Dragon's Nine Sons

The Dragon's Nine Sons is the latest in Chris Roberson's Celestial Empire series, set in an alternate history in which China rose to world-dominance n the 15th Century. Roberson has penned tales across the whole of this period, though D9S takes place in 2052, at a point in which a space-faring Chinese Empire wars with an Aztec civilization for control of Mars. I've a personal history with these stories, having commissioned the first one (as Chris recounts here), and I've been an enthusiastic reader of the subsequent tales as they evolve every since. This time out, the tale here is a well-plotted and clever reworking of the Dirty Dozen, which combines brilliant alternate history with military SF. It could certainly stand on its own (and does), so if it's your entry point to the Celestial Empire, no worries. However, readers are encouraged to seek out all of the Celestial Empire stories, and here's a handy list:

Stories:

(listed in internal chronological order)
"Fire in the Lake" - Subterranean Magazine, Fall 2007
"Thy Saffron Wings" - Postscripts (forthcoming)
"The Sky is Large and the Earth is Small" - Asimov's Science Fiction (July, 2007)
"O One" - Live Without a Net (Roc, June 2003)
"Metal Dragon Year" - Interzone #213
"Gold Mountain" - Poscripts #5 (and in Dozois's 2006 YBSF)
"The Voyage of Night Shining White" - Novella from PS Publishing (and in Best Short Novels: 2007)
"Line of Dichotomy" - The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction: Volume 2 (forthcoming from Solaris, 2008; also available as chapbook)
"Red Hands, Black Hands" - Asimov's Science Fiction (December, 2004)
"All Under Heaven" - Firebirds Soaring (forthcoming from Firebird, 2008)
"Dragon King of the Eastern Sea" - We Think, Therefore We Are (forthcoming from DAW, 2008)

Novels:

The Dragon's Nine Sons (Solaris, 2008)
Three Unbroken (Solaris, 2009; serialized online 2007-2008)
Iron Jaw and Hummingbird (Viking, 2008)