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A review by saifighter
Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao
3.5
A Review? “Iron Widow” & “Heavenly Tyrant”: From Feminist Rage To Political Manifesto
“Iron Widow” is probably one of my favorite books of all time. It sits in the space of not good but not bad. Its no literary master piece but it’s also incredibly fun. Its self-indulgent. I first read it in 2023 (2 years after its release) and when I found out that a sequel was on coming out that spring, I was ecstatic. But then it was delayed till April 30, 2024. Then delayed till December 24, 2024. Then the libraries wait list would make to where I wouldn’t be able to start it till January 9, 2025. And now, a month and some change later I have finally read “Heavenly Tyrant” and I’m disappoint to say that I have very mixed feelings. I think to really understand these feelings I have to go back to what I really liked about “Iron Widow” and what my expectations were going to “Heavenly Tyrant.”
“Iron Widow” Retrospective
“Iron Widow” is all wrapped up and deep fried in a Gundam fan’s wet dream of a setting. The book borrows so heavily from anime that I can’t imagine the book being understood by non-anime watchers. The “Darling in the Fraxx” concept is interesting and blatant symbolism. A lot of the characters while maybe not likeable are interesting. To add to this perfect messy pie, the poly-triad with 2 men and 1 woman where the woman is the dom is just the cherry on top. (If I remember right, its mostly fade to black, but this good.) Its well written and easy to read.
At the end of the day, “Iron Widow” is the narrative manifestation of feminine rage in a post Roe V. Wade world. A grotesque glorification of female empowerment and is in no way a picture of polite pop-feminism. “A riot is the language of the unheard” (MLK) and “Iron Widow” is the story of that riot for women. It’s following the legacy of “the Yellow Wallpaper” and “Night Bitch.” She’s singing “Labor” by Paris Paloma. It didn’t matter if the book had confusing world building, unlikeable characters, hard to follow fight scenes, and underdeveloped romance. Everything about this book said to the reader “you have the right to be angry” and I was high off of that validation.
Expectation for “Heavenly Tyrant”
Reading the blurb and following the hub-bub online I knew that “Heavenly Tyrant” was not going to just be all self-indulgent feminine rage. That rage had to be used for something besides violence (no matter how satisfying that violence was). I knew that this second book was going to be slower and very political. I wasn’t expecting a political manifest and socialist utopia but that is what we got. It was very in vain with “The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia” by Ursula K. Le Guin but was more socialist than anarchist. While some readers might find socialist wish fulfillment too unrealistic to enjoy, it didn’t bother me. In fact, while I missed the anime fueled Gundam (they are still here, its just not front and center) the shift to political intrigue was nice and not entirely fumbled. It’s not “The Goblin Emperor” but its good.
What did suffer in this book was the characters. Zetian and Yizhi are on the chopping block for character assassination but yank their heads back at the last second. What I mean to say is, they seem to change a lot during the book to the point where they don’t really seem like the same characters. Zetian had seemed to lose all her fire and rage. Yizhi lost all of his care and understanding. I actually HATED Yizhi in this book! I literally almost DNF-ed over him. (Side Note: Shimin is barely in the book but that’s understandable). But then at the end of the book, the characters say SIKE and go back to their old selves that I know and love in the first book. Which their characterization was disappointing and honestly frustrating, I think it was done for a reason.
Spoilers Ahead for “Heavenly Tyrant”
In order for me to explain why I am giving “Heavenly Tyrant” a pass on all its short comings, I do have to talk about the ending of the book. I will try to keep it vague but there is going to be some spoilers. Zetian and Zheng decide to go to “heaven” and “kill God” because it’s the only way they can truly have their socialist utopia. I didn’t really understand why until we actually got there. Come to find out that while Huaxia represents the socialist utopia, “heaven” is capitalism. The ending seems to start to imply that while we may dream of a socialist utopia, its not possible as long as “the powers that be” (heaven/the gods) are around. It starts to head in the direction of having to compromise under capitalism, when Zetian finally lets her rage come back to her and says “fuck that.” There is no negotiation, the only way to escape capitalism is violence. Once its established that utopia can not be won through negotiation but only through violence, Zetian and Yizhi are back to themselves. Its as if the boot of capitalism was forcing them to become these unlikable characters and that only with true freedom (Zetian’s version of socialism, not Zheng’s) can one truly be free and themselves. So, was this character assassination? Or an elaborate (but frustrating) long haul show and tell of how much capitalism ruins us? Who knows. While the last book was the manifestation of female rage post Roe V. Wade, this book is voter frustration of the present.
Conclusion
While I think I can justify the character assassination, its still VERY frustrating to read. This, along with the anime vibes being turned down from 11 to like a 6, this book is a solid 3.5-4 star for me. I am VERY MUCH looking forward to the next book. I’m interested to see if Zetian keeps her rage in her pursuit of her utopia or if the author will choose something else. Also, I am READY for Shimin to return (I love him). I still very much love this series very much, and “Heavenly Tyrant” is joining the ranks of my problematic faves.
