"Why do you need all this power?" Wo-Yuet asked her.
"So that others don't have power over me," Shek Yeung had answered.

Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea is, at its heart, a story about inequity and how much more difficult it is for a woman to make it to a leadership position than a man. The story is of Shek Yeung, a pirate in the South China Seas, and how she came to be one. She endures kidnapping, rape, slavery, and much death. As she finds herself leading a pirate army, she rationalizes that it is the government's fault that not everyone has enough to eat. She tells herself she is working to take down the centralized power.

This story had all the aspects I usually like in a tale: a strong female lead making it a male-dominated world, aspirations of taking down the centralized power, woven in cultural stories and myths, and a historical timeframe. However, it didn't quite come together for me. I enjoyed the first half and completely lost interest in the second half. The pirating activities blended together too much and didn't register as distinct events that moved the plot along. Overall, I was disappointed.

Thank you to Bloomsbury Publishing for an ARC in exchange for my review.

Book Review: Deep As The Sky, Red As The Sea
By Author: Rita Chang-Eppig
Review Date: January 21, 2023
Reviewer: Trương Thị Hoàng Chi

Thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing, and Netgalley for granting me an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Content Warning (CW): Extreme Violence, rape, prostitution, and other sexual situations.

Shek Yeung was the heroine and pirate who controlled half of the ship and fleet during her first marriage to the Captain and continued her command after his death at sea.

The novel captivated me at first but its extreme violence and stories of piracy, battles and many strategic relationships lost me. The novel could have won me over with less gory details and the many side stories.

I couldn't relate to the main character with her choice to continue the murderous life when she could have retired when her husband died. Her reasons didn't seem realistic to me. She turned to piracy by force but she didn't have to continue when she had an out.

Recommendations and Rating: 3.5/5 stars. I had trouble staying interested past half of the book, and didn't care for all the bloodshed. I like historical fiction but this book is better suited for those who enjoy reading about the lives of pirates and their brutal acts.

https://www.chibeingchi.com/book-reviews

I was initially drawn in by the unique premise of this novel, but it unfortunately didn't meet my expectations.

"Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea" is a different take on a historical fiction/fantasy novel centered on protagonist Shek Young, a female pirate who loses her husband in battle with a Portuguese sailor. To protect herself and her husband's fleet, she immediately approaches her husband's second-in-command (and former lover) Cheung Po, offering him an heir in exchange for her safety and half of the crew. Not only does Shek Young have to worry about maintaining her own position over her crew, her husband's death means she has to deal with the threat of the Chinese emperor as well as European forces, and there's a constant barrage of new enemies and threats that she must face.

While I loved the opening of the novel and having a strong, Asian female lead, this novel became heavier and slower the more I read. The pacing is surprisingly slow given the plot, and new characters and forces are haphazardly thrown in with little background or introduction. Much of the writing is focused on the fighting or action scenes, but as I reader, I wanted a little more character development and backstory. Chang-Eppig also draws parallels between Shek Young and Ma-Zou, a mythological sea goddess, but Ma-Zou's stories are disjointly told and especially with the formatting of the ARC, its hard at times to tell when the mythology ends and Shek Young's perspective returns.

While not one of my favorite reads so far this year, I think some readers will enjoy the unique genre and writing.

Thank you to the author and publisher for the advance reader copy of this book.

I loved every thing about this book. A strong female in a male dominated field? Count me in. This book was beautifully written and incredibly intriguing. I'll definitely be looking for more books by this author in the future.

CW: rape, drug use, murder

Shek Yeung watches her husband get cut down in front of her. Pulling together her courage and spirit, she decides to not mourn him, and marries the second in command of their pirate fleet. This tale is interwoven with lots of folklore about Ma Zou, goddess of the seas, and the choices Shek Yeung must make in order to survive as a pirate leader.

I was so excited to read this ARC! Shek Yeung is a figure in Chinese history that is always downplayed by a patriarchal culture. I really liked that it explored her origin story and her connection with the goddess throughout the whole tale. I did have an issue with the way the story was told. I hate to say it, but I felt bored, and the main plot line always seemed to be just out of reach. I think my favorite scenes were the naval battle scenes, but it mostly focused on how she viewed motherhoof and how people thought less of her because of her gender. It is a good book, and if you want to learn more about this awesome Pirate queen, you should definitely pick this up.

A good book and I'm not usually into pirate book. She wrote it well and actually kept me into the story regardless. That's how you know when it's a good story.

