She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan is the first book in the Radiant Emperor series. Since I try not to remember blurbs, I did not realise until partway through that it was based on a historical person. This does mean that Wiki can tell you where the story is going, but this isn't much of a spoiler since the journey is very open to interpretation, as Parker-Chan shows us.

She’ll change the world to survive her fate . . .

In Mongol-occupied imperial China, a peasant girl refuses her fate of an early death. Stealing her dead brother’s identity to survive, she rises from monk to soldier, then to rebel commander. Zhu’s pursuing the destiny her brother somehow failed to attain: greatness. But all the while, she feels Heaven is watching.

Can anyone fool Heaven indefinitely, escaping what’s written in the stars? Or can Zhu claim her own future, burn all the rules and rise as high as she can dream?

I enjoyed this book a lot. Set shortly before the fall of the Yuan Dynasty, it follows a peasant girl, Zhu, who grew up in a famine and extreme poverty. Her sheer determination to survive and not have an insignificant "nothing" destiny, sees her take on her brother's identity and join a monastery. Unlike many stories with the girl-dresses-as-boy trope, it does not involve a romance with her best monk friend but rather takes a more complicated and queer direction. I really enjoyed reading about Zhu and I appreciated the lengths she was willing to go to for her goal/dream/destiny.

The other protagonist is a eunuch general on the Yuan side (as opposed to the people who are sick of being ruled over by the Yuan, which is the side Zhu is on). He is bitter and vengeful against the Yuan but in an interesting position, since he genuinely likes the Prince he serves. He and Zhu have a few run-ins, which were quite dramatic, despite the fact that they both want similar things. I didn't enjoy his point of view sections as much, especially in the first part of the book, but they got more interesting as we learnt more about him and as events progressed. In any case, he was a good foil for Zhu.

I highly recommend this book to people who enjoy historic fantasy, especially people looking for books set in Asia. She Who Became the Sun did not end on a cliffhanger, but did leave the story unfinished, so I am very much looking forward to reading the next book, when it comes out.

5 / 5 stars

First published: July 2021, Tor Books
Series: The Radiant Emperor book 1 of ?
Format read: eARC
Source: Publisher via Netgalley

For those of us enamored in our youth by the tension between the soldier Mulan and Shang Li, She Who Became the Sun is an epic journey through Mongol-led China as a young girl prophesied to amount to nothing grows up to be something great.

When she was eight, Zhu lost everything: her father, her brother, and, when it was foretold that she would amount to nothing, she lost her chance at a future. Taking her fate into her own hands, Zhu buries her brother but keeps his name. With survival the only thing on her mind, Zhu disguises herself as her brother and gains admittance to the monastery, studying for ten years under the monks. When the Mongols invade, Zhu is forced to flee to conceal her true identity and wound up claiming a different fate. At the monastery, Zhu became a survivor. But with a sword at her side, Zhu became greatness personified.

There are a lot of reasons to love She Who Became the Sun, and not just because it’s the adult version of Mulan that I’ve been waiting for. First off: the writing. I was instantly pulled into Shelley Parker-Chan’s storytelling. They crafted such an epic, vivid story. The scenes were so easy to paint in my mind, I could see Zhu and Ouyang, life in the monastery and life on the battlefield, as well as if I was watching it on a screen. Parker-Chan crafts details as if they lived through these trials in 14th century China and experienced the battles firsthand. The plot itself is so thoroughly engrossing, yet there’s a lot more to She Who Became the Sun. I definitely need to dedicate part of this review to the characters. I honestly can’t think of another story (that I’ve heard of, at least) that features such sexually dynamic characters. For the most vital parts of her life, Zhu had been masquerading as a boy; her very survival in the monastery depended on it. And it was such a pivotal moment when Zhu realized that she could no longer just pretend to be her long-dead brother - she actually had to mentally think of herself as him. I also loved Ouyang; just on the other side of enemy lines is the eunuch general who is such a fantastic foil for Zhu. The two characters, the two perspectives, wove such an epic tale. I was so anxious for when Zhu and Ouyang would meet face to face, and Parker-Chan did not disappoint. And deeper than their outward struggles, I loved how both Ouyang and Zhu had to spend their formative years struggling with their genderfluidity. Those personal journeys were so poignant, especially set in 14th century China where I 1) don’t see a lot of current fiction being set, and 2) definitely don’t see stories starring genderfluid characters.

