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She Became The Sun, by Shelley Parker-Chan

A young, peasant girl, starving to death in small village, is confronted with the stark ignominy of her fate: She is nothing and she will die nothing. The girl refuses. In a devastating act of will, she pitches herself into a new destiny, one that will upturn the boundaries of possibility and bring her into battle with heaven itself.

Set in 1300’s China, this epic story—much like its captivating heroine—does not concern itself with boundaries. The narrative is a re-imagining of the rise to power of the peasant rebel, Zhu Yuanzhang, who after claiming victory against the Mongols, reunited China and became the first Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. The historical setting is rendered with loving attention to detail and the considered treatment of gender, catapults the story into the 21st century. In addition, the adroitly managed flavourings of Chinese myth and legend expound the fantastical elements of the story, helping to heighten the vertiginous scale of the narrative, extending it across the plains of China and out into the heavens and the spiritual realm of hungry ghosts.

For a moment she saw the two of them as Heaven might: two briefly embodied human spirits, brushing together for a moment during the long dark journey of their life and death… She Became The Sun

The book is absolutely dripping in honours and deserves them all. It won both the Best Novel and Best Newcomer awards at the British Fantasy Awards, and was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Fiction, the Locus award, the Aurealis Award and the Hugo Award for Best Novel.

This is a massive, masterful book that you should definitely read. I absolutely loved it. Everything from the glimpse into ancient China, to the morally ambiguous but explosively alluring heroine, to the battles and the politics, the love stories and tragedies. It truly deserves the mantle of an epic, and spares the time to line up some emotional gut punches that will take your breath away. 

Already read it? Let me know what you thought in the comments, and as always, don’t forget to sign up for future blog updates. 

Buy on kindle £4.99 

Paperback from Abe Books £3.64

Follow the author on twitter @shelleypchan

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The End of Men by Christina Sweeney-Baird 

There have been many pandemic books written since COVID, and this is one of them. Drawing on the themes of terror, political incompetence and social collapse, End of Men does something a little different with this device, using it to poke around in some ’what-ifs’ of current gender politics.

The concept is simple, a new deadly disease appears out of nowhere and rampages through the population, but it only affects men. Women can carry the disease, but only men die, and die they do in droves. The story is told from the perspectives of different women; politicians, medical professionals, researchers, journalists, daughters, mothers and wives, and it isn’t afraid to get it hands dirty with some pretty sharp-toothed social commentary.

“I have never felt so powerful. This must be what men used to feel like. My mere physical presence is enough to terrify someone into running.”

With the recent experiences of COVID still fresh in our minds, the stories cut close to the bone, giving heart-breaking accounts of loss and the terrifying inertia of being trapped indoors not knowing when, or if, it will ever be over. There are some compelling characters including ‘good’ men and ‘bad’ women to give balance, and for the most part, things tick along as you might expect them to. The book’s pace is solid and the world is extremely convincing, but there’s not much to surprise or many new insights to be gleaned, either about the role of women in society, or our handling of major health catastrophes.

All in all, a decent read, but nothing to get overly excited about. If you’re curious about the premise, it’s worth a look, and if you’re nostalgic for the gut-gripping terror that you might lose all your loved ones while trapped alone in quarantine, you’re in for a treat.

If you’ve read it, let me know what you thought in the comments, and as always, don’t forget to sign up for future blog updates. 

Buy on kindle £5.49 

Paperback from World of books £4.79

Follow the author on twitter @ChristinaRoseSB