For generations the people in Fei's village have been without their hearing. They have developed a strict society to survive such loss and no longer find hearing necessary, but when the people begin to lose their sight too, their carefully crafted society begins to fail. Fei becomes more and more concerned when her sister's sight begins to fail and Zhan Jing is removed from the exalted place of an artist to the lowly position of a servant.
With the loss of their sight the people of the village risk losing the food that is their only connection to the outside world. In exchange for the metals they pull from the mountain the village is perched upon, the township at the mountain's base send meager supplies of goods. The goods suffer until one day the zipline sends no food at all.
Fei and her village fear they will starve. Until the night Fei is woken by a terrifying new sensation - sound. With the new sense and learning how to use sound in addition to her other senses she and an old friend take the risks of attempting to climb down the mountain.
But life is not has the village has been told; they are not the first mining town to be afflicted with the strange sickness, and the town at the bottom of the hill has more than the mere scraps they provide their captive miners. A new ally in the town gives Fei an idea to save her people, but will she be able to stand up to the Empire bearing down on her home.
Mead visits Chinese folklore for this story of a young woman from a world where every moment is planned who breaks the order and tries to save her home. Readers of all ages will enjoy Fei's story, especially those who enjoy a plucky female lead who may have earned her arrogance, but risks her life of leisure to change the lives of her village.
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