She Who Became the Sun is so well done. I cared about the plot and the characters, and both swept me away in a vibrant tale of love, personal hardships, and bravery. This book is perfect for readers who love progressive characters set against an epic backdrop of love and war.

Shelley Parker-Chan’s novel is ambitious, grand, and full of characters that truly make the story unique.

She Who Became the Sun is a beautiful, lyrical story about a young girl determined to change her fate, thus embarking on a quest which effects the lives of all those she meets. While this was pitched as Mulan meets Song of Achilles, I argue that this is perfect for fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender. While the setting is of course similar, the relationships between the characters - both those considered to be “heroes” and “villains” is deeply intertwined with the ideas of fate and honour.

I was able to easily lose myself in the Parker-Chan’s writing style, even when some of the more concrete elements became confusing. As someone who does not read much high fantasy, the similar names of characters and locations had me flipping back to make sure I was following the story. Even some of the more significant plot points had me questioning whether or not this was supposed to be a twist, or if I had merely missed something along the way. The dialogue is one of the strong points in the novel as it builds on the omniscient narration, but also further serves to distinguish the main characters and reflect their background and class.

However, one element that I found hindered the overall novel was its lack of perspective in the first three-quarters of the story. With the marketing team assigning such strong comparisons to other famous stories, I expected there to be significant queer overtones immediately. It is only later on in the novel once Zhu begins to understand the fluidity of fate that she begins to question who she really is and how she wants to live her life moving forward. The gender dysphoria seen mainly in the conjugal scene with Ma is powerful, but I was looking for this kind of commentary earlier on. The world that Zhu and the cast inhabits is realistic in the sense of assigning gender roles and the patriarchal ways. In having this be a fantasy novel, I expected the author to show some leeway and build a society different from our own. Because of this I would argue that the novel borders more on historical fiction with only a glimpse of magic.

The ending clearly outlines what will be tackled as the series progresses, and with large events taking place towards the end, I am eager to learn the downfall of these actions. I would even say I am anxious for these characters, having grown so much, but trust that Parker-Chan will conclude her story with dynamism and pride.

4.3 stars! thank you to the publisher for the arc! this story was by no means an exhilarating, fast-paced adventure with shocking plot twists and punches of emotional volatility, but more along the lines of a gradual, continuous building of tension and desire for greatness that could lead to no other outcome but this one: that those who desire the most shining future will have suffering as its heart.

this was an epic, gritty novel that served me eloquent bouts of gender dysmorphia, found family, and the alarming yet familiar recognition of meeting somebody that's of the same creature you are. the prose was heartbreaking in its simple delivery and the characters were distinct and powerful in their desires. what a evocative, haunting read.

i would caution against going into this jaded, tormented world with expectations of the poppy war series in mind because if you do, you will sorely be disappointed. the two do not compare at all — each has its own strengths, own aesthetics that firmly craft the world you delve into, so don't do this book an injustice by placing another book's expectations upon it. i've seen some people do that, which is a mistake to make; you're just deriving yourself of a raw, potent reading experience that punches in the gut and makes you lose your mind (in the best way, of course). she who became the sun is at its core: burning. it is the searing burn of heaven's eyes upon your neck, the panicked burn in your chest at seeing the greatness and nothingness of your fate, and the overwhelming burn of barely held back tears in your eyes as you watch your loved ones suffer in agony yet knowing you won't do anything to stop it because you're the cause of their suffering in the first place.

and with that ominous note, have fun reading this book! (make sure to check the trigger warnings!)

