Iron Widow

READ THIS BOOK. I repeat: READ THIS BOOK. Not all scifi appeals to me, but this one did. The polyam rep in place of the standard YA love triangle cliche, the violence that isn't too much but enough to make your heart race, the pacing, the plot, the characters...this novel is strong, and so much happens but none of it makes you dizzy or need to go back and read ten pages prior because it's muddled. No - this one is well-developed, well-paced, well-everything. Iron Widow #2 has me a DEDICATED reader.

Well, it was better than I thought it would be. As my book club has started talking more about the four doorways of reading (Character, Plot, Setting, Writing), I'm coming to realize more and more that without that Writing doorway, I just have a hard time getting into a book.

This book is extremely cinematic in a way that if it was an anime or graphic novel where I could actually see the Chrysalises and watch the battle scenes, I'd probably be pretty into it. The ruthless female anti-hero is a trope that I'm glad is gaining more traction. In the romance aspects of the book,<spoiler>the pro-poly anti-love triangle take is a great way to turn YA fiction on its head even if the Shimin/Yizhi romance didn't really get enough attention to feel at all believable.</spoiler>

So plot and character-wise, it's pretty good. The world-building is all right too. I think it's just the language including occasional modern phrases that feel so anachronistic to the setting that grated on me. The ending also was pretty abrupt and included so much new information that felt rushed to me. So I don't know. I think it's a good book that just wasn't really for me. It is a shame that it was disqualified in the Hugo debacle this year because as literature aimed at a young adult audience, I think it is making some very important moves and deserved that recognition.

This book was such a great premise. As soon as I started it, I loved the whole world and it gave me major Pacific Rim vibes which is fantastic since it is one of my favorite movies. I love when books jump right into the action and introduce the story and characters with a fast pace.

Pros:
- Amazing premise with fantastic imagery and strong world-building
- Unique storytelling and perspective
- Great diversity and inclusion in the story that is completely natural and works so well
- Strong female characters that do not put up with anyone treating them as less.

Cons:
- Mediocre middle and a story that lags as you go. This book started with so much potential that just completely fizzled out by about 1/2 through

I think this book will be perfect for a lot of people who want a unique world and action-packed plot. But for me the pacing had issues and my enjoyment decreased as I read the story. It started off so well but quickly fizzled out.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC

DNA at 45%

I really wanted to love this book. The premise, which promised a “blend of Chinese history and mecha science fiction” sounded really intriguing and promising. I felt that the pacing was kinda off, sometimes it felt fast other times it felt slow. I also felt like the author was trying to do too many things at once. Also, the romance was really underwhelming for me, I just didn't understand it. I'm SOO upset about this because I honestly was so excited to read this. I might try this again in a couple of months but I'm not sure.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Okay, I just watched this video introduction to the book: youtube.com/watch?v=Hx3yeAB2vCs and now I REALLY WANT TO READ THIS BOOK! And potentially everything in this author's backlist.

It just very YA to me, not that that's a bad in general. That didn't really appeal to me. I also wasn't hooked by the main character. She wasn't very interesting to me beyond her revenge quest.

What a ride. I am so glad I listened to this book rather than reading it myself because of the pronunciation of all the names!

I love a flawed heroine, and Zetian certainly is that. Her solution to every problem is to kill the problem, literally, and not once does she learn from this despite it almost never working the way she planned. I found myself cheering for her in a way I didn't expect, and gasping along with her at each reveal. This book sets up a saga that I'm sure will be as epic and sweeping as the legacy of Chinese literature that it follows.

The world building here is also fascinating - the blend of historical reality, modern day sex-based discrimination, patriarchy, and futurism is complex and intriguing. Parts of this world are familiar, while others feel out of reach and foreign. I'm looking forward to learning more about the universe outside Huaxia in future books.

Had very high expectations for this one - especially since it's a Canadian author - but I think the hype train got to me. Because it didn't live up. It definitely feels and reads like a debut book; a little rough at the edges. (Which lends to the grit of this world in a beneficial way!) But my main problem with it is actually the writing style. It comes across very C-drama meets overdramatic fighting anime.

YA, but in the best, glowing sense of YA. I love a girl fueled by righteous anger and a triangle of power.

I have had this book on my TBR since it came out. I purchased it at a bookstore September 2023. I now am I full believer that a book will be there for you when you need it. I was stressing about what to pick up the Sunday before the election in fear that I wouldn't be able to focus on anything. I took this off my shelf and just told myself to see if it was the right time - and it was 100% the best time. If you are looking for a strong female character who doesn't shy away from revenge, if you want to read passages that make you want to shout at the top of your lungs YES!!!!, then read this book now. These are quotes I pulled out of reviews when I originally put it on my list and they are 100% accurate.

