All you need to know about the Iron Widow triad is that the guy who the government keeps chained up in the basement is NOT the one they should be most worried about.
Skyhunter: “The Karensa Federation has conquered a dozen countries, leaving Mara as one of the last free nations in the world. Refugees flee to its borders to escape a fate worse than death, transformation into mutant war beasts known as Ghosts, creatures the Federation then sends to attack Mara. The legendary Strikers, Mara’s elite fighting force, are trained to stop these monsters. But as the number of Ghosts grows and Karensa closes in, defeat seems inevitable. Still, one Striker refuses to give up hope. Robbed of her voice and home, Talin Kanami knows firsthand the brutality of the Federation. After another devastating battle, Mara seems ready to fall. But when a mysterious prisoner is brought from the front, Talin senses there’s more to him than meets the eye. Is he a spy from the Federation? Or could he be the weapon that will save them all?”
Gearbreakers: “War and oppression are everyday constants for the people of the Badlands, who live under the thumb of their cruel Godolia overlords. Their rule is aided by giant mechanized weapons known as Windups. Eris Shindanai is a Gearbreaker, a rebel who specializes in taking down Windups from the inside. When Eris finds herself in a Godolia prison she meets Sona Steelcrest, a cybernetically enhanced Windup pilot. Sona has a secret: She has intentionally infiltrated the Windup program to destroy Godolia from within. Facing a direct attack to end Godolia’s reign once and for all, Eris and Sona grow closer as comrades, friends, and perhaps something more.”
Blazewrath Games: “Lana Torres has always preferred dragons to people. In a few weeks, sixteen countries will compete in the Blazewrath World Cup, a tournament where dragons and their riders fight for glory in a dangerous relay. Lana longs to represent her native Puerto Rico in their first ever World Cup appearance, and when Puerto Rico’s Runner–the only player without a dragon steed–is kicked off the team, she’s given the chance. But when she discovers that a former Blazewrath superstar has teamed up with the Sire–a legendary dragon who’s cursed into human form–the safety of the Cup is jeopardized. The pair are burning down dragon sanctuaries around the world and refuse to stop unless the Cup gets cancelled. All Lana wanted was to represent her country. Now, to do that, she’ll have to navigate an international conspiracy that’s deadlier than her beloved sport.”
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao was a delight and I’m so happy that I got to read the ARC! For the rest of y’all, fear not! It’s on Netgalley rn as a “read now” for a limited time so you can experience the glorious Wu Zetian and her husbands for yourselves
Hello it’s time for Wu Zetian with fox ear hair because I thought it would be fun to lean into that hulijing persona. We love a girlboss and her supportive husband ❤️
Wu Zetian and Li Shimin from Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao ❤️
Btw I absolutely need to do one with Yizhi because he’s bae and you know what they say, the triangle is the strongest shape
Hello it’s time for Wu Zetian with fox ear hair because I thought it would be fun to lean into that hulijing persona. We love a girlboss and her supportive husband ❤️
Wu Zetian and Li Shimin from Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao ❤️
Btw I absolutely need to do one with Yizhi because he’s bae and you know what they say, the triangle is the strongest shape
I just finished reading Iron Widow, and if Ziran Jay Zhao ever sees this, I need a sequel immediately.
Everything about this book is amazing. The way the protagonist repeatedly chooses violence, and how this isn’t treated as a failure. The constant subversion of expectations for nearly every character. The plots twists on top of plot twists as the protagonist learns more about her world. The unapologetic feminism that runs through the whole story. The way a world somewhere between Pacific Rim and the Handmaid’s Tale shouldn’t be this engrossing, but definitely is.
Anyway, go read Iron Widow, so we can all sulk that the sequel isn’t out yet together!
GRYFFINDOR: “I don’t need to blink. Don’t need to breathe. A whirlwind could come howling in, and I wouldn’t budge. An earthquake could shake the ground, and I wouldn’t teeter. I am the force that quakes the earth.” –Xiran Jay Zhao (Iron Widow)
It is so fuckin chef’s kiss when a character quite obviously Fucks Up and makes a Bad Choice but specifically in a way where you’re like. Man idk what I would’ve done in this situation either.
We interrupt our regularly scheduled aesthetic posting with a special message about the upcoming science-fiction YA novel IRON WIDOW by non-binary cosplayer, history buff, and YouTube sensation Xiran Jay Zhao (links to their website in the next post)
I have a longer, more formal “review” of this book scheduled for the release date (September 21st, 2021) but I really, really want to hype this book up as much as possible as early as possible to encourage people to pre-order it. I haven’t been this excited about a YA book in quite a while. Let me tell you why!
- It was pitched as PACIFIC RIM meets THE HANDMAID’S TALE in a world inspired by Chinese folklore and history, where boy-girl teams pilot giant mecha to fight alien monsters – but the psychic strain usually kills the girls.Butonly the girls….hmmm…something fishy is going on here…
- The main character is a reimagining of Wu Zetian, the only female emperor of China, who decides she’s going to assassinate the boy who murdered her older sister by volunteering to be his next co-pilot. She assassinates him so well that she kills him through their psychic link and becomes a dreaded IRON WIDOW!
