For some reason, it was disorienting for me to have this sequel to Sea of Poppies begin far into the future with everyone settled in a satisfactory way (maybe). I assumed that this would be clarified at some point in the narrative, but it wasn't. Instead, a bunch of characters make their way, separately, to Canton. New characters join and become important to the narrative, but other characters are only alluded to and left to their own devices somewhere else. One of the character insertions that really annoyed me was Robin - a half caste son of a semi-famous painter. He seemed to have been inserted in the story just so he could become a disinterested observer to the events in Canton. Well, that and provide some light entertainment as he describes his search for a "Friend." 
 Meanwhile, in Canton, we are treated to an up close and personal view of the machinations of the British. Desperate to maintain the opium trade and to gain a foothold in China, they are willing to go to war and no personal sacrifice on the part of any of their trading partners is too great to keep them from this goal. 
 Mainly, I was overwhelmed by the descriptions of every blessed thing, from boats to clothing. These exhaustive descriptions were even included in "newsy" letters from Robin to Paulette (female amateur botanist not allowed into Canton). This tended to detract from the flow of the story.