Review: 'Iron Widow' by Xiran Jay Zhao

 Iron Widow first came to my attention due to the slowly growing anticipation online. While we had some brilliant Fantasy novels featuring fascinating female characters come out this summer, Iron Widow was poised to take us by storm this fall. And take me by storm it did! I fell right into this novel and now feel slightly bereft, having finished it. Thanks to Oneworld Publications and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Pub. Date: 10/7/2021
Publisher: Oneworld Publications; Rock the Boat

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.

Xiran Jay Zhao makes it very clear at the beginning of this book that this is not meant to be seen in any way as a semi-historical or alternate history kind of novel. Iron Widow is its own thing, taking inspiration from Chinese history and mythology, but setting it in a different, fully realised, world. Iron Widow feels radically different from so many other fiction I have read, in that it truly feels like Zhao took what she wanted and created something totally new. Her mind! Usually I would say feminism or women's rights are a theme in a novel, but in the case of Iron Widow they're the novel's raison d'etre. Every page of this novel is full of rage about the crimes committed against women, the ease with which they are put down, the cruelty with which misogyny is institutionalized. Despite all of this, Iron Widow is also a majorly fun read. While I can't quite explain this fine balance, perhaps I can show an example. The title of the first chapter made me laugh, until we got to the end of the chapter and I fully realised what it meant. And then it almost made me cry. 

Zetian has it all planned out. She will volunteer as a concubine-pilot and kill her sister's killer, consequences be damned. Things don't go quite to plan, however, when it turns out Zetian is not just a determined young woman, but also a woman capable of matching, even surpassing, her male co-pilots chi. Instead of taking down one man, Zetian now has to think bigger. But, as a wise man has said in at least three reboots, with great power comes great responsibility. Zetian is one of my favourite female protagonists in ages. She is so angry, so hurt, so sad, and she lets these emotions guide her. She feels the pressure to apologise for them, absolutely, but every time she feels herself instinctively bow to the system she snaps back up, stronger, angrier. She sees her anger, recognizes it and lets it fuel her. She makes horrifying choices with major consequences, but she does so knowingly. She is fully prepared for the world to burn, as long as the fire stops the hurt being perpetrated. Iron Widow is a bit of a rallying cry to kick down barriers, to smirk in the face of assholes, to go as low as they are willing to go, but it is also major fun.

I adore Xiran Jay Zhao's mind! She literally gives us so many things with Iron Widow that I wouldn't even have dreamed of asking for. When I first heard the novel described as a "Pacific Rim meets The Handmaid's Tale" I honestly wasn't quite sure what to expect. How could that possible be combined without either losing the fun of Pacific Rim or the seriousness, nay urgency, of The Handmaid's Tale? Well, Zhao manages it. Zetian is all snark, but she is also an open wound, hurting with every step. The balance Zhao strikes with Zetian, between the hurt and the anger, is stunning. I adore her. Also, Xiran Jay Zhao is the only one to understand how a love triangle is meant to work and to make.it.work! I am so here for polyamory to sweep YA. Let a girl have both! Let the boys have both! Iron Widow moves between quite a few genres, being solidly fantasy while also working within the sci-fi genre. It is Queer YA and it is a social critique. It isn't afraid to be ridiculous and it is also deadly serious in its ambitions. All these things come together into a solid 400 pages I raced through breathlessly in the middle of the night. When is the sequel coming out? I needed it yesterday!

I give this novel...

5 Universes!

I utterly adored Iron Widow. It gave me everything I could have asked for, from battles between massive machines to condemnations of the patriarchal systems. Do yourself a favour and jump on board, you won't regret it!