Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Author’s Note and Acknowledgments:
Previously in Painting the Mists
Prologue
Chapter 1: The Perfect Number
Chapter 2: The Favor
Chapter 3: Shadow Fate Redemption
Chapter 4: Initiation
Chapter 5: Pai Xiao
Chapter 6: Reaping
Chapter 7: Culling
Chapter 8: Icy Heart Pavilion
Chapter 9: Between Light and Darkness
Chapter 10: Land of Dusk Eternal
Chapter 11: Life
Chapter 12: Weapon Focus
Chapter 13: Offer
Interlude: Threat
Chapter 14: Shadow Fate Investiture
Chapter 15: Bastion
Chapter 16: Standing Out
Chapter 17: Goals
Chapter 18: Opportunity
Chapter 19: Progress
Chapter 20: Impossible
Chapter 21: Land of Shadows Remembered
Chapter 22: Shattered Lands
Chapter 23: Fissures
Chapter 24: Exploration
Chapter 25: Myriad Truths
Chapter 26: Leyline of Gold
Interlude: Unstoppable
Chapter 27: Return
Chapter 28: The Vault
Chapter 29: Change
Chapter 30: Land of Time Forgotten
Chapter 31: Justification
Chapter 32: Life
Chapter 33: Complications
Chapter 34: Full Circle
Chapter 35: Leaving
Epilogue
A Note to Readers
Further Reading
The Cultivation Systems
About the Author
Shattered Lands
Book 8 of Painting the Mists
by Patrick G. Laplante
Copyright © 2020 by Patrick G. Laplante All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of brief quotations in a book. Requests for permission should be addressed to the publisher.
Shattered Lands is a work of fiction. Names, organizations, places, and incidents portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual, events, locales, or persons is purely coincidental.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Published by: Patrick G. Laplante Editing and Interior Design by: Crystal Watanabe Cover Illustration and Design by: Samuel Alves First edition, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-989578-11-7
Other Painting the Mists Books:
Clear Sky
Blood Moon
Light in the Darkness Pure Jade
Corrupted Crimson
Kindling
Shattered Lands
Edge of Oblivion (forthcoming)
Violet Fate Duology:
Violet Heart
Converging Fate (forthcoming)
Dedication
To those who are scared. We live in difficult times,
and I wish you all the strength you need to carry on.
Author’s Note and Acknowledgments
The world feels much less safe than it used to a few months back. In January, we were celebrating the Chinese portion of our wedding. A few weeks later, full lockdown. As many of you may know, I live in Beijing, China, and when COVID-19 started getting out of hand, it was all hands on deck.
I won’t preach on best practices, as many tend to do these days. No doubt, you’ve seen hundreds of articles by now on self protection and social distancing. I won’t criticize either; propagating blame serves nothing; it causes chaos when stability is what the world needs now more than ever.
What I will do, however, is tell you that there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Nearly two months ago we were afraid to go outside. In fact, we couldn’t go outside, even with face masks on. When we returned to Beijing, from Shenyang, where we’d been visiting for Chinese New Year, we quarantined ourselves as everyone was required. We measured our temperature every day while reading ever-depressing news. People were dying, and many more were getting sick. Wuhan was sealed off, isolated from the rest of the world to give it what it needed most: time.
Let’s fast-forward two months. Now, people walk on the streets. They still wear facemasks—you’ll get scolded by the police if you don’t—but more than grocery stores are open. You can go shopping, though every shop has a maximum occupancy. Restaurants now accept sit-down customers, but not many at once, especially not at the same table. But life is starting back up again. People who worked from home now go back to the office one day out of two, and some schools are even resuming classes. Everyone fought together to contain the spread, and the fruits of their labor are finally showing.
I suspect that such scenes will play themselves out globally as governments and individuals come to grips with the pandemic. For now, everyone is suffering, but that suffering is what will usher in a new normal. There’s hope for the future and hope for a vaccine. This difficult stage in our lives is only temporary, and at the very least, those of us who make it through will have a few good stories to tell their children and grandchildren.
Now, enough about viruses. I wrote a book, and I’m sure you’re eager to get on with it. I finished it a little later than I expected due to a combination of weddings and virus lockdown and a half dozen other reasons you don’t care about. And at 152,000 words, it’s my longest yet. I sincerely hope you enjoy Cha Ming’s adventure in Southern lands.
I try to improve with every book, and this time is no different. New to this edition is a recap from the last book. Readers have been asking for me to include one for months now, so I thought it only fair to indulge them. If you like reading summaries, enjoy. And if you don’t, feel free to skip it. It’s all the same to me, as my only request from you as you read this book is that you enjoy it.
Before moving on, however, I’d like to start off with some words of thanks. Thank you to my wife, Xing Wen; two wedding receptions later, we’ve dotted all our i’s and crossed all our t’s. Thank you to my parents, my brothers, my sisters, and wedding guests for making it a great event—for make no mistake, my personal happiness is directly corelated with the quality of the books I write.
I’d like to thank this book’s beta readers: Dave Yeung, Aljoscha Volk, Drew Kennedy, John Wilson, and Ardash. Your feedback was a great help in improving the story.
Many thanks to Crystal Watanabe for her excellent support while editing my novel. My writing continues to improve with her help, so I’m glad to have her on board. Thank you to Samuel Alves for the great cover, and for finally fulfilling a long-time wish of having all of Painting the Mist’s covers match again.
Last, but not least, thank you to my readers. I write to tell stories to people, and a story is worth nothing if it isn’t shared. I hope you enjoy reading this book
