Friday Friyay: 'Iron Widow' by Xiran Jay Zhao

 Happy Friday everyone! This has been a great reading week for me, mainly because I finally read Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao and OMG. It came out yesterday (click here for my review) so today I wanted to share some quotes from it with you all!

Science fiction and East Asian myth combine in this dazzling retelling of the rise of Wu Zetian, the only female emperor in Chinese history

The boys of Huaxia dream of the celebrity status that comes with piloting Chrysalises – giant transforming robots that battle the aliens beyond the Great Wall. No one cares that their female co-pilots must serve as concubines and sacrifice their lives.

When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, her plan is to assassinate the man responsible for her sister’s death. But on miraculously emerging from the cockpit unscathed after her first battle, she has a new plan. The time has come to overturn the entire patriarchal military system.

Book Beginnings is at home on Rose City Reader, hosted by Gilion Dumas, and Friday 56 at Freda's Voice, hosted by Freda. I'll also be joining the Book Blog Hop, hosted by Billy over at Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer. 

BB:

'Prologue
The Hunduns were coming. A whole herd of them, rumbling across the wilds, stirring up a dark storm of dust through the night.' p.1

'Ch. 1
For eighteen years, my unibrow has saved me from being sold into a painful, terrifying death.
Today is the day I'm releasing it from its gracious service.' p.9

I wanted to share both of these quotes because the Prologue kind of gives you an idea of the threat, while the opening of Chapter 1 introduces you to the beautifully snarky Zetian. She is so angry and so sassy and so broken. I adore her.

F56:

'If I've assumed wrong, I'd be dooming not only myself and my family, for no reason, but this hope of taking back the Zhou province.' p.56

This is from quite early on in the novel, where Zetian is still mid-assassination plan. But already you can start to see the weight that is on her shoulders, the burden she bears, the responsibility she is taking. 

BBH:

This week's question was suggested by Nicci over at Sunny Buzzy Books:

What spooky creature and/or setting do you never get tired of reading about?

Perfect question for the spooky season! I actually struggled a bit with my answer initially, but then I realized that for me it kinda really is setting over creature. I love an abandoned mansion. I also love a dilapidated mansion, which is not abandoned but perhaps should be. I also love mansions who look nice on the outside but are slowly decaying from within, full of secrets and perhaps ghosts. I also love perfectly normal mansions that just need a visit from Poirot to sort out their issues. I can keep revisiting this setting and almost never get bored of it. 

Creature-wise, I guess I'm a pretty big fan of the occasional ghost. Not mad at the idea of werewolves, although I don't think I've read a book featuring werewolves in literally a decade. 

So that's me! What are you reading? And what could you keep reading and reading?