“This book is so angry and so ready to crush the patriarchy...”
“a boot on the patriarchy's neck...“
“An angry, bloody, feminist fist straight through the glass of patriarchal bullshit...“

If that is the energy you are looking for, this is the book to read.

I started reading this in October and then I got a message that books ready to collect at the library and I managed that on time and then when I was going to get back to this book, more books arrived at the library and I didn’t get back to this book until late December. So this stop start reading might have something to do with how I felt about it.

I like some parts, felt like they were interesting and relatable. And then there were things that felt a little vague and unfinished, somethings happening off page that I would have liked to see.

If you have seen Xirans videos (that’s how I found this book) you can hear their voice in the book, same humor and directness.

It was refreshing to have an MC that just went there and being unapologetic about it.

Как из-за идеи можно забить на остальные элементы истории.

В этом мире мужчины в паре с девушками пилотируют роботов с помощью энергии ци и стихий для сражения с захватчиками - и всё это транслируется по сети. Что за захватчики? Интернет отлично ловит даже в деревнях? Почему нельзя сделать пары из двух мужчин? О, нет, это уже будет слишком, ведь цель автора - показать как девушка сражается с обществом, настроенным против женщин. Ее сестра умерла во время одного из сражений. Как и большинство девушек умирает, отдавая свои силы мужчинам. И это их долг, каждую девушку с детства учат прислуживать мужчине. Но Цзэтянь не согласна с этим.

Стоит ли говорить, что у Цзэтянь очень много ци и, попав в армию, она быстро совершает свою месть за сестру и больше не вспоминает об этом... А еще у нее появляются аж два любовника, согласные с ее ненавистью к сложившейся системе... В общем, ничто не работает на главную идею. Уж молчу про два способа сближения пар в армии - катание на коньках и секс. Из этого в принципе понятно, почему армия в этом мире так плохо распоряжается своими ресурсами в войне, идующей столетия.

Наибольшее разочарование - это разхайпленный любовный треугольник или полиамория. Цзэтянь, которой всю жизнь твердили о необходимости прислуживать мужчинам и хранить девственность, так просто решается на эти отношения, потому что “треугольник — самая устойчивая фигура”. И еще потому что их волнуют жизни женщин, конечно. Ладно, оставим в стороне вопрос о феминизме (который на самом деле мизогиния), но парни-то за что в нее влюбились? А друг в друга? Кажется, здесь должен был быть троп “найденной семьи”, а не романтика с единственными двумя мужчинами, поддерживающими героиню.

Чтобы добавить экшена, каждые пару глав случаются внезапные нападения. Проживать их ужасно утомительно, потому что я, даже знакомая с жанром меха, не понимаю что конкретно происходит. А главное - почему. Каждое сражение ломает какие-то правила и тебе просто приходится смериться с этим. Удивительно и то, что герои раскрывают правду о системе уже в первой книге. И это было классно, если бы не было так карикатурно. Ну знаете, обычное дело целоваться после того, как пытали человека.

Прямая схожесть с аниме должна была сыграть книге на руку, но вышла боком. Главная героиня, больше похожая на антагониста - это правда захватывающе, но дыры в истории не заделаешь сильной идеей и образами. Идея феминизима не сделает книгу глубже. Потому что воевать против мужчин - не феминизм. Я ценю, что автор пыталась подсветить сложное положение девушек в Китае, вплетая в сюжет ужасные культурные элементы, но они не имеют смысла в книге. Но если бы это был фанфик с моими любимыми персонажами, а не безликими картонками - пожалуйста, дайте ещё!

I wanted to like this book real bad.

I enjoyed the first half, the setting and mechs were really cool, and the commentary Zetian had on the trappings of patriarchy were the high points of the book for me. Unfortunately, it went downhill from there. I could tell this was a debut novel. The writing was not very good but I could get through it, the dialogue was very teen, the plot points were pretty obvious or done in a contrived fashion so it could create conflict later (eg, mild spoiler, Zetian not telling the two guys about the nudes IMMEDIATELY, it would have made more character sense, and the reveal that Yizhi already knew about it and didn't care would've been cooler ).

I could take all of that, but my real issue is more of the message it had about feminism and change by the end of the book. Yes, the current system for the women in this world was bad, but the way to change it is...only by violence. There's no other option that our main character Zetian can think of taking. There were no other women that could fix this world, or made it better in any way. Zetian killed most of the women that feature heavily in the book herself. I mean, she killed many more nameless men as well, but still. Hard to start the feminist cultural revolution without breaking a few hundred eggs :/ Fellas, is it feminist to kill indiscriminately?

This book just made me downcast and frustrated. It could get better as set up for the future book, but I'm not going to read it so...yeah.

