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She Who Became the Sun
by Shelley Parker-Chan
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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.…
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"This is a good one. She Who Became the Sun is a historical fantasy with light speculative elements. It is set in a country which draws heavily on Chinese history. It’s about Zhu Chongba, a starving orphan who dies at quite an early age. As a young girl, her brother is prophesied to become emperor, but he dies–so Zhu assumes his identity and fights her way into power. It is based on a historical emperor, I understand, but with a speculative twist. The novel does really interesting things with gender, because the person now calling themselves Zhu doesn’t strictly identify as a girl. She occupies this space between genders, which I find fascinating. Zhu has a relationship with a woman, who eventually becomes her wife. I would call that a lesbian relationship, despite the fact that Zhu has this very interesting stuff going on regarding her gender. Even if it didn’t contain all this interesting stuff about gender and queerness, I would still say this is a fantastic adventure story. I would read it three times. It’s told from multiple points of view, and is one of those novels where every time you switch, you think: ‘Yes! It’s this person again.’"