Born in a drought-ravaged village in the Riverlands, Shin-young survives through endurance and silence. When sudden violence drives her from home, she discards her name and finds herself in the imperial palace, where beauty masks cruelty and the powerless are quietly erased.
Assigned to the Whispering Lake as an apprentice, Shin enters the world of the punters where she is bound by an unbreakable code: what is seen and heard on the water must never be spoken. Shin soon discovers the palace is thick with secrets: prophetic visions whispered by an outlawed seer, rival princes on the brink of disgrace and nobles whose indulgences mask political rot. But Shin has a secret of her own, as she hears the call of the lake itself where an ancient power stirs . . .
When a brutal injustice turns lethal, Shin is pulled into a chain of events she cannot escape. Faced with lies, sacrifice and a fate that threatens to change her forever, Shin must decide whether to keep surviving unseen - or to claim the dangerous power that has marked her since birth.
Rooted in Korean myth and history, When the Blue Moon Wakes is a lyrical epic fantasy of resistance, survival and courage.