• Fiction. by Anchee Min. Houghton Mifflin, $25.Grade: C+

Plot in a nutshell: Min continues the story she began in 2004's The Empress Orchid. In that novel, a young woman called Orchid rises from a distinguished, but impoverished Chinese family to become one of the concubines of the Emperor and eventually the mother of his only son, the Last Emperor of China. Both novels are based on the life of Orchid, later known as Empress Tzu Hsi, who has gone down in history, wrongly Min believes, as a Dragon Lady who must take the blame for any number of disasters suffered by her people.

This time, we see the Empress, unable to rule openly in her own right, trying to protect her country from the abuses of the legitimate heir and other schemers and to defend China against onslaughts from Europe and Japan. Min supplies a hint of a love affair but is more interested in the Empress' political skills and in giving readers a detailed tutorial in Chinese history.

Sample of prose: In this passage, The Empress quarrels with her (possibly) pregnant daughter-in-law, Alute, who hates her and wants her to relinquish power. The pregnancy, if it produced a male heir, would qualify Alute to be the regent, but only if the Empress steps down. The Empress believes the naive Alute would be no match for internal or external enemies of China."I wrote back to Alute after she rebuffed my proposal for a sensible solution between us: 'The ministers, governors and commanders in chief of China would not be willing to serve unless their ruler proved to be worthy of their devotion and lives. It would not be as easy as attending a dinner party, doing embroidery or watching an opera.' Alute answered me with her suicide."

Pros: Admirers of The Empress Orchid will be interested in this sequel. Others may find the introduction to relatively modern Chinese history a revelation.

Cons: Too often, the prose seems leaden and lifeless.

Final word: The history is fascinating, but as a novel (considering dramatic action, character development, etc.), Last Empress falls far short of its predecessor.