TL;DR: She Who Became the Sun is an amazing work of historical fantasy reminiscent of Mulan crossed with A Song of Ice and Fire. In it, young girl assumes the identity of her dead brother, who had been promised a great future by a fortune teller; we follow her rise through the political landscape of 14th-century China. It's out July 20th, so make sure to preorder it now or pick it up on Tuesday - you won't regret it!
Thanks to Tor Books and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.
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When I was about a third the way through "She Who Became the Sun" by Shelley Parker-Chan, I went to preorder it for my best friend. It's not just because her name is also, coincidentally, Shelley Chan -- but also because I knew I was reading something truly special and beyond magnificent.
Sun is the story of a little girl living with her father and brother during a famine. A fortune teller tells her brother that he has greatness in his future -- but when both men die, leaving her completely alone, she takes on her brother's name and identity and seek to take his fate for herself. She leaves her home to enroll in a monastery, and thus begins the story of Zhu's pursuit of greatness as she learns just how large -- and cruel -- the world is.
I was utterly riveted by this book and Zhu's arc. I love her ambition and resilience, her sheer determination to survive and succeed, even as we watch her understand just to what lengths she'll go to achieve it. I love the politics brewing throughout the story and seeing characters learn to navigate those treacherous waters (hence the call out to ASoIaF, though this book is about a hundred times better). I loved the "magic" in this book, which was focused on three interconnected things: ghosts/ancestors; the Mandate of Heaven as a physical manifestation; and the ideas of Heaven and fate. [[They are fantastical not as creations - the Mandate of Heaven (天命/Tiānmìng), for example, was used in ancient and imperial China to dictate the right to rule, loosely similar to the Divine Right of Kings in Europe -- but by their manifestation to (some of) the characters.]] I could feel the weight of Zhu's future pressing against her so heavily throughout the book. Most of all, I love how unapologetically queer this book is, how deeply it explores love and sex and gender just by letting us live in the characters' heads and see their relationships through their eyes.
If you're looking for a work of fantasy that's about someone learning to use their magic, this ain't it - there's no magic school, no focus on harnessing supernatural abilities in the way of many popular fantasy books. But this book is about taking control over one's own destiny, and Parker-Chan makes it clear that this is a power that's more dangerous and difficult to wield than any spell could be.
I can't recommend this book enough for readers who love historical fantasy, excellent queer rep, badass women, and people fighting their fates.

From the first chapter on, Shelley Parker-Chan has me hooked, as their words ensnare my heart, grip my soul in a vise, and keep me enthralled while I read on, breathless. It has been a good long while since a story devoured me like this. I started recommending this book ahead of publication to everyone I talked to, every co-worker and customer in my bookstore, every friend with even a passing interest in reading, while I was still only a couple of chapters in. I made sure we placed an order for more copies than we usually order for a new title from a debut author. Because if this is what they can do with their first novel, I am absolutely certain Shelley Parker-Chan is one of the new greats of SFF.

Getting to follow a character who starts out as a girl with no future, discarded and discounted by everyone because of her gender, disadvantaged by being born into strife, and then seeing her "steal" the Great Fate of a brother who despite all of the privileges granted to him chooses to just give up when tragedy strikes, is cathartic in ways I can not properly explain. The beginning of the story tells us everything about our main character's strength: she refuses to be nothing. She refuses to be ignored by fate. She has so much to offer the world, and she will make sure the world trembles as she walks its war-torn soil.

She Who Became the Sun has been marketed as Mulan meets Madeleine Miller’s celebrated tragedy The Song of Achilles, and I do agree with that description. However, this is a story that stands on its own, unique in concept and brilliant in its execution, and it absolutely does not suffer from the comparison to other great literary works. This queer take on real world history—specifically the rise of the Ming Dynasty and its first Emperor—obviously stands on a solid foundation of knowledge of 14th century China, but it is not so bound by its relation to historical events as to not do its own thing.

The way this novel integrates different ideas about gender, sexuality, masculinity as a concept, identity… it is truly amazing, and something I have not seen handled this well in a novel in what feels like ages. In fact, I can’t think of anything that I have read that comes close to this. The nuance, the depth of how these elements are intertwined with the story and the growth that the characters go through is staggering. It is just so well done.

The characters are engaging, and they feel so real. They are flawed, they evolve in ways that feel natural to who they are, and I never felt that they were "made to do things" in service of furthering the plot—their actions made sense. Add to that Parker-Chan's prose, which is poetic yet brutally real in ways that make my heart break, and this novel is an absolute success from start to finish, gracefully running laps around its competition.

You would do well to keep an eye on Shelley Parker-Chan—they, like their main character, have greatness in their future, and the SFF world will certainly quake as they rise as one of the best authors of their generation.

Thank you, NetGalley for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Okay, wow. Where has this book been all my life? I've seen this book recommended everywhere, from TikTok to Instagram and when I saw it described as Mulan meets Song of Achilles, I was sold. This book is about a girl who grew up in famine who rises to become a significant military leader. It's told from multiple perspectives over the span of several years.

Now, I'm not usually one for war stories. What made this story work for me, though, is that is isn't solely focused on war. It has an abundance of characterization, politics, romance, and isn't only focused on the fighting aspect. The main character, Zhu, is a monk, and since she isn't a fighter, she has to find other ways to win. I also appreciated how the story somehow simultaneously showed the glorified side of war, as well as the gruesome one.

