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She Who Became the Sun
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"She Who Became the Sun" First Impressions *No Spoilers*
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I've read about... 3/4 of the book now, and I'm loving it. I'm enjoying the prose quite a lot; I find it both beautiful and impactful. The beginning hit me emotionally, I was immediately rooting for our protagonist, and the story has done a very good job at keeping me invested so far.I'm enjoying the characters a lot in general. Not just the protagonist either, although she's excellent, but also the side characters and villains... well, "villains" doesn't ring any truer than "heroes" in this book, because most everybody seems to be morally grey.
I'm struggling a bit with the names of the characters and cities, though. I'm almost finished, and I STILL can't keep them straight in my head.
I just started this yesterday. About 15% of the way through on audio. So far I'm enjoying this a lot! I'm really rooting for Zhu and there are definitely a couple of the side characters that are interesting. I'm curious to see what role the (view spoiler) are going to play.
I'm about 50 pages in. It's cool how Parker-Chan is building up points of interest like the supernatural element, the armies in the background, etc., in these early stages.The descriptions are great: the monastery, landscapes, etc.
I like Zhu's instinct and ambition, and her cleverness that comes from desperation to not be discovered.
I'm interested in seeing some of these characters, who've been kept at some distance from each other, meet face to face.
On an unrelated topic, I'm bummed that a $27 book started falling apart the moment that I opened it. :|
I'm halfway in. The settings and principal characters seem well-developed, but any aspects of historical fantasy (as opposed to historical fiction) seem ad hoc.
I haven’t started yet but the cover looks great
I actually have this one so will join in! My first impression is the Mulan vibes, but I'm hoping it veers from that and takes me somewhere new.
A very promising beginning! I deeply suffered with the MC in the first chapter and thus was instantly drawn into the plot.Plus - I absolutely love the east Asian ghost tradition. It's the fourth or fifth book I've read now with this background theme and it's great!
ETA: I dearly love the prose.
I thought the beginning was very strong and then as things moved along, it settled down a bit but remained intriguing. (I read about 20% to start with)I agree Gabi, the prose is lovely, with some great imagery.
I really enjoyed the writing, even though I found myself reading more slowly than expected.I also loved the nuanced characters. The 'hero' is a little ruthless, the 'villian' is somewhat tragic and the side characters are fully brought to life.
I'm about 20% in. I like it so far--not just loving it, though. I keep reading it as historical fiction, even though, with the ghosts, I see the fantasy element. And I keep comparing it in my mind to Cecelia Holland's "Until the Sun Falls"--which is set several generations before this novel. That's unfair, I know. I'm trying to get past it, but I just read Holland's novel for the first time last month, and her books always stick with me, even though this one was not one of my favorites. Anyway, the characters in Parker-Chan's book are very interesting, so I'm hopeful I'll come away liking this book a lot.
@Jane: the Cecilia Holland one sounds interesting. Thanks for the recommendation.
Gabi wrote: "@Jane: the Cecilia Holland one sounds interesting. Thanks for the recommendation."Actually, the book of hers that really grabbed me was the only SF book she ever wrote, “Floating Worlds.” Mostly she writes historical fiction. But now that I’ve discovered her, I want to read everything she has ever written. “Until the Sun Falls” was a bit unsatisfying— not sure it actually has a plot. Or, well, the plot is so subtle and buried that reading that book just feels like you’re there in that world, living alongside its characters.
I've started the book and it is quite interesting but so much too little fantasy, more like a historical fiction. Also showing Mongols, who introduced progressive laws from ban on torture/mutilation to greater rights of women as mere barbarians is a bit offensive (but in line with 'traditional' history written later by Chinese)
I've just listened to the end of Part 1 and loving it. It is beautifully written and read. Be very interesting to see where this setup leads. Very thought provoking as well
Close to halfway through now. I find I’m reading it very slowly. Usually I’m a fast reader. I find it interesting but not compelling. Just in the last chapter I read, though, the tension has picked up a little.
Meredith wrote: "I thought the beginning was very strong and then as things moved along, it settled down a bit but remained intriguing. (I read about 20% to start with)I agree Gabi, the prose is lovely, with some..."
Gabi, Esther, and Meredith, I agree with all of you. The writing is beautiful even if it is tragic and I love the main character's perseverance.
Also, I don't know if any of you have ever fasted before - yet alone actually starved at some point - it's not easy at all. Your body is physically breaking down and mentally you aren't there at all. I can't wait to see what she does throughout the book.
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Still reading this at an excruciatingly slow pace, but I’m finding the Esen/Ouyang/Wang relationship increasingly complicated and fascinating. About halfway through now.
Shelley got some the inspirations from dramas, so if anyone is interested in a c-drama that full with awesome political intrigues, strong characters, and well-produced, you could check out Nirvana in Fire https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list... I think it is one of the best ones of all time. The story is fantastic.
