Iron Widow–Revisioned medieval China makes a great read

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao is a written hybrid of a sci-fi fantasy world with the story of China’s only female emperor in history. It begins out with a young village girl, bitter at losing her sister. In her attempt to take revenge, she performs the seemingly impossible and rather than be killed for her actions, she ends up in a complex political situation alongside her two partners (this book has a polyamorous trio). The book has a vaguely romance-based plot with a lot of discussion about sexism then and now, and about a young woman learning to overcome the roles that men have placed upon her to make her weak. It is a dark book with some rather mature themes, and I wouldn’t recommend it to people looking for a bit of silly action. However, I still loved this book and would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone willing to listen, as the book has good worldbuilding, a well-built storyline, excellent action and moment-to-moment sequences, and good character writing.

The author of Iron Widow, Xiran Jay Zhao, is a Vancouverite author who went to Simon Fraser University, with Iron Widow being their first ever book. Despite this, Iron Widow was a mind-blowing read that will keep you entertained for however long it might take you to read it.