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Member Reviews
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Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for this Advanced Readers Copy of Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao!
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Really good follow up to the first book. I really loved the dynamic between the main character and the newbie (I miss the og boys rip they’re barely there for this one). It was much denser and political compared to the first entry with less action but the characters really shined in this. Qin Zheng was a fun and interesting edition to the cast. I did miss the two love interests as they were mostly background characters (one barely appears) but the story was focused on the main character so I get it.
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Excellent follow up on the first novel! The pace never stops qnd the ending was incredible. The characters while known to us in the first book reveal more depth in this book.
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Amazing selection of folklore and history based sci-fi, definitely something everyone needs to read.
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I have to say, even though this book was very much not the same as Iron Widow, I don't altogether think that's a bad thing. I enjoyed a lot of it, but... There are a few things here that I'm still unpacking, and I'm not sure how I feel about a lot of this book. There's definitely a lot of heavy undertone here, to the point that it almost doesn't become undertone anymore, and I won't say I disliked it, but it was definitely a difficult book for me to get through. Zetian continues to be a very interesting character for me, and even though I was fully expecting a duology here I won't be disappointed for a third!
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The sequel to Iron Widow, this time focusing more on the politics of the world and social commentary on the classes that parallels current issues . The relationships went a slightly different direction from the first book, but it seems it will change again in the next book. Overall, a solid follow up, if not a bit long-winded at times. Looking forward to the final book bringing everything together.
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While this went a direction I was not expecting it, I still absolutely loved the journey. I found it interesting to see the actual struggle of revolutionizing a society. I do wish the space bit came a little sooner since it is clear that is where we were going from book one, but the wait made it intense and fascinating. I throughly enjoy how relentless and strong the main female character is.
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Thank you to the Publishers and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book!!
Oh.... oh my god. I thought things couldnt get better after Iron Widow but I was so wrong. These books stand for womens wrongs in both the best and worst ways. Zetian holds on to their beliefs and moral code soundly for the entire book, despite the fact that it is not the.... best moral code. I truly love their thought process, and why they do and think some of the things they do.
Qin Zheng, where do I start with you? He is definitely the type of character that does bad things with good intentions. He is violent, headstrong, and mostly an asshole, but he truly brought about good for the land... Though I'm very curious what will happen with Zetian gone now
Yizhi.... oh honey. Thats all. IYKYK
This is also such an important read at the moment. So many times during this book I had to stop and make sure I wasnt reading a current day memoir. The commentary on women being second class, on the working class not getting to benefit from the fruits of their labor, its all so true, and thank you Xiran for making sure to include those specific commentaries
Im REELING from the ending of this book and would really really like book 3 faster than we got book 2 (i know there was so much drama involving that). Im so curious how fast the morals ship will sink coming up, and more of what is going to happen to my babies!
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Heavenly Tyrant is an exercise of be careful what you wish for. It's a sequel that examines what you have to do to maintain power and control. We can have these ideas of what a better future will be like, but how do we achieve that? What innocent casualties and collateral damage do we have to accept? This has to be my favorite theme of Heavenly Tyrant. I enjoyed how Zetian explores the cost of rebellion, of revolution, of change. While this was a theme that I think could have had a few more explicit conversations, it was my favorite element by far! However, some of the decisions made in Heavenly Tyrant puzzled me. While I can't get into it because of spoilers, I was surprised by some of the interactions and character choices. I'm not sure I'd go so far to say that they felt a tad too convenient, but the timing of some of them certainly gave me pause.
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- sleeping for two centuries sounds pretty good right about now tbh
- Okay this is clearly a direct continuation but I feel like these gods have come out of nowhere?
