Plot Summary
City of Shifting Faces
In the twin cities of San-Er, bodies are vessels, and the ability to "jump" from one to another is both a gift and a curse. The city is a labyrinth of poverty and power, where the rich and poor are stacked atop each other, and the only constant is change. The palace looms over the chaos, enforcing order through violence and spectacle. Here, the lines between self and other blur, and survival means learning to wear many faces. The city's pulse is relentless, its alleys teeming with secrets, and its people desperate for a way out—or a way up. In this world, power is as fleeting as the body you inhabit, and everyone is both hunter and prey.
Princess in Hiding
Calla Tuoleimi, once a princess of Er, now lives in the shadows, her true identity masked by a new life among the city's underclass. Hunted for the massacre of her own family, she survives by her wits and her sword, haunted by guilt and driven by vengeance. Her only companions are Chami and Yilas, former attendants who help her navigate the city's dangers. Calla's existence is precarious, her every move calculated to avoid detection by the palace and its relentless guards. Yet beneath her hardened exterior, a storm of grief and longing simmers, fueling her determination to one day confront the king who destroyed her world.
The King's Deadly Games
Each year, King Kasa hosts the Games—a brutal, televised bloodbath where eighty-eight contestants fight to the death for a chance at freedom and fortune. The Games are both a distraction for the masses and a tool for the king to maintain control. This year, Calla is drawn into the fray, her entry manipulated by Prince August, the king's adopted heir. The Games are more than entertainment; they are a microcosm of San-Er's cruelty, where the desperate gamble everything and the powerful watch from above. As the city holds its breath, the contestants prepare for a contest that will leave only one survivor.
Blood and Betrayal
As the Games begin, Calla navigates a world where trust is a liability and betrayal is inevitable. She encounters Anton Makusa, a notorious jumper with a tragic past and a desperate cause of his own. Their initial clashes are marked by suspicion and violence, but necessity forces them into an uneasy alliance. Together, they face not only the other contestants but also the city's criminal underworld and the mysterious Crescent Societies, who manipulate the Games from the shadows. Blood is spilled, secrets are traded, and every victory comes at a cost.
The Unlikely Alliance
Calla and Anton's partnership deepens as they fight side by side, their skills and ambitions complementing each other. Their alliance is fraught with tension—both sexual and strategic—as they struggle to trust one another in a world where betrayal is currency. As they eliminate rivals and evade palace schemes, a dangerous intimacy grows between them. Yet both know that only one can win, and the specter of inevitable conflict looms over every shared moment. Their bond is forged in violence, but tested by loyalty, desire, and the city's relentless hunger for blood.
The Price of Power
The Games become a crucible, burning away illusions and forcing Calla and Anton to confront the true cost of victory. Calla's quest for vengeance against King Kasa is complicated by her growing feelings for Anton, while Anton's own motives—rooted in love and loss—threaten to pull him from her side. The palace's machinations intensify, with Prince August manipulating events to secure his own ascent. As the body count rises, the line between monster and martyr blurs, and each must decide what they are willing to lose for power, justice, or love.
The Crescent Societies' Secret
Beneath the city's surface, the Crescent Societies plot revolution, experimenting with forbidden uses of qi—the life force that enables jumping. Their leader, Pampi, unlocks new, terrifying abilities: jumping without light, moving bodies without touch, and harvesting qi from the dead. The Societies' ambitions threaten to destabilize the city, drawing Calla and Anton into a web of intrigue that challenges everything they know about power and identity. As the Games narrow, the true stakes become clear: the fight is not just for survival, but for the soul of San-Er itself.
Love in the Arena
Against the backdrop of violence, Calla and Anton's relationship ignites, their passion as fierce as their battles. Love becomes both a weapon and a weakness, complicating their strategies and exposing their vulnerabilities. Each is haunted by the knowledge that only one can survive, yet neither can let go. Their intimacy is a rebellion against the city's brutality, a brief sanctuary in a world that demands sacrifice. But as the final confrontation approaches, love and ambition collide, and the cost of victory becomes heartbreakingly clear.
The Wall and the World
The city's wall, both literal and symbolic, separates San-Er from the suffering provinces beyond. August and the palace guard confront unrest at the border, exposing the regime's cruelty and the futility of rebellion. Inside the city, Calla and Anton face betrayals from all sides—August's manipulations, the Societies' experiments, and the ever-present threat of death. The wall becomes a stage for both hope and despair, as characters grapple with the limits of power, the weight of history, and the possibility of change.
