She Who Became the Sun Spiral-Bound | 2022-06-28

Shelley Parker-Chan

★★★☆☆+ from 50,001 + ratings

$19.89 - Free Shipping
She Who Became the Sun reimagines the rise to power of the Ming Dynasty's founding emperor.

"I refuse to be nothing…"

In a famine-stricken village on a dusty yellow plain, two children are given two fates. A boy, greatness. A girl, nothingness…

In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu family's eighth-born son, Zhu Chongba, is given a fate of greatness, everyone is mystified as to how it will come to pass. The fate of nothingness received by the family's clever and capable second daughter, on the other hand, is only as expected.

When a bandit attack orphans the two children, though, it is Zhu Chongba who succumbs to despair and dies. Desperate to escape her own fated death, the girl uses her brother's identity to enter a monastery as a young male novice. There, propelled by her burning desire to survive, Zhu learns she is capable of doing whatever it takes, no matter how callous, to stay hidden from her fate.

After her sanctuary is destroyed for supporting the rebellion against Mongol rule, Zhu uses takes the chance to claim another future altogether: her brother's abandoned greatness.

A lush, fresh literary voice merges with commercial appeal in this accomplished debut. Powerful and poetic, beautiful and brutal, She Who Became the Sun is a bold reimagining of the rise of the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Publisher: Macmillan
Original Binding: Trade Paperback
Pages: 416 pages
ISBN-10: 125062181X
Item Weight: 0.8 lbs
Dimensions: 5.3 x 1.1 x 8.3 inches
Customer Reviews: 3 out of 5 stars 50,001 + ratings
"Magnificent in every way." --Samantha Shannon, author of The Priory of the Orange Tree

"A dazzling new world of fate, war, love and betrayal. Fantasy will never be the same." --Zen Cho, award-winning author of Black Water Sister

"She Who Became the Sun is epic, tragic, and gorgeous. It will wreck you, and you will be grateful." --Alix E. Harrow, Hugo Award-winning author of The Once and Future Witches

"Evocative and heartrending, Parker-Chan's debut is a poetic masterpiece about war, love, and identity."--S.A. Chakraborty, international bestselling author of THE DAEVABAD TRILOGY

"A gripping tale of rise to power, fate, betrayals and the bloody beginnings and endings of dynasties. Heartbreaking, stirring, haunting."--Aliette de Bodard, Nebula-award winning author of Seven of Infinities

"An exhilarating rise to power that takes you from palace to village to battlefield, in a world that is stunningly alive. Parker-Chan's exquisitely wrought prose brings light and nuance to the novel's immense themes of gender, power and fate. An instant classic."--C.S. Pacat, USA Today bestselling author of the CAPTIVE PRINCE TRILOGY

"Stunning, powerful and complex, there are no heroes in this tale, and people knowingly do terrible things. And you'll love them for it."--Anna Stephens, author of the GODBLIND TRILOGY

"Zhu is a hero unlike any other - her propulsive desire to survive at any cost powers a glorious novel that encompasses grand betrayal, love, loss and triumph. Parker-Chan's tender characterisation, assured pacing and dry wit make this an unforgettable debut." --A. K. Larkwood, author of The Unspoken Name

"Shelley Parker-Chan's debut novel is a sweeping epic rendered in elegant prose. Arresting, beautiful, grand in scope and yet intimately poignant, readers will be drawn into this deftly written fantasy."-- Rowenna Miller, author of Torn

Shelley Parker-Chan is an Australian by way of Malaysia and New Zealand. A 2017 Tiptree Fellow, she is the author of the forthcoming historical fantasy novel She Who Became the Sun. Parker-Chan spent nearly a decade working as a diplomat and international development adviser in Southeast Asia, where she became addicted to epic East Asian historical TV dramas. After a failed search to find English-language book versions of these stories, she decided to write her own. Parker-Chan currently lives in Melbourne, Australia, where she is very grateful to never have to travel by leaky boat ever again. She won the Astounding Award for Best New Writer in 2022.