She Who Became the Sun
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4.1 • 29 Ratings
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- $3.99
Publisher Description
WINNER OF THE HUGO AWARD FOR BEST NEW WRITER 2022
THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
An absorbing historical fantasy, She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan reimagines the rise to power of the Ming Dynasty's founding emperor.
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan is a historical fantasy reimagining of the rise to power of Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu was the peasant rebel who expelled the Mongols, unified China under native rule, and became the founding Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
In a famine-stricken village on a dusty plain, a seer shows two children their fates. For a family's eighth-born son, there's greatness. For the second daughter, nothing.
In 1345, China lies restless under harsh Mongol rule. And when a bandit raid wipes out their home, the two children must somehow survive. Zhu Chongba despairs and gives in. But the girl resolves to overcome her destiny. So she takes her dead brother's identity and begins her journey. Can Zhu escape what's written in the stars, as rebellion sweeps the land? Or can she claim her brother's greatness - and rise as high as she can dream?
This is a glorious tale of love, loss, betrayal and triumph by a powerful new voice.
LONGLISTED FOR THE INDIE BOOK AWARDS DEBUT FICTION 2022
PRAISE FOR SHE WHO BECAME THE SUN
'As brilliant as Circe . . . a deft and dazzling triumph' - Tasha Suri, author of The Jasmine Throne
'Epic, tragic and gorgeous' - Alix E. Harrow, author of The Ten Thousand Doors of January
'This audacious, brilliant debut is a vivid, original reimagining . . . immersive storytelling at its finest' - Daily Mail
'Magnificent in every way. War, desire, vengeance, politics - Shelley Parker-Chan has perfectly measured each ingredient' - Samantha Shannon, author of The Priory of the Orange Tree
'A thoroughly engrossing read with a fabulous, tragic-trickster protagonist' - Megan Campisi, author of Sin Eater
'A dazzling new world of fate, war, love and betrayal' - Zen Cho, author of Black Water Sister
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Parker-Chan's fascinating debut, the first in the Radiant Emperor duology, gives the historical Red Turban Rebellion a grimdark fantasy twist. After bandits kill Zhu Chongba's father in 14th-century China, Zhu dies of grief without ever having fulfilled the destined greatness that was foreseen at his birth. Instead, his purposefully never-named sister takes on her brother's identity—and his fate. The new Zhu's tenacious will to survive and desire for glory leads her to become first a Buddhist monk, then a commander in the rebel army attempting to overthrow Mongol rule of China—and results in continual clashes with an antagonist to whom her fate is inexorably intertwined: the eunuch General Ouyang. For his part, Ouyang is not about to let a no-name monk distract him from a revenge plot a lifetime in the making, leading to a Machiavellian series of bargains and battles between the two. Though Parker-Chan's unrelentingly grim view of humanity bogs down the middle of the novel, her nuanced exploration of gender identity and striking meditation on bodily autonomy set this fantasy apart. Fans of Asian-influenced fantasy have just been given their newest obsession.
