She Who Became The Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

I would like to thank Pan Macmillan for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review

Publisher – Pan

Published – Out Now

Price – £9.99 paperback £4.99 Kindle eBook

In a famine-stricken village on a dusty plain, a seer shows two children their fates. For a family’s eighth-born son, there’s greatness. For the second daughter, nothing.

In 1345, China lies restless under harsh Mongol rule. And when a bandit raid wipes out their home, the two children must somehow survive. Zhu Chongba despairs and gives in. But the girl resolves to overcome her destiny. So she takes her dead brother’s identity and begins her journey. Can Zhu escape what’s written in the stars, as rebellion sweeps the land? Or can she claim her brother’s greatness – and rise as high as she can dream?

I often think exploration of power is a big part of fantasy. The rise of one; the search for power to defeat another and how power can work are all themes you can explore in tales from Tolkien, Abercrombie to Pratchett. One less explored theme is why do people do it? What makes someone decide out of all the things in the world they could do this is what I’ll choose to do with my life and the inevitable huge consequences this will have on their country, close relationships, and themselves? In Shelley Parker- Chan’s stunning She Who Became The Sun we get an examination of how the need to be great or to have revenge can send people down quite unexpected paths delivering a fascinating historical fantasy.

The tale starts in 1345 China under Mongol rule and suffering regular rebellions, famines and bandits.  Our nameless main character is a young girl living with her father and older brother Zhu Chongba. Zhu Chongba as the male heir is the important future of the family while the daughter knows she cannot eb anything. When bandits though destroy her family, the daughter chooses to survive and also takes on the identity and predicted future that Zhu Chongba would achieve greatness. Finding a place at a monastery disguised as a boy gives our lead now named Zhu Chongba an education and even friendship. Their intelligence and ability to do anything to hide their secret allows them to start a rise to power but in 14th century China reversals of fortune always occur and soon Zhu is a penniless monk working with a rebel force against the Mongols but Zhu’s intelligence and also ability to do things few would dare or dream of makes them rise in prominence and power. The Mongols prepare a counterattack with one of their most determined generals Ouyang who has risen themselves to power despite being a eunuch and despised by many on their own side (but who has a growing sense of their own agenda to follow).

This is a brilliantly told lyrical historical fantasy. Not one filled with magic and strange creatures but here the fantasy is more a sense of inevitable fate; unusual omens and playing with established history. What stood out most is that with Zhu and their opposition Ouyang we get two characters whose personal missions (one of survival and one for revenge) create so much havoc and turmoil that they end up influencing the future of China itself. With Zhu we get someone for whom their gender should have stopped them achieving any power, recognition, or happiness and yet once they’ve adopted their brother’s identity the world opens up and Zhu always takes the chance to be even more and also protect what they have. We soon get a sense that Zhu while bright, funny, and charismatic also will do anything they feel is the greater good. Reading along with their tale you get to understand and even scarily sympathise when Zhu does something quite terrible and yet always stay true to their character not a pure villain but someone trying to survive at a level where everyone has similar schemes and attempts to kill their rivals in the quest for greatness that dominate Zhu’s own life. But as the story develops then we are slowly asking ourselves is this really just what their brother would have done or is this for their own personal ambition?

Ouyang is quickly introduced to Zhu at the beginning of their careers and already we get a sense that these two characters are in some way connected almost as opposing powers. Ouyang, we learn has a tragic past and also like Zhu a desire to survive and do whatever it takes to survive but while Zhu is seeking that elusive greatness we also find that Ouyang through their encounters with Zhu has a re-awakened desire for revenge. Their path to more power ends up having a dramatic impact on the Mongol leadership and Ouyang’s relationships with the family that has ended up their own new family.

As well as these two charismatic main characters whose lives we live Parker-Chan delivers a fascinating tale of empires, battles and internal rivalries (there is a mention of k-dramas in the afterward which definitely play a role in this story’s approach and style). Here we get a swirling flowing tale over many years of how the rebellions and factions evolve. We get intrigue as people fight for power against even their own side; people chosen to lead because of their family not their own skill and many strange omens such as a child who may be a reincarnation of a much older soul and perhaps knows far too much about what is to come next. We can have epic battles of armies or a focused personal sword-fight between two opponents where all the stakes are on the line. Clever plans can be ruined or very successful. The story keeps us guessing as to where things will eventually end and at the end of this novel, we get a complete tale but a sense of greater stories to come.

One other impressive element is how Parker-Chan deals with the concepts of gender and sexuality.  With Zhu a relationship with a famous general’s daughter develops and eventually Zhu’s secret is revealed to their lover, and it is accepted. It allows a character a rare moment of happiness (and one we fear may not always survive Zhu’s desire for even more power). With Ouyang there is a complex relationship between their leader/almost brother Essen that feels on the cusp of something but here Ouyang’s status as a eunuch may end up leading to destruction instead. These personal developments alongside all the major history-making ones help us see these complex characters as human in their own right with their own desires and secrets that can consume them or make them flourish. These scenes are very important to helping us understand all the many things these two will achieve over the coming years and also making us feel for their internal battles to do the right thing.

She Who Became The Sun is an excellent story very absorbing and delivered in an epic style that feels refreshingly different to so much out there. I will definitely be eager to see what happens next to these characters and this is definitely one of the strongest novels of last year that I’ve read. Well worth your time if you’ve not yet picked it up. Strongly recommended!