Iron Widow

 Nowadays I'm hesitant to start series that aren't already finished, but this one has come up often enough with enough praise that I decided to just go for it. And I only wish I'd done that sooner. As an anime fan who was wildly disappointed that Darling in the Franxx did not live up to its promise, I went through each chapter of this book with ever-increasing glee. All of my thanks go to the author for writing the kind of story that I'd wanted to see from that show.
I didn't read this book so much as devour it - from the second the main character chooses revenge over love, you're there in the whirlwind of events that follow. I could not put this book down. I needed to know just how far Zetian would go to tear down the society that was trying so hard to grind her into dust - and also hoping that she'd find some inner peace for herself at the end of it. All of this, plus an on-page polyamorous relationship, and I loved every moment of this story, even as the cliffhanger ending reminded me yet again why I usually wait for a series to be over.

Thanks to all of that, for most of this book I was ready to give it five stars just for the emotions that it inspired in me. But the last thirty pages or so highlighted the one major problem I have with it - the author keeps pulling back to tell rather than show. I'm not sure why the author does this - I could accept it in the scenes where the characters were quickly moving from place to place, or when it was clear that it was acting as a written version of a montage. But in the middle of action sequences or as a way to share important plot information? Not as much. And the author can craft compelling scenes - I'd find myself lost in the conversations, imagining the clothes, the armor, the way the mechs were fighting. But then that flow would be interrupted by pulling backwards to tell how someone sounded, rather than show it through their words. At times it felt like the author was afraid to go all in, but I wish that they'd let even more loose. The book is already hundreds of pages - some extra space to properly flesh out scenes wouldn't be that much more to ask, would it? 
Regardless, I'm joining the legion of people waiting for the sequel. And I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that Zetain finds her happy ending, whatever she decides that looks like. 

Finally got around to reading this mecha battle futuristic Sci-Fi piece rooted in Chinese history. The mechas are piloted by a man, with a concubine whose life force is essentially used as a battery. The women, sold by their families to the military, don’t survive long. Wu Zetian volunteers to serve as a concubine to the pilot who killed her sister, intending to murder him in bed before the fight. But when she is drawn into battle early, she turns the tables on him in a more unexpected way.

I’m not usually a fan of the mecha thing, but this takes an interesting line on it. The feminist line of the story is cathartic but doesn’t say anything particularly new - it feels a bit entry-level. Yet the positive poly relationship is very welcome and it is quite enjoyable despite some pacing issues in the second half and an ending that didn't seem very satisfying. It also seems to open and then miss opportunities to approach the topic of race amongst these celebs. However, my critiques are probably coloured by it being overhyped a fair bit so my expectations were unfairly high.

But if you want to scream at the top of your lungs at systemic misogyny and see sexists squashed beneath Wu’s rage, this definitely scratches that itch. 

I like Xiran Jay Zhao. They're a great content creator and their Twitter is something to behold. So it was only a matter of time until I got to Iron Widow. That time was this week when I had a 5 hour bus journey in front of me and needed something to entertain me.

It was certainly a quick read for my standards. But then, I always seem to eat through YA literature as opposed to everything else I read, even if I go out of it with a sense of dissatisfaction. Which is not really something I felt here, even though the book has left me wanting in the worst possible way. The characters are... fine. Wu Zetian is the main character and thus the most fleshed out. The two love interests (it's an actual love triangle!) are somewhat shallow and everyone else is either window dressing or someone that violence is enacted upon in some way. Seriously, if you like violence and revenge fantasies, this will be right up your alley. Zetian leaves a trail of destruction in her wake that is bar anything I've read in recent times.

That comes at the cost of narrative depth though. There's so many elements to this scifi-fantasy version of medieval-modern China that are essential to the story - most importantly the concept of qi, which the pilots of the giant animechs people use to fight - that obviously have a lot of thought behind them but are explained so badly that, even after reading the book, I still have no idea what any of them are supposed to do. There's so many instances of "so I combined my Metal qi with his Wood qi" or whatever and I just kind of glossed over it as technobabble. Which is really disappointing because, again, there seems to be an actual system to this whole thing?

