![]() Zhu’s tremendous drive to achieve her goals is the engine that powers this novel, and the completeness of both her sense of her self and the greatness she believes deserves to achieve are both admirable and slightly terrifying. The sweeping alt-history that follows takes this Zhu from a Buddhist monastery to a rebel camp attempting to overthrow the Mongol rule of China, and She Who Becomes the Sun wrestles with everything from issues of gender and expectations, to fate and free will, as well as the pieces of ourselves we’re willing to sacrifice in order to get what we want. Instead, it is his deliberately unnamed sister who assumes not just her brother’s identity, but his fate – and vows to claw her way to a future that Heaven itself has declared she should never have. That’s what the fortune teller says he sees.) But when their father is killed by bandits, it is Zhu Chongba who dies of grief, without claiming the great destiny that was promised him. For the family’s cruel, indolent eighth son, there’s greatness. In a 14th century village stricken by famine, two children are shown their fates by a seer. ![]() ![]() ![]() And in doing so, it turns several centuries’ worth of stories and assumptions on their heads in the best way possible. ![]() Shelley Parker-Chan’s She Who Became the Sunis perhaps the most unexpected fantasy delight of the summer, a rich and deeply layered story that puts a fascinating – if slightly grim – twist on the historical Red Turban rebellion and the founding of the Ming Dynasty. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |