4.5 stars!

Thank you to Xiran Jay Zhao and Tundra Books for this ARC in exchange for my full, unbiased review!

*Chefs kiss* The mess, the political intrigue, the betrayals, the twists, the DRAMA. While it's a lot different from Iron Widow I think people will like how much Heavenly Tyrant maintains and elevates the important themes of the book, as well as keeping all of the humor and wildness. God knows I'm going to be fighting for my life waiting for book 3.

Firstly, I love the nuance of this addition to the series. We love a burn-it-all-down revolution but the times of greatest turmoil in history aren't usually during revolutions, but afterwards when all of the sects are fighting to fill the power vacuum. In that was this kind of reminds me of Mistborn where, great, you defeated the big evil guy but the big evil guy had a lot of friends and maintained a lot of structure and maybe the politics of said evil guy and the guy (gender-neutral in this case) you want to replace him with are a little more complicated than you thought. It's all a horrible mess, and therefore wildly entertaining. I love the characters so much, especially still Wu Zetian just knocking complex characterization out of the park. Yizhi is unsurprisingly a little more complicated as hinted by the first book, although I wish we got more of him. Qin Zheng is a very interesting addition character-wise, and I loved his arc but even moreso I'm curious to see how other people will respond to it. I can't say much about the plot or world-building without spoilers but I can tell you that I ate it all up. It's a little slower and more distinct-feeling at points, but the payoff is really satisfying.

That is, until the next cliffhanger.

Happy reading!

I am frustrated with this sequel. Much of what I loved about the Iron Widow is missing from this book. Wu Zetian has become Empress, but at what cost? Li Shimin is all but dead, Yizhi has left her to play politician and Emperor Qin Zheng has effectively become her captor and only champion in a Huaxia on the verge of political and economic revolution.

It doesn’t satisfy my soul. I loved Wu Zetian, Shimin and Yizhi and their collective teamwork for challenging the status quo in book 1. This book was sold to me as a lot of political action and I don’t have problems understanding the politics or what they are supposed to make me feel- but it’s done with a complete lack of nuance. It argues political theory for like 80% of the book and it honestly just became so grating that by the plot got picked back up at the end of the book I just didn’t care anymore. It just a manifesto and it was exhausting.

Heavenly Tyrant is a great follow-up to Iron Widow. Building on the political and human side of the world where the first built on the heavy sci-fi and fantasy elements. It brings more depth to beloved characters and the twists were perfectly worked out.

Thank you to Penguin Random House for the early copy !!!

This was an absolutely stunning follow-up to Iron Widow. Albeit, the first half was slower paced but filled to the brim with political intrigue as Zetian adjusts to the position of Empress she literally threw herself into. But once the court politics settle and the action ramps up, Xiran takes action from the first novel and dials it even more intensely. The ending had me genuinely so stunned that I scrolled through the final pages on my Kindle open-mouthed, jaw on the floor.

Heavenly Tyrant is undoubtedly a fabulous sequel to Iron Widow that somehow managed to surpass my high expectations. I shall be eagerly awaiting Xiran's next project :)

This sequel exceeded all my expectations, and honestly, I couldn’t put it down! Zetian’s journey picks up with even higher stakes, and I found myself completely absorbed in the complex world of Huaxia. What stood out to me most was how the author brilliantly blends political intrigue with emotional depth, especially when it comes to the struggle for power. Zetian’s fight for control, against both external enemies and her own instincts, felt raw and real.

The feminist perspective in this book was powerful. Empress Wu, despite being the most powerful woman in the land, constantly faces the challenge of not being able to access true power. It was heartbreaking to watch, but incredibly inspiring to see her find her moments of agency and strength. This exploration of women’s roles in a patriarchal system really hit home for me, and I think it’s something many people can relate to.

I also loved how the author delves deeper into Zetian’s relationships with other women, which adds so much richness to the story. The dynamic between her and Qin Zheng was both intense and heartbreaking—seeing them struggle to trust each other while working together was fascinating.

The plot was full of twists, and I couldn’t stop turning pages to see what would happen next. I’m so excited for the next book in the series—this one has truly set a high bar!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

If Iron Widow was setting up the world and the stakes, Heavenly Tyrant is giving you the deeper political machinations in the world and I LOVED it! It felt quite different from the first installment, but well worth the wait! It's a smidge slower in pacing, but it needs to be. You need to feel every moment!

