Justinian Huang’s debut novel The Emperor and The Endless Palace was published earlier this year and immediately received widespread acclaim from readers and critics alike for its sweeping storyline and spicy gay sex scenes, the latter of which also inspired some pearl-clutching from those who weren’t quite ready to read about two hot queer Asian men going at it with one other over the course of 2000 years.
Yes, you read that correctly. The gay reincarnation romance spans multiple centuries, telling the epic story of two soulmates who first meet in Ancient China in the year 4 BCE, then again in China in the year 1740, and finally one last time in present day Los Angeles.
The novel, which Huang describes as an “erotic romantasy thriller,” is filled with all sorts of unexpected twists and turns and, of course, lots and lots of sex, making it the perfect addition to your Hot Gay Summer™ reading list this year.
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In a new interview with Nerds of Color, Huang says part of what he hoped to accomplish with The Emperor and The Endless Palace was to combat sexual stereotypes about Asian men.
“Some people have this preconceived notion that Asian men are demure or desexualized beings,” he says. “I think there is a huge fear of Asian male sexuality.”
“I’ve had the pleasure of talking to a lot of my friends who are OnlyFans performers who happen to be Asian and male, and they tell me there’s a scope of fear and lust for it.”
He continues, “[I enjoyed] writing Asian men that were very sexually swaggering and very sexually confident because that’s actually [my] truth. They say write what you know – and I know spicy Asian men, and that’s what I wrote about. It wasn’t me trying to prove a point, really. It’s just my reality.”
His Instagram page, which boasts over 10K followers and counting, can certainly attest to that. Huang often jokes that he’s not above posting thirst traps if it helps spread the word about his book.
Around the time The Emperor and The Endless Palace was first released, Huang received criticism for the amount of explicit sex scenes it featured, which he addressed in a video posted to Instagram back in March.
In it, he assured those upset that, while the novel may have an “excessive amount of sex,” it’s all just a fantasy. He’s personally not into “fox fairy f*cking” or “ancient sex cult rituals” or “razor blade blowjobs.” He just writes about those things. Mmmkk?
Speaking to Nerds of Color, Huang says straight Asian guys seem to be the most uncomfortable with his brand of swaggering sexual confidence.
“I think straight Asian men get afraid when queer Asian men are a little louder,” he says. “They’re afraid that they already feel that Asian men are emasculated or feminized or whatever. They think that us leading this train of celebrating male sexiness and male bodies will leave them behind.”
“Whenever I can, I try to remind them if you look at Classic Hollywood, to be perceived as queer by women is the first step to becoming a Sex God. I encourage them to let their queer brothers lead or co-lead.”
“It’s not just a queer Asian male renaissance–I hope it’s an all-Asian male Renaissance here.”
Watch the full interview below and be sure to add The Emperor and The Endless Palace to your summer reading list!
Before you go, scroll down for more pics from Huang’s Instagram page…
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Diplomat
Love the book premise.
hey scotty
yes please! thank you