I skipped the first several chapters, too much detail on the abuse of women for my taste and in hindsight didn't really add to the storyline other than providing 'See how much better her life is now, compared to the start?'

For most of the first half of the book I kept seeing hints at veering off to a focus on young adult trials and tribulations but was pleasantly surprised to see the plot didn't go too far down those roads.

Good action, interesting characters, some interesting concepts to stretch my view, overall an enjoyable read.

writing wasnt the best , it got a little crink at times but i super enjoyed this book

only thing im confused about is Yizhi at the end is like omg we're not natives of this planet the hundun are like wut where did that come from LOL

the DRAMA. the EMOTION. wonderful. 

This book tore my heart out and stomped on it. I don't think I've cried this hard reading a book.

I'm seeing a lot of discourse on how this book handles feminism; all I have to say to that is that ones who get it, get it.

This was devastating and beautiful and haunting. I was full of rage, anguish, happiness and terror the whole way through. This book has me in a chokehold. I've never been this emotionally wrecked and touched by a book.

I'm terrified and thrilled to read the next one.

Interesting subversion of certain tropes and well crafted telegraphing. It didn't hit quite right for me, probably because I'm currently in an argument with the "special boy/girl" model of fantasy.

When Iron Widow came up on the list of the list of rejected Hugo Award nominees in the controversy over the Chengdu Worldcon, I figured that I should bump the book further up my reading list (it was already there, it was just further in). Then it became a Sword & Laser book club pick, and I made sure to get ahold of a copy from the library – and I was not disappointed by this book at all, and I’m eagerly looking forward to the sequel.

The premise of Iron Widow is that it follows Wu Zetian – not the version of our world, but a different one (this is extremely loosely inspired by her rise to power), a girl from basically the sticks, who volunteers herself to be the consort of a Chrysalis pilot – someone who supplies qi to the pilot of these shapeshifting mechs so they can fight the monstrous Hundun who attack the country – a position that also puts the consorts at great risk of death, indeed most consorts die. However, Zetian has a secret reason for this – the pilot she wants to be the consort of murdered her sister, and she wants revenge. When she succeeds in her mission, but not in the method she had in mind, she ends up becoming a consort to another pilot, Li Shimen, who has previously killed numerous consorts, but together their qi balance allows them to work together successfully – and in turn overturn the systems of power that seek to victimize them both.

In short, Iron Widow goes – the story moves at a tremendously brisk pace. It’s not so fast that you lose track of the story’s events, and who is doing what to whom and why. However, it’s also tremendously easy for a significant plot beat to also be overshadowed by a slew of other plot beats. By the climax of the novel, there are a string of character deaths that happen with the rapidity of characters getting killed off of the climax of a Tomino-helmed Gundam series, though not in the “Kill-Em-All” Tomino kind of way.

To be clear, I’m not just making the mecha anime comparisons in a “Guy who only watched Boss Baby gets Boss Baby vibes” kind of sense. When I read the description of the piloting system of the Crystalis mechs, my first thought was, “Huh, I’m getting Darling in the Franxx vibes” – and then I reached the acknowledgments at the end of the book and, lo and behold, Darling in the Franxx came up multiple times, in a clear “This book is in dialog with that anime” sense. As someone who wrote a fanzine for several years for the specific objective of, Parent Trap-esque, trying to get Anime & Lit-SF fandom back together again, I had to stifle a squee in the breakroom at work.

Darling in the Franxx was enjoyable, but certainly flawed series – I didn’t dive into it as much at the time in my review, but it was a series that had sexual politics that were certainly problematic – with a focus on heteronormative romantic pairings likely as part of the political push of the Abe government to try to boost the declining birthrate of Japan’s ethnic Japanese population, and thus failed to examine, interrogate, and explore the other aspects of the sexual politics of the world they were creating, and similarly refused to seriously work with the ideas of having different compatible gender pairings than male dominant/female submissive (which, to be clear, is something that at least Goddanar was willing to consider back in the day – so desire to be horny on main is not an excuse). By contrast, author Xiran Jay Zhao clearly went into this having already interrogated these ideas herself, and was willing to incorporate the results of that interrogation into the book – with plenty of room in the upcoming sequels to explore that further.

Also, the character dynamics in the story are great – especially the core trio of Zetian, Shimin, and Zetian’s childhood friend Gao Yizhi, with a few solid supporting characters like strategist Sima Yi. Not to make this “my year of fiction about polyamory”, but the three make for a great polyamorous relationship, and seeing the relationship between the three build throughout the novel is wonderful. How that relationship will go into the second book is… hard to get into without spoilers, but it’s something I’m excited to read about, but also anxious over how it will turn out – which admittedly is probably what Zhao was going for, so Mission Accomplished.