All of Huaxia knew that Wu Zetian was utterly merciless and absolutely dripping with the qi needed to power a giant battle mech, but no one expected her to track down the legendary emperor Qin Zheng, awaken him from cryosleep, and use his dragon mech to literally smash the patriarchy. The duo are a match made in hell, and their special brand of ruthlessness is just what Huaxia needs if it's going to become an egalitarian society. Zetian battles reactionaries, revolutionaries, her husband, and the gods themselves, but overall there is more political scheming and less action than book one.

While I am still going through this title, I am thoroughly enjoying this story. Iron Widow ended on a cliffhanger where we, the readers, met briefly the Yellow Dragon pilot, the former emperor.
I do like how the author is showing the difference between the modern world Zetian has grown up in versus the older world from centuries ago the emperor was use to and what he wanted to happen instead. Intentional or not, I see this as being reflected out in the real world today: fantasy versus reality and the hard choice to make it happen with the costs in mind.
The whole story so far is intriguing, mostly for how the main character’s mind is working, and the present tense helps with this to give a more realistic feel to what is happening. It just a little boring in some spots as Zetian goes off on tangents or gets hyper focused on someone or another idea, so it was a bit difficult to get through.

I understand an ARC will be a bit messy in terms of formatting, so I do expect it to be a be it more structured in terms of formatting without losing any of the content that hooks the reader and keeps them there.

Overall, I am enjoying this story a lot so far and my review will be updated as I reach the end of it and put all my thoughts together.

UPDATE

I finally finished the story, and gotta say…a bit disappointed. Overall, it was a wild ride with a lull in the middle when the focus was shifted to the political fallout and rebuilding. I enjoyed reading this because it mirrors life right now with the current times: power-shifts, tyrants keeping taken down, government officials changing (some finally answering for their misconduct and crimes). This was a delight, because I never really see this is a story, the aftermath of a revolution and uprising, what has happened and what needs to happen. While it was slower paced than the first part of the book, it added to the stakes and Zetian’s guilt and rage, which she thrives on.
However, once the story gets passed her

**spoilers ahead! You have been wanted**


developed fake/perhaps real at times? relationship with Qin Zheng, it gets convoluted to me. I understand that Xiran Jay Zhao was going for more sci-fi (iron widow was a sci-fi fantasy and so is heavenly tyrant) but it came off as stereotypical sci-fi with the colors, the people appearing more alien like compared to Zetian and Yizhi, even how they viewed Huaxia to me.
I admit I skimmed a bit while going through the second half, it just didn’t fully click with me.
The Melian nation holding Shimin over Zetian’s head was an interesting choice to goad her into actually coming up to the Heavenly Court, but to me it felt a bit cheap when he spoke to her after so long. His character did chastise her before about her actions, so was this suppose to slap her awake in a sense to feel remorse for what she did? She did everything out of rage and to help her fellow women and working people, wouldn’t he have seen that? Then again, the murder of so many falsely accused happened, something else that mirrors today.

All in all, Heavenly Tyrant was a wild ride that had a few bumps towards the end.
I am grateful I got to read the ARC, provided by NetGalley and Tundra Books.

3.5 stars
I absolutely loved Iron Widow when it came out - the fantasy, the references to historical China and the first female ruler, the love triangle. It was also so accessible especially for someone who is not super familiar with mecha. So when I was approved for the arc of Heavenly Tyrant I was super excited especially since Iron Widow ended on a cliffhanger.

The story picks up pretty promptly with Zetian forced to deal with the consequences of her actions - namely killing a bunch of people, resurrecting Qin Zheng and, declaring herself Empress. Instead of being killed in battle or killed for having too many opinions Zetian is declared Empress by Qin Zheng who retakes his throne and begins to revolutionize the country. However, he and Zetian must deal with threats from the Heavenly Court as well as enemies from the past.

This novel introduced a lot more worldbuilding and had a lot less action. Zetian is forced to rely on Qin Zheng for continued safety and even power and their relationship develops slowly but nicely through the book. New characters like Wan'er are introduced and side characters from the first book like Quielo are given more page time.

Overall it was still an enjoyable read but I definitely liked the first book better.

I was provided a free copy of this book through NetGalley.

5 stars and my everlasting love to Xiran Jay Zhao for writing a book WITH A CLIFFHANGER LIKE THAT WTF FRIEND.