The King-Killer's Return
As the Games reach their bloody climax, Calla emerges as the victor, her hands stained with the blood of friend and foe alike. She is brought before King Kasa, the architect of her suffering, and fulfills her long-awaited revenge by taking his life. The city erupts in chaos, the old order shattered. Yet victory brings no peace—only emptiness and the burden of all she has lost. The title of King-Killer is both a crown and a curse, and Calla must face the consequences of her choices.
The Final Betrayal
In the aftermath of the Games, Calla is forced to confront the ultimate betrayal. August, now poised to claim the throne, reveals the depth of his ambition and the ruthlessness of his methods. Anton, the only person she has ever truly loved, is sacrificed on the altar of power. The city celebrates its new king, oblivious to the cost. Calla, broken and alone, is left to reckon with the monster she has become and the world she has helped create.
The Juedou: Last Stand
The final confrontation between Calla and Anton is both inevitable and unbearable. In the arena, before the eyes of the city, love and violence become indistinguishable. Each is willing to die for the other, yet neither can yield. The duel is a crucible, burning away all pretense and leaving only raw, desperate emotion. In the end, Calla chooses duty over desire, killing Anton to claim her victory. The city roars its approval, but the triumph is hollow, and the cycle of violence continues.
The Crown's New Heir
With King Kasa dead, August ascends to the throne, his coronation a spectacle of power and pageantry. Calla, the King-Killer, is paraded before the people, her fate uncertain. The city celebrates, but beneath the surface, old wounds fester and new dangers emerge. The promise of change is tainted by the methods used to achieve it, and the line between savior and tyrant blurs. As August dons the crown, the true cost of ambition is revealed, and the future of San-Er hangs in the balance.
The Monster and the Martyr
Calla, now both monster and martyr, is left to grapple with the consequences of her actions. She has won the Games, killed the king, and lost the only person who saw her for who she truly was. The city hails her as a hero, but she feels only emptiness and regret. The cycle of violence she sought to end continues, and the hope of redemption slips further away. In the shadows of the palace, new threats stir, and the promise of peace remains elusive.
The Cycle Continues
As the dust settles, the city prepares for another era of uncertainty. The wall still stands, the Games will return, and the struggle for power is far from over. Calla's story is both an ending and a beginning—a testament to the cost of survival in a world that devours its own. The city of shifting faces endures, its people forever caught between hope and despair, love and violence, freedom and fate.
Characters
Calla Tuoleimi
Calla is the exiled princess of Er, infamous for slaughtering her own family and living as a fugitive in San-Er's underbelly. Her psyche is a battleground of guilt, rage, and longing for justice. Trained as a weapon, she is both predator and prey, driven by a singular desire to kill King Kasa and end the cycle of suffering. Her refusal to "jump" bodies marks her as both vulnerable and stubbornly authentic—her body is her last claim to selfhood. As she forges an alliance and then a doomed romance with Anton, Calla's emotional arc is one of self-destruction and fleeting tenderness. She is both monster and martyr, her victories always tinged with loss. Her journey is a meditation on the cost of vengeance, the impossibility of innocence, and the hunger for a home that no longer exists.
Anton Makusa
Anton is a notorious jumper, exiled noble, and master of survival in San-Er's chaos. His ability to inhabit any body is both his weapon and his curse, leaving him unmoored from any true sense of self. Haunted by the loss of his family and the comatose Otta, Anton's motives are a blend of love, guilt, and a yearning for meaning. His alliance with Calla is fraught with suspicion, passion, and the knowledge that only one can survive. Anton's psychological complexity lies in his simultaneous cynicism and capacity for devotion—he is willing to betray, but also to sacrifice everything for those he loves. His death at Calla's hands is both a fulfillment of fate and a shattering of hope, marking him as both victim and architect of his own tragedy.
Prince August Shenzhi
August is the adopted heir to King Kasa, a master strategist who navigates the palace's deadly politics with cold precision. His relationship to Calla is one of uneasy kinship and rivalry; to Anton, a former friend turned adversary. August's psychological profile is defined by his belief in order, his willingness to use others as tools, and his conviction that only he can save the kingdom. He is both reformer and tyrant in the making, his idealism always shadowed by ruthlessness. August's ultimate betrayal—sacrificing Anton and manipulating Calla—reveals the darkness at the heart of his ambition. He is the embodiment of the cycle of power: the new king who may become the next monster.
