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Tor.com writers really know how to hype up a book. When the title of the article is "Historical Fantasy at Its Most Anime" even I'm intrigued.
I'm sure some people consider this blasphemy, but I've never seen Neon Genesis Evangelion. But I absolutely love Pacific Rim. So I went on Amazon and read the sample, got hooked and bought the ebook. I tore through the whole thing in less than 24 hours and it was so worth it!
Wu Zetian is planning to assassinate the pilot who killed her sister, by following in her footsteps and enlisting as his concubine-pilot. And she does, within the first quarter of the book! Then she decides she has more to live for and rails against the misogyny of her culture in the hopes of improving the futures of women everywhere, but especially of her fellow concubine-pilots. She's paired with the most powerful pilot as punishment for killing the first guy. Which is especially because he's a convicted murderer whose concubine-pilots never survive a battle paired with him. The article does a better job describing things, tbh. I'm always afraid I'm gonna spoil things too much.
It deals with some pretty heavy stuff. ( Spoilers and Triggering Subjects )
I know the premise sounds awful, and it is by nature of the world they live in, but the character development is pretty great, and they're doing what they've gotta do to save the world, as teens in YA do. It's certainly more intense than the YA I used to read.
Bonus points, Iron Widow didn't even bother with the YA love triangle trope and just went straight for the polyamorous triad, which I was not expecting but that makes me so happy :D Apologies, but it's really not much of a spoiler since you can see it coming from a mile away, which I also enjoyed. No bait-y cliffhanger bs here, relationship wise.
Although if you're the kind of person who reads the last few pages first, I'd recommend not. You won't get the closure you're looking for while spoiling the hook for the next book with too little context.
There are few books out there that can compare itself to so many things that make my eyes go very big, but when someone tells me a new YA is like Pacific Rim, Neon Genesis Evangelion, The Hunger Games, and every webtoon novel out there, I immediately figure out how to get my hands on that book. Iron Widow does all this and more, re-writing Chinese historical figures as leading men and women in a drama that reaches far past its historical scope.
I'm sure some people consider this blasphemy, but I've never seen Neon Genesis Evangelion. But I absolutely love Pacific Rim. So I went on Amazon and read the sample, got hooked and bought the ebook. I tore through the whole thing in less than 24 hours and it was so worth it!
Wu Zetian is planning to assassinate the pilot who killed her sister, by following in her footsteps and enlisting as his concubine-pilot. And she does, within the first quarter of the book! Then she decides she has more to live for and rails against the misogyny of her culture in the hopes of improving the futures of women everywhere, but especially of her fellow concubine-pilots. She's paired with the most powerful pilot as punishment for killing the first guy. Which is especially because he's a convicted murderer whose concubine-pilots never survive a battle paired with him. The article does a better job describing things, tbh. I'm always afraid I'm gonna spoil things too much.
It deals with some pretty heavy stuff. ( Spoilers and Triggering Subjects )
I know the premise sounds awful, and it is by nature of the world they live in, but the character development is pretty great, and they're doing what they've gotta do to save the world, as teens in YA do. It's certainly more intense than the YA I used to read.
Bonus points, Iron Widow didn't even bother with the YA love triangle trope and just went straight for the polyamorous triad, which I was not expecting but that makes me so happy :D Apologies, but it's really not much of a spoiler since you can see it coming from a mile away, which I also enjoyed. No bait-y cliffhanger bs here, relationship wise.
Although if you're the kind of person who reads the last few pages first, I'd recommend not. You won't get the closure you're looking for while spoiling the hook for the next book with too little context.