"deep as the sky, red as the sea" is a fantastic novel about a common girl who becomes the leader of a fleet of pirates. shek yeung is a fierce woman who has known as much grief and trauma, if not more, than any man on her fleet. after witnessing the death of her brother, and perhaps her father as well, she is sold into prostitution. she becomes a big sister to many of the young girls on the flower boat and proves her worth as a sailor above all else. after her husband dies in battle, she is left to pick up the pieces and strengthen the allyships within her own fleet and the other pirates.

filled with conniving, bold characters, shek yeung is a woman of great strength. she uses her speech to form allies and survive famine and battle. the prose is lovely, the battles fierce, and the wounds gruesome. reading this strong woman's story was a pleasure, especially watching her overcome obstacle after obstacle. the story is beautifully woven in with legends of ma-zou, goddess of the sea. haunting and brutal, this was a fantastic novel. i look forward to reading more from rita chang-eppig.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this arc copy in exchange for a honest review!

Thank you Net Galley and Bloomsbury for the arc.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I always enjoy an interesting story about pirates and was delighted with the politics and strategy. While this book was a slower pace than what I usually choose to read, I really liked the tale of Shek Yeung. I also loved the exploration of a woman's role and a woman's struggle for survival and power.
I really enjoyed how the chapters alternated with the present events and stories about Ma Zou. The mythology was really interesting. I also really like the author's writing style, there were some beautiful metaphors and imagery that made reading this book a delight.

Every couple pages i would come across a new word for a place, or food and I would look it up, opening a new part of the world I have been kept from. I really loved the feeling of discovery that came with this. I was also sent into a spiral of research on shek Yeong the infamous pirate queen. I was pleased to find out that not only is she a ruthless and badass character; one that many people can connect with, but tha she actually existed. there is nothing better than reading an engaging book that feels like fantasy and captures your imagination, only to find out it is rooted in history. I will definitely be on
the lookout for more references to this pirate queen in other media. overall, 'Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea' has beautiful prose that captures epic sea battles, detailed combat and a fantastic plot woven with myth & historyI'm so glad this was my first read of 2023.

Loved it! I'll withhold my feedback here because I was asked to blurb this book (and will let the author/publisher reveal that in their own timing as they like). But five stars. A delight.

I found this book to be interesting but difficult to follow. The main character is a pirate queen of sorts who tells you her story interspersed with the stories of god she calls Ma Zhou. The main thing I found difficulty was following the main plot line with the little stories all wound up with it. The story was just pirates being pirates mostly. I found it difficult to identify with the main character and saw her story as interesting but not very engaging.

1.75/5 stars! The cover and concept of this book were phenomenal. Historical fiction + pirates? Sign me up. My issue with this book wasn't the idea; it was the follow-through. This book had all the pacing of a college textbook. I wouldn't mind trying this author again, but there was a definite struggle getting through the heaviness of this book.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea by Rita Chang-Eppig is historical fiction about Shek Yeung, the Pirate Queen of China. The novel focuses on a roughly two-year span of her life as she tries to hold onto the power she cultivated alongside her first husband as China’s political landscape rapidly shifts into something completely new. Naval battles, political intrigue among pirates and nations, and complex relationships feature throughout the character study of this complex figure. Both the legendary woman and the historical period she existed in are richly realized with beautiful, examining prose. 

Shek Yeung is a fascinating figure to follow throughout the novel as it examines her identity as a social outcast, her hunger for power, her trauma, and her relationships. Though the numerous issues tackled in the novel could become overwhelming, the author does a spectacular job of grounding it all with Shek Yeung and her relationships. Themes of womanhood; the role of women and mothers; social outcasts due to religion, profession, and sexuality; sexual violence; criminality, violence and power; poverty and trauma are all given their due.

Overall, it is a riveting and intimate study of a complicated figure and the issues of her time that shaped and influenced Shek Yeung.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

My first 5 star read of 2023! This book was phenomenal, somehow timeless and brilliant. Following a Chinese pirate queen, this is a story of adventure, politics, plotting, and the conflict of motherhood. Shek Yeung is newly widowed, her husband Cheng Yat murdered by the Portuguese. She has risen to command their fleet, but with his death, she seeks to consolidate her power and stick with the only part of her life she has known any power: being a pirate, and maintaining their alliances. She marries Cheung Po, her husband’s ward and heir, and steps into a new tier of intrigue.