But none of that is explained in a satisfactory way because we need to get to the next fight, battle, torture, or romance scene as quick as possible lest the book lose the interest of its readers. It seems to have worked, as evidenced by the speed I read the book with. But it really didn't give me any opportunity to just let the whole thing sink in. There is no space to breathe between the pages which would've been necessary considering the onslaught of stuff that is happening. It also doesn't provide enough space to explore any of the character's motivations. Zetian is driven by revenge against a patriarchal society, that much is established. But she goes from "I hate my family" to "The. World. Must. Burn." so quick, it gave me whiplash.

I'd still say it's a decent read. And I'll probably read the second installment, as this seems to aim to be a series. But it neither left me hungry for more, really. Nor did it satisfy in a narrative sense.

The trouble with reviewing a book you really like is toning down the firehose of feelings into a readable piece that isn't just a bunch of heart emojis and squeeing. I'll give it a go however for the sake of the Iron Widow because I really enjoyed this book for very specific reasons.

The Rage - This is by far the best thing about the story. Women just don't get to be ANGRY in stories for very long and certainly not to their benefit. The main character of the Iron Widow is furious from the moment we meet her with damned good reason and instead of tripping her up it fuels her rise to greatness. God its so refreshing.
Even better - that reason is not because someone raped her. Yes, world, women can be angry about a number of things just like real people.

The Battle Scenes - Having been bored silly by fight scenes in several books this year, it was so fun to find a some that delighted and excited without bogging down into bloodthirsty detail for the sake of it. This is a book about giant battle suits after all so the temptation to take them out for a spin more often than the plot needed must have been enormous.

The Non-Romance - Don't get me wrong, there is love in this book and sex, but there is no Romance. Love doesn't make the main character suddenly re-evaluate her life goals. Sex doesn't make her weak. Relationships don't spring forth fully formed at first kiss. It is in fact wonderfully free of the love-at-first-sight tropes which get shoe-horned into so many unsuspecting books.

There were some minor things some readers might find an small issue with which I will outline only to show I haven't been driven entirely uncritical by my enjoyment of this deadly romp. The tone of the dialogue can be glib at times, and the ending feels rushed - so much happens but there is no time to really sit down and explore all the rapid fire events which crowd the last few scenes. And the ending leaves you with more questions than it answers, which might be a feature not a bug for some readers.

Final thoughts - I read the book in practically one sitting and I loved every minute. I hope it brings such joy to many others!

I found my self making time to listen to this audiobook by doing things like taking the dog for extra walks. So that in itself is a pretty good review.

The protagonist is an interesting character, who is quite relatable. I'm not sure I would make some of the choices she does, but I haven't lived her life either.

From a genre point of view, it was (for me) closer to fantasy than "hard" science fiction. That might depend on how familar one was with traditional Chinese Chi theory. I'm not even familiar enough to say how close the book is to tradition.

Some of the twists are not quite as surprising as the author might have intended. It is very much set up for a sequel, which I understand the author needs to make some more money to write. So I hope my USD13 helps (or whatever small share the author actually gets).

Zeitan is intent on getting revenge on the Chrysalis pilot that killed her sister. After succeeding, her list of people and groups to get revenge on slowly grows.

Zeitan falls in love?… I’m not sure if love is actually present, but as presented on the page, a love triangle forms between her, her pilot, and her friend. That is, she falls for each of them, they fall for each other, and each of them fall for her. It's hard to tell that anything developed, because I feel there is very little weight to any particular decision or action for the characters. I didn't feel that decisions, when choices were presented, came with serious, character (or world) altering repercussions. The world is superficial. The characters are flimsy and shallow. There is little substance, little depth to be had. The book seems more of a vehicle for the author’s profound thoughts, dropped regularly, on everything from cherishing and inspiring someone, to pregnancy and slavery.

I particularly didn’t enjoy that the entire premise for Zeitan is that she isn’t like other girls. That’s nearly the full extent of her character. Perhaps most frustrating is that Zhao clearly cares about what they are writing and why, they’re anger is tangible and real. But that anger, that drive doesn’t make up for my perceived lack of depth.

I felt that it over promised and under delivered.