Where She Goes
Original novel Where She Goes: the year 632, the dusk of Sasanian Persia and the height of Tang China — one woman on a long road along the Silk Road. Four acts, about 40,000 characters.
At a glance
- Written by
- Jinming
- Protagonist
- The twenty-year-old daughter of a Sasanian Grand Scribe, never named
- Point of view
- Second person ('you' is the heroine)
- Genre
- Historical fiction and Journey narrative
- Setting
- AD 632, from Sasanian Persia along the Silk Road to Dunhuang and Chang'an
- Themes
- The twilight of an empire, Migration and the long road, Identity and where to go and Women of the Silk Road
- Length
- Four acts, about 40,000 Chinese characters
- Status
- Complete
- Languages
- Chinese original; full English and Japanese translations
- Adaptations
- Illustrated audiobook, full series (about 2 h 40 min)
The third long-form project of The Song of Inanna.
The year is 632 — the sixth year of Zhenguan in Tang China, and the crown of the Sasanian empire is already cracked. The story runs the length of the Silk Road: out of Persia and Mesopotamia, through Khorasan, Sogdiana, the Pamirs and the Tarim, as far as Dunhuang and Chang’an.
One woman crosses the dusk of one empire and the noon of another, going toward an answer that is hers. Four acts, about 40,000 Chinese characters.
Watch
Full audiobook film (about 2 h 40 min)
Act One: Lies in the Afterglow, Mercy in the Sand
Act Two: Quicksand, and the Truth Inside the Phantom Fire
Act Three: All Things Pass, and Waste Paper in the Wind
Act Four: The Night Banquet at Chang’an and the Prisoner of Daming Palace
All of these films are also on the YouTube channel.
Read
All four acts are now available in English. The story is told in the second person: you are the daughter of a Sasanian Grand Scribe, and she is never named.
- Act One: Lies in the Afterglow, Mercy in the Sand
- Act Two: Quicksand, and the Truth Inside the Phantom Fire
- Act Three: All Things Pass, and Waste Paper in the Wind
- Act Four: The Night Banquet at Chang’an and the Prisoner of Daming Palace
The Chinese original remains the definitive text. The translation is AI-assisted and reviewed by the author. For the history behind the story, see the research notes on the women of the Silk Road, the lionesses of Sasanian Persia, the women of the Tang and the women folded into the Dunhuang documents.