The trouble is that I rarely note where I got a rec from, and Swiss-cheese-brained as I am, occasionally fail to remember that I've put a hold on at all. Thus I was surprised to discover that I'd ordered a copy of Deception by Eleanor Cooney and Daniel Altieri, of whom I remember not a thing. It's set in Tang China, it has Judge Dee (must be the why of it) and it concerns the Always-Evil Empress (empresses being always-evil by definition) Wu. Who, the blurb says, deposed Confucianists and promoted Buddhists; and that's a bad idea, because IIRC the histories are written by Confucianists. So I'm thinking 'hostile tradition, here we come' and wondering if I want to read this thumping great door-stopper at all.
ETA: the wiki article on Wu Zetian contains the lovely line that she was responsible for 'the "Wordless Stella" at the Qianling Mausoleum.' Someone's autocorrect was too quick on the draw.
