Iron Widow Series: Iron Widow #1 Published by Penguin on September 21, 2021
Genres: Young Adult Fiction / Diversity & Multicultural, YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Girls & Women, Young Adult Fiction / Science Fiction / General
Pages: 400
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Goodreads
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Pacific Rim meets The Handmaid's Tale in this blend of Chinese history and mecha science fiction for YA readers.
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. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.
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. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way—and stop more girls from being sacrificed.
Review:
Epic. Iron Widow is the historical-inspired, futuristic sci-fi mash-up of my wildest dreams. Iron Widow charges headfirst into a world of giant mechas and uncompromising characters. The brutal beauty of Xiran Jay Zhao’s writing kept me glued to the page from start to finish. I was not expecting the story I got at all. I have started not to read blurbs in books and to go into them blind. Sometimes, that works in my favor; other times, it does not. This time, it did, as I was blown away and intrigued by the story I got. There is a sequel coming out, but from what I heard from other book lovers, there is a lot of discourse between author and publisher, and the sequel keeps getting pushed back. I loved the concept of yin and yang pilot seats in a mech, how each one works, and the combination of the qi to make a stronger mech. I was not too thrilled with the love triangle as I am not much of a fan of those, but I can see the necessity of it in this story. The central plot twists toward the novel’s end make for a robust and compelling lead to the sequel if we ever get it.
About Xiran Jay Zhao
Xiran Jay Zhao is a first generation immigrant to Canada from small town China (which, for China, means a town of 4 million people). A recent graduate from Vancouver’s Simon Fraser University, they wrote sci-fi and fantasy books while they probably should’ve been studying more biochemical pathways. They are in a cow suit because they made a promise to their friends 7 years ago that they would take their author photo in it if they actually got published, and they are not going back on that promise. You can find them on Twitter for daily shitposts, Instagram for cosplays and very Extra outfits, and YouTube for videos about Chinese history and culture.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- Netgalley Backlist
