Episode 039: Iron Widow
The boys of Huaxia dream of the celebrity status that comes with piloting Chrysalises – giant transforming robots that battle the aliens beyond the Great Wall. Their female co-pilots are expected to serve as concubines and sacrifice their lives.
When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, her plan is to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister’s death. But on miraculously emerging from the cockpit unscathed after her first battle, she is declared an Iron Widow - the most feared pilot of all.
Now that Zetian has had a taste of power, sets her sights on bigger things. The time has come to stop more girls from being sacrificed.
This week we are reviewing “Iron Widow'' by Ziran Jay Zhao which places us in a futuristic reinterpretation of Medieval China with a mech reimagining of China’s only female Emperor’s rise to power. As the sequel novel is due to be released this month, it made sense to re-read this novel in anticipation.
You can either listen to the podcast above, or you can read below for a majority of the transcript of the podcast! Now as always, our discussion will begin with a brief summary of the book followed by spoiler free thoughts and feelings. This will be followed by an in-depth discussion of some of the key plot points that occurred and we will then finish off with my overall rating of the book and a heads up about what we are looking at next time. If you have not had a chance to read Iron Widow and don’t want to hear any spoilers, then please feel free to skip the detailed section and listen to it afterwards if you so wish.
This book came out in September of 2021 and is actually Zhao’s debut novel. It reached number 1 in the Young Adult Hardcover category of the New York Times Best Sellers the first week after its release, and remained on the list for 34 weeks. In fact, it has been so well received that the film rights were optioned in September 2022, although we are still waiting on this being completed.
Final Feelings and Recommendation
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SPOILERS AHEAD
Now, just a reminder that at this point, I will be going into a more detailed analysis of the book which means there will be spoilers! If you haven’t managed to read Iron Widow yet and you don’t want anything spoiled, then this is your last chance to avoid the discussion. Or you can go ahead and close the page, go read the book and then come back afterwards to finish reading. I promise I won’t mind. Still here? Well then, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
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