Still inching along, 60%, but any writer using the word “behatted” in a novel—or poem— or anything— has me halfway in the palm of her hand.
Creeping along. 75%. The gender politics are pretty fascinating.
Was looking through the ebooks on my library site today and reserved it. Hoping to get it around the 30th of September. Surprised me that it even had it.
I'm about a third of the way through. It's a wonderful book and I love Zhu and am finding all the characters so interesting.
The first section really pulled me in but coming into the second section I’ve started to lose interest. I’m listening to the audio book, which is nice because I can hear how the names should be pronounced …but at the same time I’m finding it hard to remember who is who without seeing the names written down. From all the positive reviews, it seems like it might be worth starting again with the paper book (or starting the second section again and writing down names).
I'm 100 or so pages in and enjoying it but not quite fully immersed yet. I think the politics puts me off a bit because my brain just has not evolved to think about politics but I do really like how crafty Zhu is.
I'm tending to agree with you Lana. I was completely caught up in the first part and couldn't put it down. Now, in the second section, I'm dragging through it a bit and am not even sure who I'm following some of the time. It's becoming confusing. I hope I can get who is on what side in my head soon and get it all to gell.
My hold on the audio book came in last night and I've listened through part 1. It does seem engaging so far. This is my first time listening via audiobook (I put holds on all versions and checked out whatever came available lol) and it's mostly been okay but man I am occasionally missing being able to flip back a few chapters and refresh on something. Can really get into Zhu's thoughts and understand where she's coming from and why she thinks and does as she does.
About 1/4 in. Reading the first pages was very difficult for me. I could not get through them despite several days and attempts. However, I finally made progress this morning. Definitely a “Mulan” feel, but that likely is due to my lack of experience reading Mongolian history. I really don’t have a good sense of where this story is going but pressing on…
List of of historical figures that the main characters were based off: https://shelleyparkerchan.com/histori...Character pronunciation guide: https://shelleyparkerchan.com/press-k...
Silvana wrote: "List of of historical figures that the main characters were based off: https://shelleyparkerchan.com/histori...Character pronunciation guide: https://shelleyparkerchan.com/press-k......"
Very useful--thanks!
Silvana wrote: "List of of historical figures that the main characters were based off: Character pronunciation guide: "
Helpful but seems like a bit of a spoiler knowing the real figures if you don't actually know the history. Then again, I'm struggling to understand who is who and their ranks in the story at this point.
Silvana wrote: "Character pronunciation guide: https://shelleyparkerchan.com/press-k......"Thank you! I always end up wishing that I'd known about pronunciation guides while I was still reading the book. lol I could roughly approximate most of them, except for the tonal component, but I suspected that I wasn't pronouncing Ouyang correctly. And, big surprise, I wasn't.
Those guides are so helpful! Thank you Silvana!!! I pushed myself through part 2 and I’m getting back into it now.
This finally came in from the library yesterday. Might get onto it really soon.
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Read Part One and really enjoyed it. Good writing and I looked forward to getting back to the book when not reading. Brought to mind The Poppy War and The Years of Rice and Salt.Now in Part Two and thought "I may have to start noting characters' names to figure out who's who." Instead I poked around looking at Silvana's historical drama ("C-Drama" means Chinese TV show?), Shelley Parker-Chan's website, and Wikipedia for some period history.
Now back to Chapter 6 and read on. Oh look, my poking around online did not magically implant the new names into my brain. Paper or digital notes?
Bonnie wrote: "Read Part One and really enjoyed it. Good writing and I looked forward to getting back to the book when not reading. Brought to mind The Poppy War and [book:The Years of Rice and Sa..."So glad you loved it, Bonnie!
And yes, c-drama means Chinese TV/web dramas. There are a bunch of those already in Netflix but the one I recommended earlier is in Youtube (with English subs). Another good one: The Longest Day in Chang'an (it's like 24 but set in the Tang Dynasty - visual feast!) - I think it's also in yt.
Silvana wrote: "So glad you loved it, Bonnie!"I did - stayed up all night reading. I haven't come up with anything clever to say in the Spoilers thread yet.
Bonnie wrote: "Silvana wrote: "So glad you loved it, Bonnie!"I did - stayed up all night reading. I haven't come up with anything clever to say in the Spoilers thread yet."
no obligation to say something clever anywhere :D feel free to say whatever wherever ;)
My library hold finally came in so I started this yesterday. I was instantly hooked and I’m about 100 pages in. Its enthralling, I love the prose and I’m rooting for the MC in a big way.
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Books mentioned in this topic
The Poppy War (other topics)The Years of Rice and Salt (other topics)
The Poppy War (other topics)
Content warnings for those who want them: (view spoiler)[ poverty, cannibalism, extreme sexism, toxic gender roles, body horror including eyes, harm to animals, war, torture, fire, ableism, queer antagonism. Y'all, it's a war book, war things happen. You picked it =P (hide spoiler)]