SHE WHO BECAME THE SUN (The Radiant Emperor #1) by Shelley Parker-Chan
- Publisher: Tor Books, July 20th 2021
- Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy
- Format: eARC
- Page Count: 416 pages
- My Rating: ★★★★ (4/5)
The most amazing feat is that I felt like I was reading in Chinese. I especially adore all the cussing (yes), including “turtle egg,” “white-eyed idiot,” “water leaked into brain,” “fuck eighteen generations of that bastard’s dog ancestors,” and other non-vulgar phrases like “blowing up the cow skin” (boasting), “chicken-skin” (goosebumps), “eat tofu” (sexual harassment), etc. The language aspect of the book was wonderful.
She Who Became the Sun is essentially the genderbent story of Zhu Yuanzhang (朱元璋), the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1662). The main character Zhu (sapphic), stole the identity of her dead brother Zhu Chongba (朱重八, Zhu “Double Eight”) who was promised a great future. She spent her childhood and early teens at a monastery and subsequently joins the Red Turbans, a band of rebels fighting against the ruling Mongols. One of the Mongols’ general is the eunuch Ouyang (achillean). Despite fighting for the Mongols, Ouyang holds a deep hatred again them because they were the reason his family was slaughtered and he castrated. The complicated relationship between Zhu and Ouyang continues to play out through the story.
I have to admit that if not for my familiarity with the language and Chinese history, I might not have enjoyed the book as much. The first part of the book was engrossing, and I flew past the pages. But then it took me several months to pick up the story again after putting it down some 30% into the book. There were two other POVs that I find somewhat redundant—Ma Xiuying and Chang Yuchun (both are real people in history). And the magical realism of Zhu seeing ghosts and her Mandate of Heaven also made the metaphors of haunted by ghosts and burning as bright as the sun too on the nose. I believe She Who Became the Sun would be even more epic without these elements.
That being said, I am in awe of Parker-Chan’s (she/they) storytelling. They brought all these historical characters to life, and it’s like reading Jin Yong’s wuxia novels but with little martial arts scenes. The following is a non-exhaustive list of real people: Chen Youliang (陳友諒), Liu Futong (劉福通), Zhang Shicheng (張士誠), Chaghan-Temur (ᠼᠠᠭᠠᠨᠲᠡᠮᠦᠷ, who had an adopted son called Wang Baobao), Xu Da (徐達), Chang Yuchun (常遇春), Guo Zixing (郭子興), Guo Tianxu (郭天敘), Ma Xiuying (馬秀英, who was Guo Zixing’s adopted daughter in history), and of course, Zhu Chongba (the birthname of Zhu Yuanzhang).
I love that racism is addressed in the story, as in Yuan Dynasty, there was a caste system that separated people into four races (from “high” to “low”): Mongol, Semu (meaning “colored eyes”), Han, and Nanren (meaning “southerners”). All the other details like the name of the cities Bianliang (汴梁, now Kaifeng), Anfeng (安豐), Anyang (安陽), etc., just brought me back to 1300s China perfectly.
As for the plot, I like antiheros Zhu’s boundless ambition and Ouyang’s warring thoughts. I wondered why the characters were mostly addressed in their family names until I realized we never learned Zhu’s name. I don’t remember reading Ouyang’s either. Maybe the author used family names because Zhu is finding who she really is without trying to live her brother’s life and that Ouyang represents his whole family since he is the only person left alive.
Playful Zhu is really endearing. It’s like reading about those urchins in Jin Yong’s books. The scenes with the sapphics are very cute as well. Yet despite Zhu’s usual lightheartedness, her storyline is still dark, much like Ouyang’s. Be prepared for the huge amount of torture and deaths in the story.
The Radiant Emperor duology is an alternative history in which the real Zhu Chongba died and his sister took his place instead with some fantastical elements sprinkled in. I am glad to see this Chinese historical fiction written in English and reaching a different demographic of readers from wuxia novels. I didn’t listen to the audiobook for She Who Became the Sun this time around, but since the narrator is Natalie Naudus, I just might listen to it before the next book comes out.
content warnings: mutilation (past castration, arm), nudity, death from starvation, death of parent, death of sibling, murder (including child), arson, manipulation, plague, dismemberment by five horses (五馬分屍), skinned alive, animal deaths (in battle, illness, poisoned), bound feet, sexism, misogyny, burning books, poisoning, graphic sex, explosion
I received a digital review copy from Tor Books via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.
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