- Like I know they were mentioned in IW but they were passive characters but now they’re talking to Zetian & it just seems very sudden
- I’m curious to see where Qieluo’s arc goes
- So far I am wildly unimpressed by Qin Zheng
- I stand by this statement
- Nothing says fun like having your spine ripped out & nightmares of your zombie friends & family
- I miss Shimin 😭
- Who wouldn’t want to get married after being called mentally childish & physically repulsive by their groom to be
- Oh this is going to be a fun battle of wills
- Maybe I am now slightly more impressed with Qin Zheng
- His ideas seem mostly practical? Stay tuned I guess
- Qieluo is getting more tolerable & I’m glad Zetian has someone in her corner
- I see we’re moving to communism
- I’m sure there will be no problems with this whatsoever
- The politics in this story are fascinating
- Holy shit Qin Zheng did not come to play
- Ngl I would love to be able to freeze people’s extremities & then snap them off
- It sounds like a useful skill 🤷🏻♀️
- Someone needs to tell this man how to talk to women because he is absolutely terrible at it
- Honestly I don’t know how to feel about Qin Zheng? Which is good, I do love a grey character
- « Excuse me I need to go reform the education system » is a great exit line tbh
- I get the defence mechanisms that Zetian has in place & she has them for good reason, but jeez girl one friend would be nice
- Qin Zheng is so casual about everything it kills me
- Oh I just had a minor stroke nbd like sir these are important things to tell your betrothed
- « I’m afraid of the truth dying with me »
- Ughh I hate all of this bring me back Shimin
- Huh
- Wasn’t expecting that
- Gao Qiu deserved a much slower death
- « Venerated gods » oh shut the fuck up Sima Yi you spineless walnut
- Here’s a writing complaint « I go cold below the neck » is overused & it also doesn’t make a lot of sense?
- For someone who wants to live & wreak havoc on the world, Zetian is doing a terrible job convincing Qin Zheng to keep her alive
- I am all for sass, I am, but there is a time & place
- For example, not when someone is trying to restrain themselves from murdering you
- These gods need to mind their goddamn business
- Susurration is an excellent word
- Oooo I like how we got to the hammer & sickle
- Damn talk about art imitating life (friendly reminder that all reading is political)
- Here for the communism
- However there is no way this ends well
- *gestures vaguely at history*
- I stg if this fucker dies I’m leaving
- Okay phew not dead
- He can still do the revolution thing from quarantine, no?
- The thought of Qin Zheng having to be quarantined for the rest of his life is thoroughly entertaining
- He’s SO MAD
- I just want Shimin to come back
- Oh great we’ve added in physics
- Now I’m just confused
- Nothing forms friendships like plotting to take on primordial, celestial beings, I guess?
- I love when authors use the word willy-nilly
- It’s just fun
- Now that I think about it, I don’t think I actually understand what an Iron Widow is?
- Which is 100% a me problem
- Existential crises seem bad enough in real life, never mind in a dream link with someone else
- Like no thank u
- Of course there’s a rebel leader
- Ughh Zhuge Liang is such a schmuck
- Temptress Wu is a pretty baller sobriquet tho
- Oh Zhuge is Trump
- Oops just remembered XJZ is Canadian so probably Poilievre
- I like how Qin Zheng gets weirdly British when he gets upset?
- Zetian does get some credit for at least being self-aware
- “Even if we can’t kill them all, we need to scare them a little” is a mood
- Ruh roh
- Even though this is a proto-Chinese world, I’m really enjoying the parallels to current society
- Investing is just the fancy white people version of gambling
- Damn Qin Zheng is putting the housing crisis on blast & as a Canadian millennial I am here for it
- Hmm okay I was feeling it up until the public violence thing
- I really need to listen to Dan Carlin’s Painfotainment podcast
- I appreciate the use of witness’ instead of witness’s the first version is so much more visually appealing
- Zetian raises a good point about Qin Zheng being all for smashing tradition until it comes to him being able to treat her like property…
- This mother of the realm nonsense is getting real old real fast
- Oooo we’ve been upgraded from Temptress to Harlot
- Can’t imagine this is going to go over real smooth with Qin Zheng considering how he lost his shit when Liu Que called Zetian a harlot
- While I’m not particulary pro-tranqing belligerent politicians, I find I’m not exactly against it either
- Imagine if we could just tranq people who have lost their minds (jk this is v subjective & it would be a v bad time for a lot of people. But a girl can dream)
- I want to be like Zetian when I grow up
- Oh yeahh just casually castrate a guy so he can be a spare pilot nbd
- Oop found the lesbians
- Okay the language got very modern all of a sudden? Which is a weird shift in tone
- Aaaaand now we’re leading a protest march?
- Sima Yi needs to talk a long walk off a short pier
- His other option is for me to shove him out a window that’s very far off the ground
- I like Renjie already
- “Why is he imposing this expectation on me?”
