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An ever so slightly surreal sci-fi novel like a weird future fever dream in which genetically engineered lifeforms called zeks are forced into various parts of international espionage with commentary on misogyny, sex, found family, love, and a protagonist who frequently makes metaphors about go and quotes Rumi. Very strange but also very compelling.

A fantastic follow up to the original Iron Widow. Whereas IW is a rip roaring tale of beautiful and glorious revenge and venting of righteous anger the sequel Heavenly Tyrant does a lot more heavy world building and complex character and relationship exploration. It pays off, but the vibe is subtly different, there are still some glorious moments of very justified and cathartic ranting from the protag Wu Zetian but also a lot more wrestling with consequence and social fallout. It does however answer a lot of questions about why the world is like it is, and then looks at the consequences for this as well as examining interpersonal and social power issues. Only issue is some parts felt a little long but also none of it felt superfluous, hard to explain. Look its just really good ok :)