I particularly liked the themes throughout the story, specifically the theme of fate. I liked how it played with the Chosen One trope. In some ways, Zhu is like the "chosen one" but she had to work, adapt, and overcome to achieve her destiny. I also appreciated how morally grey the characters are. In some parts, I wasn't really sure where the story was going to go, but due to the character-driven nature of some of it, there were some "ah-ha" moments.

Top that all off with some LGBTQ+ representation, you've got yourself an awesome story.

As always, check the content warnings before reading. There is some violence and death throughout (it is a war story), but in my opinion, it wasn't too gruesome and was done tastefully.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3960509940
https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/dfc0f08e-60de-4238-98f8-e5e888de6d7e

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan is historical fantasy set in China during the Mongol rule. Famine has emptied villages and the rest are killed in endless campaigns between the Emperor and the rebellious Chinese armies. To survive is to will it happen.

The protagonist starts as a nameless, scorned ten-year-old girl who survives on scraps her father and sole living brother of eight leave her, and her ingenuity. A fortune teller predicts greatness to her brother Zhu Chongba and nothingness for her. But when bandits attack, it’s the brother who dies while she survives.

She’s already learned that a girl is nothing, but instead of accepting it like other women around her, she finds the situation unfair. Spurred on by her will to live, she assumes her brother’s identity and outstubborns monks to be admitted to a monastery as a novice. But she assumes more than his name. She assumes his destiny to greatness too. For it to come to pass, she has to completely believe that she is Zhu and that his fate is hers, to fool the gods to grant it to her.

The story unfolds in a brisk pace. Years are skipped, and only the important scenes are told. Zhu is successful in becoming her brother, resorting to devious stunts to keep her true gender a secret. She’s becoming complacent though, believing that her greatness is found in the monastery. So when it’s destroyed, she needs to find a new way to make it happen.

She becomes a warrior, leading troops to victories against the Mongols. But it’s not enough. She needs to become the leader. And there’s nothing she won’t do to stay on her path to greatness. Nothing can stop her, not even death. It frees her from being her brother, and allows her to assume greatness as herself. The book ends when she’s halfway to her goal, to becoming the emperor.

But Zhu isn’t the only one with fated destiny. In the Mongol army, there’s a Chinese eunuch general, the right-hand man of the warlord’s son. Seemingly working towards the goal of crushing the Chinese rebels, he harbours a hatred towards the warlord and is biding his time to avenge his family’s deaths on him.

Zhu’s actions force him to act faster than he would’ve wanted, but like Zhu, he believes in the inevitability of his fate. And they share a goal: to crush the Mongol emperor.

This was a brilliant book. The pace was fast, the stakes were high, and the historical details wonderful, depicting a cruel, believable world. I wasn’t familiar with the true historical events the book is based on, but it didn’t matter at all.

The characters were oddly likeable, despite being awful people. Zhu especially manages to convey a sense of serene rightness while manipulating the events to her liking or killing people outright. She ends up marrying a woman who she repeatedly hurts by her actions, yet Ma stays by her side. The option would be worse, because at least Zhu understands what it is to be a woman without protectors.

Not that Zhu quite accepts that she’s a woman, even after admitting to herself that she’s not her brother, nor is she quite a man either. She’s Zhu Yuanzhang, the radiant one, the one who will be the emperor. I’m looking forward to reading the conclusion to her journey.

I featured this book in a round up on my blog, sent links to facebook & twitter, and created an IG story. The details will be shared with the publisher in the next round of this review process.

rounding up from 3.75 stars. firstly, i am so grateful to shelley's publicist for providing me with an eARC of one of my most anticipated releases of 2021! i've been waiting for SHE WHO BECAME THE SUN since 2020 and i was so excited to receive an ARC of it and be able to preorder a copy from my local Indigo.

the prose in SWBTS is breathtakingly beautiful. it broke my heart to read certain parts of this book and to see what certain characters had to go through to reach their conclusions in this novel. never before have i seen a character who is so unhinged and unapologetic when it comes to what they want - especially one that is written so well and in such a clever manner.

however, i did find that the characteristic of seeing ghosts, which played such an intense and pivotal role in the plot when it came to ouyang's destiny and zhu's conclusion in this book, was not sufficiently explained to me. moreover, there seemed to be a decently large stretch of part 1 and 2 wherein this quality is simply not brought up/plays no role whatsoever in relation to the plot. this is, in the end, the only thing keeping me from rating this book 5 stars.

i cannot wait to see what else shelley parker-chan has in store for their readers and i am, again, so grateful to have gotten the chance to read this book when i did.

