She Who Became the Sun - SFBA Book Club

hardcover, 416 pages

Published July 19, 2021 by Tor Books.

ISBN:: 978-1-250-62180-1

(2 reviews)

To possess the Mandate of Heaven, the female monk Zhu will do anything

Mulan meets The Song of Achilles in a bold, queer, and lyrical reimagining of the rise of the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty from an amazing new voice in literary fantasy.

"I refuse to be nothing..."

In a famine-stricken village on a dusty yellow plain, two children are given two fates. A boy, greatness. A girl, nothingness...

In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu family's eighth-born son, Zhu Chongba, is given a fate of greatness, everyone is mystified as to how it will come to pass. The fate of nothingness received by the family's clever and capable second daughter, on the other hand, is only as expected.

When a bandit attack orphans the two children, though, it …

To possess the Mandate of Heaven, the female monk Zhu will do anything

Mulan meets The Song of Achilles in a bold, queer, and lyrical reimagining of the rise of the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty from an amazing new voice in literary fantasy.

"I refuse to be nothing..."

In a famine-stricken village on a dusty yellow plain, two children are given two fates. A boy, greatness. A girl, nothingness...

In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu family's eighth-born son, Zhu Chongba, is given a fate of greatness, everyone is mystified as to how it will come to pass. The fate of nothingness received by the family's clever and capable second daughter, on the other hand, is only as expected.

When a bandit attack orphans the two children, though, it is Zhu Chongba who succumbs to despair and dies. Desperate to escape her own fated death, the girl uses her brother's identity to enter a monastery as a young male novice. There, propelled by her burning desire to survive, Zhu learns she is capable of doing whatever it takes, no matter how callous, to stay hidden from her fate.

After her sanctuary is destroyed for supporting the rebellion against Mongol rule, Zhu uses takes the chance to claim another future altogether: her brother's abandoned greatness.

2 editions

Kadomi@buecher.pnpde.social reviewed She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

Alternate China in the 14th century

5 stars

In this story of an alternate history China, we follow the rise of Zhu. As a girl, her elder brother is promised greatness, and she is promised nothing. But soon after her father and brother are killed, and Zhu is alone in the world, in Mongol-conquered China. Zhu decides to follow the path of greatness that was promised her brother, by pretending to be him. She flees famine to a monastery where she becomes a monk. Greatness is in her path, even though she constantly clashes with Ouyang, a eunuch general of the Mongol army.

It's a delight to read, and so very queer. It plays with gender roles so interestingly. Zhu has to pretend to be male, but encourages another female character to 'desire', something that women just don't do. And there's Ouyang, castrated, beautiful as a woman, craving nothing but masculinity and his Prince.

Can't wait to read …

In this story of an alternate history China, we follow the rise of Zhu. As a girl, her elder brother is promised greatness, and she is promised nothing. But soon after her father and brother are killed, and Zhu is alone in the world, in Mongol-conquered China. Zhu decides to follow the path of greatness that was promised her brother, by pretending to be him. She flees famine to a monastery where she becomes a monk. Greatness is in her path, even though she constantly clashes with Ouyang, a eunuch general of the Mongol army.

It's a delight to read, and so very queer. It plays with gender roles so interestingly. Zhu has to pretend to be male, but encourages another female character to 'desire', something that women just don't do. And there's Ouyang, castrated, beautiful as a woman, craving nothing but masculinity and his Prince.

Can't wait to read the sequel.

moving to outside.ofa.dog reviewed She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

Epic in every sense

5 stars

I love this book for being an alternate history that's not fixated on Hitler. I love it for how carefully it weaves its fantasy into the real history it's anchored in - enough so that as soon as I finished reading it I had to read up on the actual Red Turban rebellion and see how many of the characters were close adaptations. I love it for how much desperate, furious, and yes sometimes joyous life its main characters have. I love it for how viscerally it evokes some incredibly hard times (though be warned, it's a heavy read because of that). I love it for how utterly unsympathetic all the "big people" are.

Around the middle of the book the weight of Fate on both the plot and multiple characters' obsessions started to feel stifling, but the more the narrator complicated that idea the more this stopped being a …

I love this book for being an alternate history that's not fixated on Hitler. I love it for how carefully it weaves its fantasy into the real history it's anchored in - enough so that as soon as I finished reading it I had to read up on the actual Red Turban rebellion and see how many of the characters were close adaptations. I love it for how much desperate, furious, and yes sometimes joyous life its main characters have. I love it for how viscerally it evokes some incredibly hard times (though be warned, it's a heavy read because of that). I love it for how utterly unsympathetic all the "big people" are.

Around the middle of the book the weight of Fate on both the plot and multiple characters' obsessions started to feel stifling, but the more the narrator complicated that idea the more this stopped being a problem.