King Kasa
King Kasa is the aging, paranoid ruler of San-Er, whose reign is maintained through spectacle, violence, and the manipulation of the Games. He is both distant and omnipresent, his cruelty shaping the city's every misery. Kasa's psychological makeup is one of fear, entitlement, and a desperate need for control. His death at Calla's hands is both justice and anticlimax—a monster slain, but the system he built endures. Kasa is less a character than a force, the embodiment of the city's rot and the futility of vengeance.
Galipei Weisanna
Galipei is August's right hand, a member of the Weisanna family whose bodies are immune to invasion. He is both protector and enforcer, his loyalty to August unwavering but not uncritical. Galipei's presence is a reminder of the costs of power—the violence required to maintain order, the sacrifices demanded by loyalty. He is a stabilizing force, but also a participant in the city's brutality, complicit in the crimes of those he serves.
Chami Xikai
Chami is Calla's former attendant and one of her few remaining connections to her lost life. She is resourceful, compassionate, and fiercely protective, providing Calla with both practical support and emotional grounding. Chami's willingness to risk everything for Calla is both a strength and a vulnerability, highlighting the importance of chosen family in a world that devours its own.
Yilas Nuwa
Yilas, Chami's partner and another former palace attendant, is sharp-tongued and unflinching. She grounds Calla with her skepticism and loyalty, often serving as the voice of caution amid chaos. Yilas's relationship with Chami is a rare source of tenderness in the narrative, a reminder that love and hope can persist even in the darkest circumstances.
Pampi Magnes
Pampi is the leader of the Hollow Temple and the Crescent Societies' most dangerous innovator. Her experiments with qi push the boundaries of what is possible, enabling new forms of power and violence. Pampi is both visionary and fanatic, her pursuit of freedom blurring into monstrosity. She represents the dangers of unchecked ambition and the seductive allure of forbidden knowledge.
Otta Avia
Otta, Anton's beloved and August's half-sister, lies comatose for most of the narrative, her fate driving both men's actions. She is both victim and symbol—the cost of the city's cruelty, the unattainable hope that haunts Anton. Her awakening at the novel's end hints at new cycles of violence and the impossibility of closure.
The Crescent Societies
The Crescent Societies are a network of revolutionaries, criminals, and visionaries who manipulate the city's underworld and experiment with forbidden magic. They are both hope and threat, their actions destabilizing the city and challenging the palace's monopoly on power. The Societies embody the city's hunger for change, but also the dangers of revolution without restraint.
Plot Devices
Body-Jumping and Fluid Identity
The central device of Immortal Longings is the ability to "jump" between bodies, enabled by the mysterious force of qi. This power destabilizes identity, blurring the lines between self and other, victim and perpetrator. It is both a tool for survival and a weapon of oppression, used by the powerful to evade consequences and by the desperate to escape suffering. The narrative structure mirrors this fluidity, with shifting perspectives and unreliable alliances. Foreshadowing is woven through the city's obsession with masks, doubles, and betrayals—no one is ever quite who they seem. The Games themselves are a plot device that externalizes the city's violence, turning private desperation into public spectacle. The use of forbidden magic by the Crescent Societies introduces a new layer of uncertainty, hinting at the possibility of revolution but also the dangers of unchecked power. The final twist—August's betrayal and Anton's ascension—subverts expectations, revealing that the cycle of violence is self-perpetuating, and that every victory is built on loss.
Analysis
Immortal Longings is a brutal, dazzling meditation on power, identity, and the cost of survival in a world that devours its own. Chloe Gong reimagines the city as a living organism—hungry, mutable, and indifferent to the suffering of its inhabitants. The novel's central conceit—the ability to jump between bodies—serves as both metaphor and mechanism, destabilizing notions of selfhood and complicating every relationship. At its heart, the story is a tragedy: Calla's quest for vengeance and justice leads her to become the very monster she sought to destroy, and her love for Anton is both her salvation and her undoing. The Games are a microcosm of the city's cruelty, a spectacle that distracts from real suffering while perpetuating it. Gong's narrative interrogates the allure of power, the futility of violence, and the impossibility of innocence. The ending is both cathartic and devastating: the old king is dead, but the new order is tainted by the same betrayals and sacrifices. The cycle continues, and the hope for change is as fragile as the bodies the characters inhabit. Immortal Longings asks: What are we willing to become to survive? And is survival enough, if it means losing ourselves?
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