The Disability Book Archive

[ID: A book cover. The author’s name “Xiran Jay Zhao” is at the top in white capitals. The title “Iron Widow” is at the bottom in larger white capitals. The background shows a Chinese woman in the centre wearing a body suit with some kind of decorative pattern over the upper back and neck area. Her hair is black and up in a high bun. She has her back to the reader but is facing them. Around her, from the top of the cover to the bottom, two large red, orange and yellow wings. /end]

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Content Warning:

• Misogyny
• Femicide
• Murder
• Torture
• Death
• Physical and Emotional Abuse
• Blood
• Gore
• Suicidal Ideation
• Alcoholism
• Violence
• Rape
• Sexual Assault
• Ableism

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Summary:

The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn’t matter that the girls often die from the mental strain.

When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it’s to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister’s death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.

To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia​. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way—and stop more girls from being sacrificed.

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Notes:

This is the first book in the Iron Widow series. The second book, Heavenly Tyrant, is expected to be published April 2024.

This is a sci-fec mech retelling of the story of Wu Zetian, the only female emperor in Chinese history, who ruled the Tang Dynasty by de facto for 4o years.

The MC is disabled through the practice of foot binding- a creative choice on Zhao’s part and not historically accurate to the historical figure of Wu Zetian. Zhao has done some videos on the history of Wu Zetian, as well as other Chinese figures of both history and myth. You can find them on their youtube channel.

If you want more information about Zhao and/or their books, here is a link to their website.

There is an audiobook.

There is an ebook edition. There is a kindle edition.

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Archivist Comments:

I think I remember seeing a tiktok about this book before it came out and then I didn’t hear anything about it again until it blew up.

I have read this and I enjoyed it.

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