This was so vivid and immersive. Skillfully told and full of compassionate adventure, even through the violence.

I had a hard time getting into this book, despite the fact that I loved the concept. A strong female main character in a male dominated field, such as pirates, had everything I wanted. However, I felt the book dragged on, with little taking place. The areas in the book where I expected details, such as a battle, I felt were skimmed over and the spots where heavy details where given were areas that I felt didn't need it. I understand the focus was on Shek Yeung and her internal battle with herself, but it lack the depth I really needed on a whole.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bloomsbury publishing and Rita Chang-Eppig for sharing this with me in exchange for review.

This is an adventurous historical fiction about China’s pirate queen that absolutely satisfies. It weaves in stories of Ma-Zou the Chinese sea goddess that makes it extra enchanting.

The characters, especially Shek Yeung, seemed vague. She nearly had a Mary Sue trope going from traumatic experience to traumatic experience. There could have been a bit more to this woman the author could have given us with the freedoms of historical fiction.

On a personal note : I admit I didn’t know this story before I read this book, I don’t even remember At World’s End that well. I fell deep into the historical rabbit hole getting caught up, which was a lot of fun. The ‘You’re Dead to Me’ podcast has a great episode about Zheng Yi Sao. If anyone can recommend a good book about the White Lotus Rebellion that would be awesome

Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea, by Rita Chang-Eppig is a historical fiction novel filled with pirates, naval battles, and hand-to-hand combat. This story follows the life of Shek Yeung and her journey as a pirate queen. It starts with the death of her husband and co-commander. The story continues on to describe how she created alliances with other pirates. It also talks about her being the leader of a fleet that is almost all male and protecting them from the Chinese Emperor and the Europeans. I gave this story 3.5 stars. While there were some aspects of the story I liked, it was hard to stay engaged and keep reading. The plot had great potential to be interesting but the battle scenes did not help since they took up more space in the book. I also found hard to keep track of where we were and who was who since the story kept jumping around. I did enjoy the pirate element of the story a lot and the female representation. Another thing I liked was Ma-Zhou and how she was almost a symbol of hope that helped Shek Yueng to keep going. I would definitely recommend this book to someone who loves pirate story’s, however it was not for me.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Deep As The Sky, Red As The Sea is a piece of historical fiction recounting the story of the famed female Chinese pirate, Shek Yeung. The book begins with the death of her husband, with whom she was co- commander of a pirate alliance. What follows relates how she forged personal alliances and dealt with being a woman commanding a fleet that was 99.9% male, while fending off threats form the Chinese Emperor and European fleets.

Instead of the riveting and rousing book the blurb describes, I found Deep As The Sky, Red As The Sea to be neither. It plods along, and was not at all engaging. I found the characters to be somewhat superficial, and the plot tedious, contributing to my struggling to finish the book. There’s a great story here, but in my opinion, the novel could have been better.

My thanks to the publisher and to Netgalley for providing an ARC of the novel.

This was...fine? Definitely a quieter book than the description suggested. More about politics and the challenges of being a woman in a man's world than swashbuckling or adventure. The writing was sophomoric at best, and the characters often felt flat. Overall, a disappointment.

I saw that at least one person has asked about queer themes in the book. I would not categorize this book as queer. Without getting into specifics, it just wasn't a topic that was explored with any nuance (or conversely normalized to the point where it didn't need to be explored). Just a heads up, because I have seen that tag floating around. Ymmv of course, but I did not find this to have enough queer content to warrant that tag.

Also, a note: this is a particularly poorly formatted galley copy. I'm not letting that influence my review, because I know it doesn't have anything to do with the book itself, but even if you are interested in this, I would suggest waiting until publication.

I love pirates and historical fiction, so I was excited to see Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea by Rita Chang-Eppig pop up as an eARC on NetGalley. Boy did it deliver on the premise: there are elaborate naval battles and lots of hand-to-hand combat. I looked up a bunch of things about Shek Yeung after reading, and it turns out this really happened!

The prose is hauntingly beautiful. Also, the main story is interwoven with myths of the sea goddess Ma-Zou. These tales give a dreamy quality to the book and inject a lot of interesting existential questions.

The main character Shek Yeung is really interesting. And she's not the only interesting woman pirate in the book. There's a ruthless woman captain in another fleet who is kind of a sniper and has a reverse harem.

This is my favorite book I've read this year, maybe even one of my all-time favorites. I can't wait to read the next book from Chang-Eppig.