“Iron Widow” is probably one of my favorite books of all time. It sits in the space of not good but not bad. Its no literary master piece but it’s also incredibly fun. Its self-indulgent. I first read it in 2023 (2 years after its release) and when I found out that a sequel was on coming out that spring, I was ecstatic. But then it was delayed till April 30, 2024. Then delayed till December 24, 2024. Then the libraries wait list would make to where I wouldn’t be able to start it till January 9, 2025. And now, a month and some change later I have finally read “Heavenly Tyrant” and I’m disappoint to say that I have very mixed feelings. I think to really understand these feelings I have to go back to what I really liked about “Iron Widow” and what my expectations were going to “Heavenly Tyrant.”
“Iron Widow” Retrospective
“Iron Widow” is all wrapped up and deep fried in a Gundam fan’s wet dream of a setting. The book borrows so heavily from anime that I can’t imagine the book being understood by non-anime watchers. The “Darling in the Fraxx” concept is interesting and blatant symbolism. A lot of the characters while maybe not likeable are interesting. To add to this perfect messy pie, the poly-triad with 2 men and 1 woman where the woman is the dom is just the cherry on top. (If I remember right, its mostly fade to black, but this good.) Its well written and easy to read.
At the end of the day, “Iron Widow” is the narrative manifestation of feminine rage in a post Roe V. Wade world. A grotesque glorification of female empowerment and is in no way a picture of polite pop-feminism. “A riot is the language of the unheard” (MLK) and “Iron Widow” is the story of that riot for women. It’s following the legacy of “the Yellow Wallpaper” and “Night Bitch.” She’s singing “Labor” by Paris Paloma. It didn’t matter if the book had confusing world building, unlikeable characters, hard to follow fight scenes, and underdeveloped romance. Everything about this book said to the reader “you have the right to be angry” and I was high off of that validation.
Expectation for “Heavenly Tyrant”
Reading the blurb and following the hub-bub online I knew that “Heavenly Tyrant” was not going to just be all self-indulgent feminine rage. That rage had to be used for something besides violence (no matter how satisfying that violence was). I knew that this second book was going to be slower and very political. I wasn’t expecting a political manifest and socialist utopia but that is what we got. It was very in vain with “The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia” by Ursula K. Le Guin but was more socialist than anarchist. While some readers might find socialist wish fulfillment too unrealistic to enjoy, it didn’t bother me. In fact, while I missed the anime fueled Gundam (they are still here, its just not front and center) the shift to political intrigue was nice and not entirely fumbled. It’s not “The Goblin Emperor” but its good.
What did suffer in this book was the characters. Zetian and Yizhi are on the chopping block for character assassination but yank their heads back at the last second. What I mean to say is, they seem to change a lot during the book to the point where they don’t really seem like the same characters. Zetian had seemed to lose all her fire and rage. Yizhi lost all of his care and understanding. I actually HATED Yizhi in this book! I literally almost DNF-ed over him. (Side Note: Shimin is barely in the book but that’s understandable). But then at the end of the book, the characters say SIKE and go back to their old selves that I know and love in the first book. Which their characterization was disappointing and honestly frustrating, I think it was done for a reason.
Spoilers Ahead for “Heavenly Tyrant”
In order for me to explain why I am giving “Heavenly Tyrant” a pass on all its short comings, I do have to talk about the ending of the book. I will try to keep it vague but there is going to be some spoilers. Zetian and Zheng decide to go to “heaven” and “kill God” because it’s the only way they can truly have their socialist utopia. I didn’t really understand why until we actually got there. Come to find out that while Huaxia represents the socialist utopia, “heaven” is capitalism. The ending seems to start to imply that while we may dream of a socialist utopia, its not possible as long as “the powers that be” (heaven/the gods) are around. It starts to head in the direction of having to compromise under capitalism, when Zetian finally lets her rage come back to her and says “fuck that.” There is no negotiation, the only way to escape capitalism is violence. Once its established that utopia can not be won through negotiation but only through violence, Zetian and Yizhi are back to themselves. Its as if the boot of capitalism was forcing them to become these unlikable characters and that only with true freedom (Zetian’s version of socialism, not Zheng’s) can one truly be free and themselves. So, was this character assassination? Or an elaborate (but frustrating) long haul show and tell of how much capitalism ruins us? Who knows. While the last book was the manifestation of female rage post Roe V. Wade, this book is voter frustration of the present.
Conclusion
While I think I can justify the character assassination, its still VERY frustrating to read. This, along with the anime vibes being turned down from 11 to like a 6, this book is a solid 3.5-4 star for me. I am VERY MUCH looking forward to the next book. I’m interested to see if Zetian keeps her rage in her pursuit of her utopia or if the author will choose something else. Also, I am READY for Shimin to return (I love him). I still very much love this series very much, and “Heavenly Tyrant” is joining the ranks of my problematic faves.