I am not happy about this but…

DNF @ 52%.

I put about 7 hours of reading into this book and I could not get into it. It felt like it was dragging, and by the end I just started skimming. Maybe the second half is amazing, but I don’t think it’s worth another 7-8 hours of my life to figure out. It’s possible I may try again, but I’m setting it aside for now. This isn’t for me.

Amazing. Stunning. Phenomenal. The Sapphic book of the summer. The Fantasy novel that I not only wanted, but needed. I cannot wait until this book is available for everyone to purchase, because it's a book all fantasy lovers should read.

Ahoy there me mateys!  I received this fantasy eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  So here be me honest musings . . .

This book lured me in with its promise of a story of a girl who takes the place of her dead brother who had been destined for greatness.  It is set during the timeframe leading to the founding of the Ming Dynasty in China.  There is also LTGBQ+ representation.  This should have been a recipe for love.  Instead, I sadly got an abandoned ship at 32%.

To be fair, I loved the set up and the beginning of the novel.  I enjoyed how the main character, Zhu, is so determined to live that she rejects her fate and steals the path of her dead brother.  Is she really going against her fate or was the switch fated all along?  I felt that her time in the famine and the destruction of her family was extremely evocative and engrossing.  I also enjoyed her time in the monastery. 

However, there are huge jumps in time where we miss Zhu's personal development and this leads to a series of vignettes without the connective tissue.  I wanted the missing sections and, frankly, found the given plot to be rather boring.  The pace was uneven.  Then the author chose to add in some new POVs.  I didn't mind the introduction to Ma but really didn't enjoy the sections of the eunuch Ouyang which were tiresome.  The last straw for me was how easily Zhu helped win her first battle.  As the book progressed, Zhu accomplished her goals with very little insight into her thought-process and seemingly little hardship.

This book ended up not to me taste.  But given how many five star reviews I have seen, I am in the minority.  Arrr!

So lastly . . .

Thank you Macmillian/Tor-Forge!

Warning this is probably an unpopular opinion.
This is a Mulan meets The Song of Achilles story. Also, it’s queer. This takes place during the Ming Dynasty and is an reimagining of the rise of the founding emperor. Zhu and her family are in poverty and her brother has a great destiny and is to become a monk. After her brother and father die, she takes the place of her brother as a monk and pretends to be a boy. From there on she must survive and after the monastery burns down, she becomes a commander.
I liked that this was a reimagining and queer. I like the friendship between Zhu and Xa Da. However, I really struggled reading this book. There was times I would zone out and one time it was putting me to sleep because I was so bored. Books don’t tend to do that to me. I felt like the relationships-especially the romantic one was forced and that there was a lack of chemistry. I felt like the characters were one dimensional too. I wanted more out of the war scenes too. I doubt I’ll read the sequel.

Brilliant
Though I'm not sure how much someone who knows a lot about this time period in China will get out of this book.
A little confused as to Zhu’s identity, the book is titled she, during her chapters she is referred to as she, in interviews Parker-Chan refers to Zhu as she, yet on Goodreads she said Zhu doesn't identify as female??

Reviews
Goodreads: July 17, 2021
Storygraph: July 17, 2021
TikTok @meghanlew_: July 18, 2021

This book took me longer to read than usual, because I wanted to live in it forever. It has been a long time since I whole heartedly fell in love with a book. While I have read books with Chinese representation before, this is the first time I truly saw myself. This book captured Chinese culture so well, and showed the struggles women face with in ancient China. Being Buddhist as well this was the first time I have ever read about characters who shared the same religion as me. All these things played a big role into why I love this book so much.

The plot is definitely slow, but it needs to be so that at the end of the book the puzzle pieces will fit together perfectly. I would say the first three or four chapters are a little confusing so go slow, so you don’t miss anything. I had so much fun trying to figure out this very complicated political plot.

Everything was so well written that I found myself being sucked into this world, so much so that I felt that time stood still around me. The way this book is written also really helped in the character development.

I never felt that I was being told things about the characters, instead the author really shows who the characters are through their actions and their words. Each character was complex and unique and they all brought something special to the story.

This book will forever be a favorite of mine.

If you were told you were destined for nothing, what would you do to prove your prophecy false?

Shelley Parker-Chan's new release She Who Became the Sun begins with destiny at its forefront. A fortune-teller stands over two siblings, a brother and his sister. The boy is promised greatness; the girl, nothing at all.

