David Rotenberg
The SHANGHAI TETRALOGY
On the Hua Shan (the Holy Mountain) 250 years before Christ, the most powerful man in the world, the First Emperor bequeaths a talisman - a narwhal tusk with carvings depicting the growth of Shanghai for the next 2500 years - to his three trusted followers: the Bodyguard, his favourite Courtesan, and his Head Confucian. The warning from the First Emperor before he commits suicide is to watch for the White Birds on Water and so the progeny of the three who are entrusted with the Tusk do. Then, in 1841 they arrive - British Men of War ships. And opium.
Book Four of The Shanghai Tetralogy.
At Bay Press. October 23, 2025
Nestled safely in its Baghdad hiding place, within the Abdullah family compound, the sacred Narwhal Tusk continues its voyage of revelation. Although there is no one to see it, China's First Emperor's prophetic plan continues to reveal itself as the Tusk rots slowly in the dry desert air of Mesopotamia. Then the great Tusk cracks. And as the alignment of the carved filigree on its surface re-forms, the classic characters spelling out "Age of Dry Water" arise. And although the Tusk remains in Baghdad, that phrase, as if carried on the mad desert winds, begins to circulate among the people of Shanghai to describe the time after Mao's arrival. A period of forty years when the City at the Bend in the River has been actively left to wither and die.
But now the 21st century has arrived.
City Rising, The Age of Dry Water, Book 4 of the Shanghai Tetralogy contains the final chapters of a prophecy foretold and how it came to be.
Book Three of The Shanghai Tetralogy.
At Bay Press. June 10, 2025
It is 1936 and Silas, the last of the Shanghai Hordoons - a family of adventurers, dreamers and opium barons - lays dying. In his life he has grown the Hordoon family fortune with daring and luck, raised 20 adopted street children behind the sheltering walls of a magnificent garden, and at the request of his extraordinary wife, Jiang, removed the prophetic Narwhal Tusk to safety in the land of his ancestors.
Now Jiang, and the rest of the Ivory Compact face the challenges of the 20th century, as they seek the one who holds the key to the next stage of Shanghai's glorious rebirth.
City Rising, The End of the Garden, Book 3 of the Shanghai Tetralogy unfolds against the backdrop of the Japanese invasion of China, the deadly intrigues of competing revolutionary rivals, and Mao's relentless march to power.
City Rising,
The Bend in the River
Book Two of The Shanghai Tetralogy.
At Bay Press. February 2025.
The 19th century is coming to a close and as the 20th century begins, Shanghai is now a thriving metropolis. The aging Dowager Empress, in her dying days, is still determined to wield her power. With the Manchu Dynasty on its last legs, the city's three great families, the Hordoons, the Soongs, and the Tus, are jostling for influence. The Boxers, determined to rid the country of "foreigners" are stepping up their reign of terror. Everyone is on the hunt for the legendary Narwhal Tusk.
Available at INDIGO -or- AT BAY PRESS
Book One of The Shanghai Tetralogy.
At Bay Press. November 9, 2023
It all starts here.
The First Emperor stands upon the Holy Mountain and reveals his vision to his chosen three; the Bodyguard, Courtesan and Confucian. He entrusts them with a prophetic Narwhal Tusk and binds them to a mission that will rule their lives and the lives of generations of their sons and daughters. Their first task is to prepare for the arrival of the White Birds on Water. Centuries later British war ships arrive bearing foreigners of all stripes. Among them are two destitute Baghdadi Jews -- brothers who have come to the Middle Kingdom to make their fortunes. It will take all their strength and cunning to compete against powerful British and American interests, as they fight to win a piece of China's burgeoning opium market.
