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Iron Widow - Blog Posts
Help, I just finished reading Iron Widow and I'm not okay. Like, I'm fully convinced I'm about to go through catastrophic heart failure.
Does anyone have any book recommendations for my Alevel coursework. I was thinking about doing 'crime and punishment' or 'Iron widow' but I have no clue what to compare either of them with.
Ides of January Reading Update
The Cloisters got DNF'ed. I don't like to do that, but I had to. It was so fucking boring. The stuff about tarot was interesting, but it would only be focused on for like two paragraphs and then utterly forgotten so the protag could whine some more about not being cool enough. It was also all tell, no show. At one point, it's said that the MC has been having trouble distinguishing between fantasy and reality and might be having full-blown hallucinations. And....that's it. We never get to see it at all. If it weren't for that line, there'd be no way to know that was happening. And it's like that with everything. Awful book.
Babel is good, but it's taking me forever to get through it. I like it, it's just slow going.
So This Is Ever After is the only romance I've ever enjoyed reading. It's funny, sweet as hell, and Queer af. I don't even know why I decided to read it because I don't really like the romance genre, but I'm so glad I did.
Maus made me cry and that's all I'm ready to say about that.
Iron Widow is one of the best books I've ever read. Wu Zetian is an absolute gold medal badass and I love everything about her. I don't know if I want to be her friend, her girlfriend, or just be her; I'll even accept being her enemy if I have to. I'm just obsessed and want her in my life somehow. It's fucking brilliant and I cannot wait for Heavenly Tyrant.
The Weight of Blood is very good so far. It's a Carrie retelling set in a 2014 Georgia high school about to host its first integrated prom. I'm only about a third of the way through it right now, but I'm really enjoying it so far.
Seeing Shimin in chapter 51 of Heavenly Tyrant
Me reading Qin Zheng's speech during the coronation
"372. 268. 92. 43. 0. 0. The digit stares back at me, cold and merciless. "
I agree, this was the first date... But Loki is right, he he was promised a drink first!
:D
Tony(after nearly dying from space): You ever tried shawarma? I don't know what it is, but I really want to try it.
Avengers(internally): *sighing in relief* Oh thank god! We atleast got a fancy date after fighting off an alien army and seeing this adorable self-sacrificial idiot almost die!!
Loki: I would like to remind all of you that I was promised a drink first.
*Thor shutting Loki up with manacles and a gag*
yizhi is my favorite fucking character i can't
Heavenly Tyrant ARCs (Advance Reader Copies) are now up on Netgalley and Edelweiss! If you don't know what those are then don't worry about it. You'll be able to read it upon the official release, which WILL be on Dec 24 this year! So, a little more than 3 months to go. I'm freaking out because I have no idea if you'll like the book; it's very diffrent from Iron Widow in a lot of ways...but here is what to expect!
Preorder links
As an apology for the literal years of delays, beneath the cut is also the entire prologue of HT. Feel free to read it while blasting Bring Me to Life by Evanescence like you're still watching anime in 3 parts on YouTube.
It’s release day for Heavenly Tyrant, the sequel to Iron Widow, by Xiran Jay Zhao! I'm still proud of this one a few years later, if you haven’t yet it’s definitely worth finding a physical copy to see the full wraparound. I also have prints available in my print shop!
Many thanks again to AD Terri Nimmo for working with me on this one!
a friend was talking about a book we hate and was like "it’s a book that’s very popular with queer people who haven’t yet realized there’s a thriving ecosystem of queer books that had editors" many such cases unfortunately
How putting historical figures in giant mechas in Iron Widow may seem bizarre but is actually a natural extension of Chinese literary tradition 😂
on some more gentle book criticism it's wild that both of wu zetian's love interests in iron widow are highly educated & there are references to the aesthetics and structures of a scholar system, but there is utterly no casual reciting of classics, tactics, nor poetry from anyone. there are references to adapted forms of the classics, but it doesn't inform how characters talk or think (li shimin seems more like a guy who never got education than someone who memorizes poems to the point it destroyed his vision). I understand the whole "peasant frontier girl half literate" thing to an extent (even though it feels an odd choice) but there aren't even like idioms really. it feels very simplistic & uniform in characters' speaking style, and the world, language, and culture all read very flat because of that. tacticians like sima yi, an lushan, and zhuge liang too might have a more creative way to call someone a bitch or what is the point of reimagining them in this world is all I'm saying.
i think there was also a big miss of not even referencing half of the incredibly funny things that a star studded historical fiction cast could provide like zhuge liang never did something funny with a feather fan? no one had to bother him into working? no pranks with corpses? where is his ugly intelligent wife?
why not posture that an lushan's son gave the thumbs up on his murder? historically accurate and hilarious
Been meaning to draw do fanart for Iron Widow for a while now and I finally got the chance to do a quick one. If you haven't yet, please check out the book Iron Widow!
snake and poppies
One more for @xiranjayzhao's Iron Widow, because when I read the descriptions of Yizhi's tattoos I knew I had to draw it. (I think there were other flowers mentioned, but my copy is back home so I couldn't look it up). I am rather happy with this turned out. :)
soooo, on a vacation trip a week ago, I stumbled over @xiranjayzhao's Iron Widow in a book shop in Copenhagen and devoured it last weekend. It was quite the fun read. (And I am not that inclined to mechs 😄 but the rage filled female power fantasy and the setting felt rather refreshing to me) And after finishing the book I had to get at least some art out of my system. As usual it didn't end up what I really intended it to be in my head initially, but also, as usual it has to suffice for now or I'll never post it.