- GEE I DON’T KNOW MAYBE BECAUSE YOU’RE THE FUCKING EMPRESS
- Never a bad time to confront the gender binary
- I think a big problem about this book is that I’m still not sure I know what an Iron Widow actually is?
- Qin Zheng is annoyingly astute for a dude who’s been basically dead for two centuries
- I’m starting to think that this book is a massive metaphor for how those who are left-wing have a tendency to eat themselves from within
- “The world has changed and you must change with it”
- If only people actually understood this…
- These strategists are useless
- Well I don’t think that was quite what Zetian meant but here we are
- The colloquialism thing is very entertaining
- “No one hates laborists more than other laborists” okay so I was right about this being partially an indictment of the left’s self-hatred
- This is giving shades of Animal Farm
- Big Sister knows what’s up
- Gahh I miss Shimin
- Nothing accomplishes things quite like being a fake lesbian
- That’s gotta be one of my favourite kiss reactions of all time
- Ruh roh
- Okay this is just a straight up violation of bodily autonomy & I HATE IT
- Yizhi my guy what the fuck happened to you
- The gods in this story are very nebulous? Like they’re not consistently in the story; it feels more like they’re trotted out every so often so we can blame things on them
- It is oddly comforting that not even 200 year old dudes are immune to dick jokes
- At least some things transcend time
- Qin Zheng’s brain is a wild place — this guy is always scheming
- Honestly this book is a great tutorial in leftist political theory
- & people say you don’t learn anything from fiction
- I also have a feeling this is way less dry than the Communist Manifesto
- Aaaaand we found the angry people
- Oop & now we’re beheading them?
- I’m not upset it’s just a bit of a jump you know
- Phoenix Ladies is a pretty baller group name
- This book is just fucking wild
- Now we’re trading sex for freedom? I think?
- Awhh man I liked Renjie!
- I too yearn to make people feel unsettled
- Damn okay things are happening
- What on earth is going on with Yizhi???? Like my guy what are you doing
- “Monthly, at most”
- This fucking guy
- Big fan of the amount of gayness in this book tbh
- Qin Zheng is an excellent schemer
- Zetian just fuck the guy come on we don’t have time for this
- Oop found the praise kink
- Listen I’m not here to yuck yums but these two do sex very strangely
- And we’re back to the gods
- Okay we’ve made it to the Heavenly Court & everything is upside down
- I am so deeply confused
- Did fish always give off spirit signatures? I feel like that’s new
- So the gods are just human egomaniacs
- Probably should have seen that coming
- *taps heel impatiently while Qin Zheng & Yizhi get into a pissing contest over Zetian*
- IS SHIMIN BACK PLS
- Oh dear I think they Bucky-ed him
- Motherfucker AAAAAAHHHHH
- Okay now I’m just straight up confused
- Why did we stab Qin Zheng?
- Honestly I’m not sure what I just read but I think I mostly had a good time?
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god I love this world. It's rich and unique and there isn't a perfectly imperfect character in this novel. I can't wait for more for book number 3.
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This is a great follow-up to Iron Widow. It follows Zetian as she pivots from primarily being a pilot to being the empress of a revolutionary government after awakening the dragon emperor at the end of Iron Widow. She doesn't forget her mission to rescue Shimin from his imprisonment by the gods, but matters on Huaxia must take top priority along with the training necessary to get to, and possibly defeat, the gods.
There is a lot of current social commentary in this book, much like in Iron Widow. Zetian is fighting against capitalism and for the rights of women. While Iron Widow was overtly non-monogamous, Heavenly tyrant was less so. I missed it, but the ending was left open in a way that there could be a reunion for book three.
I loved the amount of action and complexity in this story and am eagerly awaiting the next installment.
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I am a bit late on my review but thank you to Tundra Book Group for this digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Heavenly Tyrant is a very different book from Iron Widow. Gone is the kill first and ask questions later we know of Wu Zetian in the first installment. Things are different in Huaxia now. A much slower pace than we get in the first book, but it was interesting to see Zetian shift her focus as the Iron Widow to the now Empress of Huaxia, still struggling for control and autonomy. The book does start to pick up pace towards the end of the novel. There is a bit of a cliffhanger that should set up for a well-paced book three. I imagine this is going to be pretty action packed based on the ending. I'm ready for the return of some unhinged characters.
This was a change from my usual read. I don't particularly like books with so much politic planning. I felt like much of this book is just set up for the 3rd book, as I understand this is a trilogy.