One other thing I also appreciated – a thing that bugged me about She Who Became The Sun is that it was a fantasy novel heavily inspired by Chinese history that wasn’t really willing to interrogate some serious aspects of it – because the focus was on overthrowing the Mongol government (referred to as the Hu Dynasty, instead of the historical dynastic name of the Yuan dynasty) – so there’s no consideration of the thought that historical China, being an Empire, was generally often in the process of, to use the modern parlance, “Doing an Imperialism”, and the barbarians attacking at their borders were just as often peoples seeking to resist conquest as those seeking to raid and conquer, and in the process, reiterated old stereotypes that basically lead to the Mongols being written like stereotypical Orcs (in the ways that some interpretations of Orcs by Western authors are written like stereotypical Mongols). Instead, Iron Widow through the back half of this story also interrogates the romanticization of Imperial Chinese history – calling out that the country, through its surrogate in this novel, was an empire, and did the things that we justly and rightly call out other historical empires as having done, whether in the form of the brutal subjugation of peoples (particularly ethnic minorities), and using the satellite areas of the nation for resource extraction for the wealthier imperial core. That crap happens in the world of this novel, and it’s one of the numerous injustices (including the heavy institutional misogyny that kicks off the story) that Zetian is seeking to overthrow.

It made for a novel that I enjoyed immensely, and I’m eagerly looking forward to the sequel. Also, with how well this book turned out with Zhao riffing on Darling in the Franxx, there’s a chunk of me that really hopes she watched Getter Robo or Gurren Lagann, because there’s a bit of that I’d be interested to see if she riffs on in a future book.

Цікава історія зі швидким розвитком сюжету, але, як на мій смак, занадто прісне виконання, більше схоже на сценарій до фільму, ніж на книгу.
1) Під час читання не відчувалася хімія між головними героями, їхня взаємодія часто була якоюсь натягнутою і штучною. Більше емоцій відчувалося між Їджі і Лі Шимінем, ніж між ними і Дзетянь. Особливо це прослідковується в сцені, де герої сидять зі сплетеними руками біля ліжка постраждалої героїні.

I was excited to read a fantasy book set in a Chinese based culture rather than the usual European culture found in most fantasy books. However I couldn't get past a certain event that happens early in the book, and was clearly going to have ongoing effects on the character. The descriptions are very evocative, which probably didn't help me in this case. And I could see the book turning into a great read.

I don't know if I would've read it if it wasn't a bookclub pick.

This is a YA sci-fi novel that takes Imperial China and puts it into a very tech-forward future. Our protagonist is a re-imagined version of Empress Wu, the only female Chinese empress. The world is at war with a mysterious alien presence, and they fight in giant mechanized animal-shaped structures called Chrysalises. For a reader of my age, it brought up lots of Power Ranger/Transformer vibes. But, of course, there are also enemies within a pretty messed-up military structure.

It's a bit hard to describe the mood of this book, but I will say it feels like it would translate really well into anime or manga. Very fast-paced with some pretty dramatic moments, some of which really did catch me off-guard. I thought I knew what direction this story was going to go in until a Big Event about a quarter of the way through, so that was fun. (I did see the Big Surprise at the end about a mile away, though.) It is also a pretty straightforward look at misogyny and how it impacts both men and women. Overall, I really liked it and have already told K she should read it.

Pretty damn awesome. It's got serious Pacific Rim vibes, but much more culturally sophisticated, using Chinese mythological elements, and the main character - despite being based (very) loosely on a Chinese Empress - is unpredictable and fierce. The action is constant, and the end was VERY cool.

Put simply, it checked all my boxes for what makes a badass story. I think my only holdback from a 5 star review was that aside from being super-cool, I didn't get much out from it. The relationships in the story were pretty unique, and the cast was good, but character-wise, it felt more like watching a movie than getting to know them. And while it was very emotive, I noticed more than felt the emotions... Except the emotion of "oh damn, that was badass."

I'd say with about half the trilogies or series starters I read, I leave it at that whether I like it or not, but in this case, I am DEFINITELY reading the sequel. Sometimes you need a fast-paced action story with crazy twists, and this delivered that in spades.

I loved the machines and the battles! The description of the machines and how they work was exciting. I loved seeing the pictures of the machines on her website. I loved picturing the battles between the machines and the ways that they used qi. I also liked how see what is going on in their minds while they are battling. I enjoyed the character development as well. Zetian has to change her mind about a couple people as she learns more about them. Li has to learn to open up to people. And we learn that so many leaders are awful! It is a great set up for a sci-fi world.
Some of the points that the author was making about society were a little too on the nose. I liked the commentary and points at first, but at other times it took me out of the story. The romance was a slow burn and I liked that. I'm not quite sure how it will be going forward. The ending was a huge twist and definitely leaves Zetian with quite a dilemma going forward.