Then the boy dies. And instead of letting herself waste away into the nothingness the world set up for her, she takes on the identify of Zhu, joins a monastery, and vows to achieve the greatness her brother never would.

She has no idea what achieving greatness will truly ask of her until everything goes wrong.

READ MORE
Parker-Chan's book has been described as "a bold, queer, and lyrical reimagining of the rise of the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty," and it lives up to its promises. You don't often see "queer" and "fantasy" in the same book description, which is why I added it to my NetGalley wishlist in the first place. (It nicely lives up to that specific promise, too, in case you were wondering). And while this branch of fantasy isn't generally what I gravitate toward, I like to extend myself beyond my comfort zone when reviewing books as much as I can.

Otherwise, I'd only read contemporary YA, and while it's a delightful genre, you can't survive on dessert alone. (You COULD, but you'd be missing out on plenty of other wonderful things. How did I somehow manage to turn this into a discussion about food? On brand as always, I suppose.)

While there were points I personally struggled to connect to the book's characters and story beats, the more I reflect on the book the more I'm reminded it's possible to take away meaningful messages even from a story that wasn't made with your individual tastes in mind.

I, too, have lived much of my life feeling as though I'm exhausting myself chasing someone else's destiny. I, too, have felt the dull chronic ache of existing in a body I feared couldn't serve my ambitions in the ways I most needed it to.

We can't ignore the seamlessly incorporated representation brilliantly woven throughout the story -- an LGBTQ+ relationship featuring a main character and descriptions of gender dysphoria (while I am not personally familiar with the latter, I do recognize how important it is to include the harshness of that reality for a more general audience). These aren't things traditionally depicted in fantasy, though it's becoming more commonplace, as it should.

This book is dark and brutal and at points you may be left wishing its main characters could catch a break (feel free to cleanse with a lighter read afterward if necessary). But at its heart, it's a story of an undervalued human who refuses to let the world's general mistreatment of her kind stop her from pursuing what she knows she deserves.

Zhu will stop at nothing to get what she wants, and this makes her a flawed but realistic character. We've all been told we couldn't be more than what we seemed, and we've all wondered what it would take to prove the masses wrong.

Perhaps, in this story, you will find an ounce of hope to carry on, to choose all the hardships that come with adventure to reap the rewards.

Everybody is raving about this book and I feel so thankful I was able to score a review copy. She Who Became the Sun had everything I could want in a story, It was written so nicely and kept my attention the entire time. It's honestly just brilliant. Everything about it was just so original and breathtaking. Just go into this book trusting what reviewers are saying. This book has everything and its just so well done.

Parker-Chan is an Asian-Australian who has worked as a diplomat and international development advisor. This is her first novel and it has been described as "Mulan meets The Song of Achilles" and as "a bold, queer, and lyrical reimagining of the rise of the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty". Set in China in the 1300's we follow the life of Zhu Chongba, who after the death of the last of her family has taken her brother's identity and managed to get accepted to train as a monk. She is determined to have his fate of greatness as predicted by a seer, and will stop at nothing to succeed. There is adventure, violence, battle campaigns, subterfuge and romance. It is a great recommendation to fans of historical fantasy. It is an adult book and due to the content I would think it is only appropriate for older teens. I enjoyed it.

In an exciting and fresh new historical fantasy debut, after an orphaned young girl is told that she is destined for nothingness by a fortune teller, she instead takes the fate of greatness that was meant for her deceased twin brother. Pretending to be a boy, the peasant girl Zhu becomes a monk, a soldier, and eventually a general in her quest to seize greatness and wrest control of ancient China from the Mongol Empire.

Besides being a gripping feminist reimagining of Chinese history, the novel employs a refreshingly original magic system that is tied in with Chinese beliefs and historical facts. In an fascinating twist, the concept of the ‘mandate of heaven’ that defined who had the right to rule in historical ancient China becomes an actual flame that the chosen few can summon. The characters are complex and layered, especially Zhu, with robust queer representation and exploration of gender beyond the binary. Parker-Chan deftly explores what someone will do to survive, whether that is to compromise their values or even kill in cold blood, which is also tied in with the lure of power and womanhood in ancient China. The concept of immutable fate is central to the story – and in less-skilled hands could be boring – but Parker-Chan plays with the uncertainty of how Zhu’s fate will be achieved, and for how long she will keep the greatness she is promised. This is a top-notch historical fantasy novel (and the first installment of a duology) with a complicated, ruthless female lead – for anyone who enjoyed And I Darken by Kiersten White.