Cover by John Van Fleet
Viking, 2008

In the far future, Mars is controlled by the Chinese, who call their civilization the Celestial Empire. But for teenagers Gamine and Huang, it is anything but heavenly. Gamine was taken off the street by an aristocrat, schooled as a fine young lady—then abandoned at her patron’s whim, and forced to make her living as a grifter. Huang’s Army career is cut short by a bandit ambush. When the two meet, Gamine—“Iron Jaw”—is the leader of a sham “religious movement,” and Huang, or “Hummingbird,” is the bandits’ chief tactician. The two join forces to bring down the corrupt government that has determined their lives.