Was anyone else surprised at the amount of open door spice was in this book considering it's still being classified as YA? Not that I'm opposed, just a surprise.
I do plan on reading the third installment just to see what happens next.
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Waiting for this book to come out was really hard! I read Iron Widow in 2020, and loved it so much, so I was worried whether or not the second book would be just as good. I must say that it 100% was worth the wait, I loved it! This was such an excellent sequel, very well executed overall! I liked how this book answered questions I had after reading Iron Widow, and the character development was fantastic! There honestly wasn’t anything I didn’t like about this book, and after that ending, I’m really looking forward to the next book. Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the ARC!
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The wait for this novel was almost unbearable and I have to say, it lived up to the hype. I absolutely adored Iron Window and devoured it so quickly. Heavenly Tyrant was everything I hoped. It answered questions from the first book, while expanding and developing the plots. This duology packs a powerful punch!
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An excellent sequel in a fantastic series. It seems slower paced compared to the first one, but the character development and political development is done as masterfully as you'd expect from Xiran Jay Zhao.
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This book follows Zetian's revolutionary governance after awakening the dragon emperor at the end of Iron Widow and her mission to rescue Shimin from his imprisonment by the gods. I hurried to reread Iron Widow before reading this (which is why my review is coming out after the book, sorry :/ ), but I'm not sure that's strictly necessary, since Heavenly Tyrant follows an almost completely different set of characters, setting, and conflict than the first book. That said, you would be very lost coming in without having read the first book at all, as knowledge of the worldbuilding and Zetian's character are definitely necessary. You just don't need to be intimately familiar with every detail of the first book.
It's hard to give a good review of the book without spoilers, since the book is extremely eventful. Essentially, the situation is that, having overthrown the government of Huaxia with the help of the ancient emperor Qin Zheng in the first book, the two of them must now begin to rule the country, despite Zetian not having any political education and Qin Zheng being a brutal warlord. Also Shimin was taken hostage by the beings calling themselves "gods" who live in a spaceship orbiting the planet so Zetian wants to get him back and take down the gods. There is a great deal of revolutionary socialist politics, feminist coalition-building, bloodthirsty scheming, and mech piloting to learn and execute in very little time.
I would be deeply surprised if this book did not end up on some banned books, if not for its communist revolution and propaganda, then for its violence, sexuality (several very steamy scenes, but all the explicit stuff is fade-to-black), or toxic relationships. To me, all these aspects are to the good and handled in a very self-aware manner, but this book won't be for everyone. As with the first book, I loved the characters, world-building, and fast-pace of the book (especially considering its length). The central themes of the book surround the questions of when violence and coercion are justified and what their consequences are, which is a great topic for the YA and New Adult age range to grapple with. I cannot wait for the third (and final?) book of the series!
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I was so excited to get this ARC! I loved Iron Widow, which ended with a twist that kept me hooked, of course, so patiently waiting while the sequel's release kept getting pushed back was hard. I think it was a solid sequel, if a lot heavier politically. I loved the space element, and Zetian is such a cool, strong character. I enjoyed her foray into power, and leading the revolution of the government. The one thing I missed from the first book was the romance. Shimin is absent and Yizhi is untrustworthy. Qin Zheng, the recently reawoken revolution leader, is a complicated character both monstrous and a catalyst for positive change in this story's world. I could never figure out quite how I felt about him. I am now eagerly awaiting the next book in the series, which hopefully will not be pushed back several times.
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This book has been something I've been patiently waiting to read since I got to read Iron Widow in 2020... it may have been a long wait but it was ABSOLUTELY worth it. Xiran breaks so many conventional molds with their storytelling, and it is such an intense and refreshing duology.
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I have stopped reading this book at about the 50% mark, full disclosure. The book continues the story of Wu Zetian, after the cliffhanger of the last book. The book shifts from an action, heavily anime influenced first book to a more character and politically driven second book. This change in and of itself is not a bad thing, but the way it was written turned me off of the book. Zetian spends most of the book being lectured at by various characters about their political beliefs, backgrounds in various parts of economics, and they often belittle her for not being educated. Even though that was typical for poor women in the situation in which she was raised. It got overly repetitive in this aspect, a lot of the female rage that really added the spice to the last book is just gone, and I decided not to continue. I may pick it back up later. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-ARC.