- This makes her very interesting to the government, which would really prefer to make her disappear, but can’t afford to waste that kind of psychic power – so they pair her up with a ~dangerous criminal~ to pilot a new mecha, confident that he will be psychically strong enough to overpower her
- This backfires spectacularly, and suddenly Wu Zetian and her co-pilot have tomanipulate both pop culture and the government just to stay alive.
-Plot ensues.
Why should you read this book?
Go back and re-read that plot summary until you understand why BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE!!
-We have a polyamorous F/M/M mutual relationship, I repeat, we PRE-EMPTIVELY SOLVE a LOVE TRIANGLE with POLYAMORY
-Wu Zetian is an amazing anti-hero and I mean that with all my heart. She is constantly doing stuff in this book that made me go, “Wait, can you do that?” She WILL cut a bitch. Also, she uses a cane or wheelchair because she has bound feet, and you can tell that Xiran really went the extra mile to think about how to portray this and how it affects the character. A lot of YA protagonists can start to feel “same-y” after a while to me, but Wu Zetian REALLY stands out.
-The world is really, really cool? There is SO MUCH going on with the aliens and the mecha and the world they’re living in which I cannot spoil except to say that your primary emotion through the third act will be “?!!!?!!?!!?!!!” AND even outside of the meta plot, there is so much thought and detail put into the rest of the setting, it is so beautiful and it feels like you’re really there. Plus every character is a reimagining/reference to a historical or folklore figure and it was really neat to go on a little scavenger hunt of “Oh! I recognize that name!”
-IRON WIDOW will do for YA sci-fi what CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE did for YA fantasy – if it gets support. Xiran has talked about how they couldn’t get an American publisher to even consider publishing this book because publishers didn’t think American audiences would be interested in Chinese folklore or idol culture or a story about giant mecha, which?? Have they MET the internet?? They were also told that schools and libraries will be reluctant to stock IRON WIDOW because of the polyamorous romance. BUT that is why I really hope people show up for this book because it is SO DESERVING OF SUCCESS and it could open so many doors for other writers and for the whole YA landscape
-Xiran Jay Zhao is a really cool non-binary author and their writing is as charismatic and entertaining as their other content. I just think they’re neat!
- And one more thing? The cover looks like this:
Xiran Jay Zhao is absolutely awesome. They’ve done the cultural analyses of Shadow and Bone,Mulan,Kung Fu Panda,AITA on YouTube. (Which is how I found them)
They’ve made me both utterly fascinated by Asian history and utterly terrified of starting to learn more. That is a several thousand year old research hole I’m not sure I’d ever find the will power to climb out of.
to add to this, however - the Handmaid’s Tale portion of the book. I’ve asked Xiran if there are any potential triggering scenes, and the response is;
The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn’t matter that the girls often die from the mental strain.
When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it’s to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister’s death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed.
To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily.
Rating:★★★★½
Iron Widow was my first 5 star read of books new to me this year, and there are so many reasons to love it. The character depth is incredible, and I love the dynamics between all of the different characters, particularly Zetian, Yizhi and Li Shimin. There is so much character development and growth throughout the narrative – the plot is interesting and I love watching how the characters react to everything. It’s incredibly amusing, and I really connected to the writing almost immediately, so much so that I had to force myself to slow down to read. And I will definitely have to buy Iron Widow so I can re-read it.
I absolutely adore Zetian and she’s such a refreshing character, because I am sick of protagonists that are never allowed to ‘stoop’ to the level of the villians. I love that she’s full of vengeance and willing to do whatever it takes, even when that means doing some dark things to people. She’s genuinely such a well-rounded character and it’s so easy to feel a connection with her and her circumstances. Zetian gets things done. I love how she uses people and their reactions and emotions to her advantage. She is a powerful badass.
The polyamorous relationship that develops between Zetian, Yizhi and Li Shimin is beautiful and such a significant aspect of the novel. On first look, Zetian and Li Shimin are much more similar people and have similar approaches. However, it becomes clear that Yizhi belongs with them and not only supports their efforts, but is also willing to get his hands dirty.
So much of Iron Widow focuses on the structural oppression of women in this world, and the ways in which Zetian fights it after the murder of her older sister. She not only sets her sights on completely destroying the murderer, when she finds herself in a powerful position she uses that power to further her cause and fight against this oppression. It’s something she’s tried to fight her whole life, starting with the ways in which her family treated her because she’s female. She refuses to be shamed or silenced, and when someone attempts to hold something over her, she lets it go so she won’t have to let go of her power.
But what’s also important is that she learns that not every woman has the power to fight back, and it’s not on the victims to stand up and fight, particularly when it can make their situation worse. Zetian also importantly learns that all women are different, and will not necessarily stand up for each other. In fact, some women will actively fight against the cause for all women in order to maintain the power they currently have.
In terms of what didn’t quite work for me, I found it difficult getting into the technical side of the world-building, especially as Iron Widow dives right into it without explaining anything. Towards the end of the novel, particularly during the final battle, I did find myself drifting. It didn’t help that the battle also felt a little off pace.
The big plot twist at the end of Iron Widow was obvious to me based on earlier foreshadowing and comments made by certain characters. It’s also the kind of twist I’ve seen before, but I am interested to see how it will affect the characters in the next book.
Warnings: violence & abuse, suicide ideation, sexual assault, alcohol addiction, torture, sexual assault/misogyny, racism, body modifications
