read—and composing the most powerful spell of all. A ballad of death...and love.

The Poet Empress is an epic fantasy that explores darker themes, subjects, and scenes that may not be suitable for all listeners.

A Macmillan Audio production from Bramble Books

About Shen Tao

Shen Tao immigrated to Canada at an early age, and grew up inspired by both Chinese and Western stories. She has wanted to be a writer for as long as she can remember. The Poet Empress is her first book.

About Eric Yang

Eric Yang is a stage, screen, and voice actor based in Brooklyn. He has narrated more than 30 audiobooks across a wide range of genres and is particularly adept with character voices and dialects. He is also fluent in Mandarin. As a child, Eric spent countless afternoons lying on the couch, completely absorbed in books: he hopes his audiobook performances can transport listeners in the same way.

About Katharine Chin

Katharine Chin is a Taiwanese American actor and producer based in New York. She trained as an actor at UC San Diego, Steppenwolf West, and received her MFA in acting at The New School. Katharine has recorded over 75 audiobooks for publishers like Macmillan, Penguin Random House, Harper Collins, and more. She is a three-time Audie Awards finalist and has received three AudioFile Earphones Awards.As an actor, Katharine has performed on stages and screens in California and New York. As a producer, Katharine develops films, audio fiction, and theatre; she is co-artistic director of The Nobodies Collective, a new works development group in New York City. Across all her work, Katharine is drawn to stories that are delightful, subtly subversive, and in dogged pursuit of our shared humanity. She draws inspiration for her narration from nature, reading (science, current affairs, literary, comedy, are favorite genres), and by carving out time for being human (taking the kids to school, walking around town to do small errands but also to people watch and potentially bump into friends).Katharine’s narration style bends and stretches across genres, but the undercurrent is always grounded, deeply felt, and emotionally truthful.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jaime on November 02, 2025

Guys, this is my new A Song to Drown Rivers OMG you must read this IMMEDIATELY when it comes out! Such a brutal, tragic but beautiful story. It’s a different type of a story where instead of getting lots of action & complex plot, we instead do a dive into the past and dig into the upbringings of cer......more

Goodreads review by Greekchoir on August 31, 2025

Felt like chewing broken glass. 5 stars. Oh my god. Please note that I work for Macmillan but opinions are my own. I am not involved in book production.......more

Goodreads review by Shelby on October 23, 2025

When I say I crave multi-layered characters that feel like real people this is what I want. I need to stew on this for a few days but damn that was good......more

Goodreads review by Katie on October 17, 2025

Brutal and beautiful. One of my favorite books of the year 😭......more

Goodreads review by Tzeyi on May 19, 2025

Growing up watching C-dramas, I never expected to one day read one—but that’s honestly the best way I can describe The Poet Empress. Does anyone else remember the hype around Huán Zhū Gégé or 還珠格格? That mix of heart-wrenching relationships, innocent protagonists thrown into a cruel imperial court.........more


Quotes

Praise for The Poet Empress:


'The Poet Empress is a hidden knife, one that cuts so deeply and cleanly that it excises your heart and makes you like it. I have rarely had such a breathless reading experience, where each page reveals the ways in which humanity’s beauty and ugliness run lockstep with one another. Terrifying and enthralling!'--Andrea Stewart, author of The Bone Shard Daughter