She Who Became the Sun
Book description
British Fantasy Award Winner
Lambda Literary Award Finalist
Two-time Hugo Award Finalist
Locus Award Finalist
"Magnificent in every way."—Samantha Shannon, author of The Priory of the Orange Tree
"A dazzling new world of fate, war, love and betrayal."—Zen Cho, author of Black Water Sister
She Who Became the Sun reimagines…
Why read it?
4 authors picked She Who Became the Sun as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
I loved this book for the language, for the mastery with which the author turned the subjugation of women upside-down, and for how the least among us can become the brick over which a society falls upon its face.
Were Shakespeare alive, he would adore the power that Shelley Parker-Chan takes humanity through the wringer of ambition, need, and love, then kicks their expectations out from under them.
Rich! Poetic! Brutal! Feminist! Queer! This gorgeous historical novel had everything I love – from rich prose to unexpected perspectives.
As a child, the main character watches as her brother receives a prediction: he will be somebody important. Her own destiny? It’s nothing. But when her brother passes, she wonders if she can slip into his, trick the gods into letting her be the important one. What follows is an epic and heart-wrenching journey.
This book is a fantastical retelling of the Hongwu Emperor’s rise to power, with the emperor re-imagined as a non-binary afab person. It’s billed as Mulan meets The Song of Achilles, but I vastly preferred it to both those narratives; the nascent emperor, Zhu Chongba, becomes gloriously ruthless in a way that defies their gender. There’s also a gay eunuch point-of-view character with an incredibly tragic backstory, who almost steals the show.
It’s very character-driven, which helps temper its epic scope. I don’t usually love stories with this much military/political scheming, but I absolutely loved this book. It’s a…
From Lianyu's list on inspired by history with queer Chinese protagonists.
This Asian historical fantasy is no simple Mulan retelling, but a deep dive into fate and desire, and the thin line that separates them from each other. Zhu Chongba disguises herself as a male because she decides to steal her dead brother’s destiny of greatness. Though some elements of needing to disguise her gender come up, the story is centered on a strong-willed character’s determination to become exactly who she deserves and wishes to be – a male warrior who takes fate into her own hands to make the world hers. For her, the male appearance is not a disguise,…
From Reese's list on cross-dressing women in wartime.
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