I was a latecomer to Iron Widow and I'm glad for that. I only had to wait a few months for Heavenly Tyrant. I imagine this wait for the next in the series is what people experienced when IW first came out.

We meet back up with Zetian right after she awakens Qin Zheng from his 200 year slumber. He immediately takes the reins on the empire and implements his laborist policies on the population. We love a socialist king.
Thing is, Zetian wanted to be Empress in her own right, not the wife of an emperor. Playing the game is bad enough on your own, but adding a man? ugh.

Zetian is still her rage-filled, desperate self and I admire her so much. She lets herself be soft in the rarest of moments, even when it sometimes backfires.

My favorite note on my kindle hightlights "CUNTY!"

I'm still a little confused about the last like 20% of the novel. I feel like I might have to have a visual guide for what was going on. Other than that, I simply cannot wait for the next one and I need publishers to pay their authors so Zhao can finish the gotdang series asap as possible. pls and thanks.

This was so much more than I was expecting it to be! While it started out slow, that ending!! Can’t wait to read the next book.

Okay, so this is a *very* different book from Iron Widow. While IW was mostly all action, the majority of this book is how to rebuild a new government after you squished the first one. There's also some character developments that a lot of people aren't gonna like.
Up from 3.5 stars.
Thank you to Tundra Books and NetGalley for the ARC!

Thank you to Netgalley and Tundra Books for an ARC of this book.

Heavenly Tyrant is the sequel to Iron Widow and begins right where Iron Widow left off. I'm very glad I went back and reread Iron Widow before starting Heavenly Tyrant, as I'd forgotten a lot about how Iron Widow ended.

Heavenly Tyrant expands the world of Zetian from just the world of pilots and Chrysalises to explore more of the wider politics of Huaxia. Although there are still Chrysalis battles, it's not the focus of this sequel. Zetian has to work with someone she hates to maintain control of Huaxia and to hopefully save the love interest from the first book, and her own life, as she is not exactly loved by the people of Huaxia.

This book explores what happens to a government after a revolution and during an uprising as the Emperor tries to put a laborer-centric model into place. There's a lot more politics in this book than in the first one and it can feel slow sometimes. There is still plenty of action and the scenes where stuff happens are exciting. There's just a lot of slow politics in between those scenes.

There are a lot of new characters introduced in this book, and I don't feel that they always get their chance to shine. There were a few characters introduced that I would have liked to see more of, but with such a large cast of characters, that isn't possible. The two love interests in the first book get shoved aside (for varying reasons) and the new love interest doesn't fulfill their place. I was so conflicted, like Zetian, about the Emperor as there were so many moments where he was fulfilling the morally grey love interest book trend, but also so many moments where he was an absolutely unforgiveable bastard. This is completely on purpose, as Xiran Jay Zhao recently said on Instagram that there are no bad or good characters in these books, just characters Zetian likes or doesn't like. The Emperor, Zetian and other characters all make morally questionable decisions and have moments where they are supremely unlikeable and unforgiveable, which makes them great examples of characters with real motivations, flaws and depth.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to the next one, although I thought it was a duology and so wanted to throw it when I realized the story wasn't done. If you enjoyed Iron Widow you will like this book but maybe not as much as the first one. If you haven't read Iron Widow, why are you even reading this? Go and read Iron Widow before you spoil yourself.

The beginning was very info dense and a bit tough to get through. We will likely still purchase this book for our library for the continuation of a popular series.

The timing of the release of the sequel to Iron Widow could not be more timely or ironic.

I highly recommend Heavely Tyrant and Iron Widow. The palpable rage against the powers that be definitely makes this a darker read, and the author includes content warnings. It's such a powerful story, definitely a must-read.

This book is expertly crafted, with raw twists I didn't see coming.

Xiran Jay Zhao is a must-buy author for me, and a must-follow on socials. And their works are must-read.

"No, everything I've done was not for nothing. I will not let it be for nothing."

I’ve been waiting for this book pretty much as soon as I finished Iron Widow for the first time. This book did NOT disappoint, Wu Zetian is back, just as bitchy and tired of everyone’s bullshit as always. The amount of times I wanted to rant to my friends who didn’t have it was ridiculous. Xiran’s choice to make capitalism one of the big bad was a brave one, especially in the current political climate. But honestly it just made me feel like fighting back even more, especially now. There was an entire chapter that about got highlighted and full goosebumps happen. Read this, reread this, get your friends to read this!

