4.0
Iron Widow (Book 1)
ByPublisher Description
An instant #1 New York Times bestseller!
A USA Today bestseller!
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.
A USA Today bestseller!
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.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communities9213 Reviews
4.0
Nuitari
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“Epic in every way. A glorious read that felt so good and powerful.”
Tay
Created about 9 hours agoShare
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“This one really confused me but maybe sci fi just goes over my head? maybe I should have Googled what I didn't understand? I'm curious to see if it will hit different if I re-read it know that I know what I know and am not confused”Taylor-Jane
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“Eugh, I wanted to love this book so much. The premise was fantastic, the bones of the plot is so freaking good which is the only reason this didn’t get 1 or 2 stars. I just didn’t 100% vibe with the execution.
Zetian is angry, and rightly so. But we are told this. Explicitly. A lot. Exposition really hates to see Wu Zetian coming.
I’m also 100% here for feminine rage, for ripping down the toxic patriarchy and was so looking forward to a deeply feminist story. But every single female character in this book is absolutely deplorable. Zetian is “not like other girls” whilst being absolutely like every other girl given that the only other female characters in the story are submissive, manipulative, defensive of their men and cruel to other girls.
Ironically I found the male characters to be incredibly well fleshed out, with interesting backgrounds and character arcs for all…. So it just… fell so far beyond its mark and missed its target audience by a mile. Absolutely gutted.”Emalyn Lindeman
Created about 10 hours agoShare
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“This book has me at the edge of my seat the whole time! only for me to find out it is a duoligy as I finished. I'm both angry and exhilarated”About Xiran Jay Zhao
XIRAN JAY ZHAO is a first-gen immigrant from small-town China who was raised by the Internet. A recent graduate of Vancouver’s Simon Fraser University, they wrote science fiction and fantasy while they probably should have been studying more about biochemical pathways. You can find them on Twitter for memes, Instagram for cosplays and fancy outfits, and YouTube for long videos about Chinese history and culture. Iron Widow is their first novel.
Other books by Xiran Jay Zhao
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