She Who Became the Sun Sneak Peek

by Shelley Parker-Chan

Mulan meets The Song of Achilles in Shelley Parker-Chan's She Who Became the Sun, a bold, queer, and lyrical reimagining of the rise of the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty from an amazing new voice in literary fantasy. Download a FREE sneak peek today!

To possess the Mandate of Heaven, the female monk Zhu will do anything

“I refuse to be nothing…”

In a famine-stricken village on a dusty yellow plain, two children are given two fates. A boy, greatness. A girl, nothingness…

In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu family’s eighth-born son, Zhu Chongba, is given a fate of greatness, everyone is mystified as to how it will come to pass. The fate of nothingness received by the family’s clever and capable second daughter, on the other hand, is only as expected.

When a bandit attack orphans the two children, though, it is Zhu Chongba who succumbs to despair and dies. Desperate to escape her own fated death, the girl uses her brother's identity to enter a monastery as a young male novice. There, propelled by her burning desire to survive, Zhu learns she is capable of doing whatever it takes, no matter how callous, to stay hidden from her fate.

After her sanctuary is destroyed for supporting the rebellion against Mongol rule, Zhu takes the chance to claim another future altogether: her brother's abandoned greatness.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, LGBT, Fiction, Audiobook

Kindle Edition

Published May 11, 2021

About the author

Shelley Parker-Chan (they/them) is an Asian Australian former international development adviser who worked on human rights, gender equality and LGBTQ+ rights in Southeast Asia. Their debut historical fantasy novel She Who Became the Sun was a #1 Sunday Times bestseller and has been translated into 15 languages. Parker-Chan is a previous winner of the Astounding Award for Best Debut, and the British Fantasy Awards for Best Fantasy Novel and Best Newcomer. They have been a finalist for the Lambda, Locus, Aurealis, Ditmar, and British Book Awards. They live in Melbourne, Australia.

Reviews

[The Head Shaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gave to this 4 stars, just because it is only a sneak peak, but in my heart I already know that this is a 5 stars read!
This is what I've been subconsciously looking for, for a while now. And I'm so glad to have finally found it.
Not being very fluent in English, this has been a pretty challenging read for me, but it was really worth it!
I'm really impatient to read the whole book in its entirety!
It is such a great story!

[June V · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome! Can't wait to finish!

[Franchescanado · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first 100 pages are excellent.

I was a bit disappointed that the majority of the story was based around internal power struggles of the 3 major factions at war. I was expecting something like Mulan (cuz that's what every review described it as), and really it's Chinese Game of Thrones. These elements are good, though, so I'm fine with it.

Unfortunately Shelley Parker-Chan has an aversion to writing action sequences. Battles are summarized instead of experiential. Sword fights are brief and lack description. The overall experience feels lacking when the most exciting segments aren't experienced by the reader. She's just more interested in characters politcal backstabbing rather than actual stabbing.

I enjoyed the book, but not enough to read the next entry in the series.

[mel]

YUPPP JUST READ THIS ITS SO GOOD CANT WAJT TO READ THE WHOLE BOOK 🥳🥳🥳

[V Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a wonderful epic of war torn Mongolia in the 14th century. Although it is fiction it is marvelously written with characters that are bigger than life and destinies greater than can be imagined. I could not put this book down. It was wonderfully written and an eminence success for this new Author.

[Joni Gabriels · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fan van dit boek!

Hoewel compleet buiten mijn comfortzone, had het me meteen mee in de eerste hoofdstukken. Het boeide me in die mate dat ik ook, wanneer ik niet meer vanzelf mee was met de verhaallijn (omdat ik niets van Chinese geschiedenis ken), ging opzoeken hoe alles juist in elkaar zat. Om nog maar te zwijgen over de interessante manier waarop dit boek het thema gender aankaart.

[Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

DIdn’t finish. Just couldn’t get into it. Very confusing and multiple povs. Might try and go back to it as this is second in a row I haven’t finished.

[Divine M · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has quite a slow start but when everything is in motion it becomes quite investing. The characters feels real and fleshed out.

[JD · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous writing style that gives the feeling you're seeing behind the curtain of something very important.

[Taylor Connelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really good book, very well written. The characters were complex and interesting I just wasn’t really invested in any of them. I didn’t care about them enough.

[Adam Blake · Rating 1 out of 5]

Basically a bad Mulan, wouldn’t recommend

[lady.booklover · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m very curious to read the rest of the book

[Jifu · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the sample, and I will admit that I am one hundred percent hooked and look forward to getting my hands on a copy in the very near future.

[Rachael Drenckpohl · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. This is a good book. It’s well written. The audiobook was hard to follow but reading it in print was much easier.

[Idun · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’d honestly say this book was pretty… boring..? In my opinion. I didn’t really like the characters and the story so that might have lead to it being boring. I rly liked the concept tho