Another great entry in this fascinating series, though I felt it lacked someone the action and fast pacing from the first book. With the focused shifted largely to a post revolution type government, a setting the main character finds herself very out of place in, the story plays out much more slowly. There's a focus on building towards something, which is common in middle trilogy books, that speaks to a really interesting pay off come book 3.

I'm so astronomically disappointed by this book. I loved Iron Widow, and this was an absolute mess. The intricately thought out world and Pokemon-esque mecha robot's/political intrigue/romance all completely fell apart in this one. I will say the commentary about corrupt governments and tyrants was good, and the Zuko-coded emperor guy was fun, but like...what the hell happened from the first book to this? I feel a lot of this has to do with the lack of pay Xiran recieved to put the time and energy into writing this novel, and i'm both deeply disapointed in the publisher, and Xiran a little bit. Xiran deserved to feel way better about writing this book/this series and to pour their heart into it and create something wonderful. Instead, this reads as a university student who had a paper due and went into chat gpt last minute to string some bs together. That sucks for Xiran, and that also really sucks for the fans that love them and this world. Wu Zetian deserved better then this story.

Another side note, I strongly disliked that in the first few chapters Zetian's disability was cured. Her disability was such a big part of her character, and the commentary as well as the important representation that you can absolutely still be a bad ass and powerful while being physically disabled.

A major L on the publisher as well as Xiran tbh.

I was so excited to read Heavenly Tyrant. Iron Widow is one of the books I recommend to everyone and I will continue to do so with the series. This is exactly what I wanted out of the second book. Xiran Jay Zhao's writing continues to astound. 1000000/10

I received an eARC of Heavenly Tyrant from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a candid review. <mild spoilers ahead>

Heavenly Tyrant is a realistic, if not always riveting, look at what can come after the firing shot in a revolution. Unnecessarily chunky at 588 pages, this book charts Zetian's path when now tied to the revived Emperor, now restored to power who wastes no time to enact laborer-centric policies in dramatic, revolutionary fashion.

What's most interesting is how Zetian goes from a powerful pilot to concealed Empress who spends most of the book learning to read, write, and educate herself on political matters, as well as form her own opinions based on conversations with others. She eventually champions women's' causes within the revolution and government, but it takes time for her to educate and guilt herself there. The book is set across about 9-12 months and it makes sense that much of that time is getting Zetian on her feet (literally and figuratively) in this new world she's brought about.

What's saddest about this book is that Zetian traded one poor reality for another: while "Empress" she is still imprisoned by men with more power than her - the Emperor, his allies, her former allies. She is made smaller in this book than the raging giant in the previous, and while it makes sense for the setting and learning to play political games, it's also just sad to watch. The reader rages alongside Zetian, even as she clumsily tries to play new games, often without success.

There is little battle in this book, but there are a few particular climax peaks that have the same frenetic energy as Iron Widow, and those scenes are fun but short-lived. Zetian has very few personal relationships written with the same depth as Shimin or Yizhi from Iron Widow, and I missed that this go-around. The relationships she has and builds here are more surface level, with less dialogue to build them beyond caricature.

The political dynamics are also interesting even as they're uncomfortable and paradoxical. Can you imagine inviting someone from the 1800s to run a war/revolution in the 2000s? Of course, Zetian struggles with this and makes good counterpoints that are often dismissed due to her lack of education on war tactics and political strategy/principle. But we also get to see her form her own opinion - what is too much, what is enough, why something is bad, good, or does not apply, how to reach and engage rural communities - and that is powerful, albeit slow. It's also worth reading the Author Acknowledgments for important context and real-world present-day applicability.

Overall, I don't think this book needed to be 544 pages, and working through the tediousness and brutality of the revolution is necessary but unsatisfying, making the journey and the ending a letdown because they're...predicable. In contrast, Iron Widow was a downright sprint to the end to drop a huge bomb and see major character choices unfold in the moment.

I'm curious to see how Book 3 unfolds; like many sequels, it has the difficult task of getting the hero from their starting point through to their end point, so Book 3 can either make or break the effectiveness of Heavenly Tyrant. While Book 2 wasn't my favorite, it was still an engrossing, easy-to-read, brutal, exploration of power, community, ideology, and rewriting the script. I still eagerly await Xiran's next book.