This week we are discussing Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao, Part III-End.
Content Warning!!! This book contains situations and subjects related to: toxic parental relationship, violence, torture, misogyny/sexism, attempted sexual assault, rape (mentioned/off-page).
Spoiler Warning!!! This post is full of spoilers for Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao.
Discussion:
Jac: Hello friends and welcome to our final discussion of Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao. This book blew my mind. I figured we would have some sort of twisty ending. I figured there was something else going on with the hunduns’ emotions, and the Emperors’ pleas to Zetian, but I wasn’t expecting that! But, I’m getting ahead of myself. Before we even reached the horror show of the epilogue, we experienced plenty of emotions.
The triangle being so short lived absolutely broke my heart, as did the fact that Shimin had so little time to experience something closer to the life he deserved. There’s hope that he may be brought back, but I’m not naive enough to believe that he’ll come back the same, or that the process will be easy. I’m really loving that we’re seeing polyamory more often in popular literature. I see it fairly often in the books I read, but I’m specifically reading romance novels. It’s different to come across it in this way, especially in a YA book.
Michaela: I love how sweetly the triangle came together as well. Zetian and Yizhi have a heart to heart about love being infinite. Then we see glimpses of Shimin and Yizhi getting closer partially because of how much they both love Zetian as well as just general attraction to one another. When we finally got to the scene, Shimin looks to Zetian first. That scene gave me the best butterflies, it was so sweet yet serious. Ugh, I loved it!
Then it’s all ripped away from me! Shimin is my favorite character and he was taken in the worst way. Speaking of, what the HELL kind of strategy is killing your most powerful players in the middle of the biggest battle that ends up being even more challenging than previously estimated? Like what the actual fuck are these strategists even good for? I am equally pissed off and heartbroken at Shimin’s death. And his last words are “Mei-Niang…Catch Yizhi.” Cue the freaking tears! And Sima Yi telling the White Tiger that the Vermillion Bird falling wasn’t their concern! I feel so betrayed by that man. He was even crying at the Crowning ceremony. This book ripped my heart out and then that epilogue just stomped on it.
Jac: Knowing what we know about the supposed “gods” (I’m not convinced yet) speaking to them at the very end, I’m wondering how much control the strategists truly have over their decisions. The epilogue really flipped everything we thought we knew about this universe upside-down, so I have no idea what to expect from the next book!
Before we even got to the final stand, the triangle had to survive Gao Qiu, who somehow may be joining An Lushan at the top of the “worst males in Iron Widow” list. The fact that he has his maidservants keep their hair in child-like styles made me want to dry heave. He’s a formidable man, but like all the other men in power, he underestimated both Zetian’s strength and Yizhi’s unfaltering loyalty to her. I really loved the scene where Yizhi finally took him down with that bolt of lightning. It was so satisfying.
One of my favorite tropes is a morally grey protagonist. I find that those kinds of characters feel more relatable - not to me specifically, but in general. People are flawed, and sometimes make decisions that aren’t necessarily the right thing to do. Zetian reminds me in some ways of one of my favorite fictional characters, Celaena Sardothien of Throne of Glass. They’ve both experienced a life of abuse and hardship and have revenge on the mind. Neither of them blink at getting their hands dirty, and are willing to bear the burden of those decisions if it means a better world for other people like them.
Michaela: I think these “gods” are people who appointed themselves as the most important humans at the time of sending humans to this planet, and the current “gods” are their descendants. Or this planet is some kind of scientific experiment, maybe involving humans who can channel their energies in this way. The whole epilogue was almost haunting with the twists that happened. And the last line of the book…now that is a haunting image for sure. What a powerful last sentence.
Gao Qiu is vile. I thought he’d be a little smarmy and pushy but I was not expecting what he ended up being. Especially after getting to know Yizhi, it is crazy that they are related at all. Also learning what happened to Yizhi’s mother, I have no words. Yizhi killing his father was the best thing and so satisfying, still shocked me though. Yizhi’s definitely changed after Shimin. “Fuck the cabin in the mountains, let’s rule the world.” That line gave me chills. I think we will see a very different version of Yizhi in the next book.
I was not expecting Zetian to wake up Emperor-General Qin Zheng or for that to be so easy. It felt really easy anyways. I suppose he was just waiting there for something to happen someday. I’m nervous about how willing he was to help Zetian essentially take over the world. I feel like he is going to be a real problem and untrustworthy. He’s clearly part of the patriarchal view of the world and yet still took the female seat in the dragon. Qin Zheng’s whole character is very confusing to me.
Which can we talk about how the technology is built specifically to hinder the female pilot’s qì? Again we knew something was up but completely rigging it against the betterment of the human race is insanity! There is something really big going on behind all this but I have no idea what it could be.
Jac: I don’t know whether I expect Emperor-General Qin Zheng to be an important piece of the story or not. I guess that right now, he’s probably as close of a match to Zetian as there is, but like she mentions towards the end - he’s a loose thread that’s going to need to be snipped at some point. That being said, though, the warning from these “gods” changes everything. I don’t know what direction the story will take, but I know that right this second, Zetian and Yizhi are screwed.
I am not surprised that the female pilot seat drains more/differently than the male pilot seat. Once again, the “gods” overlooking their world changes everything. The motive could be as simple as misogyny, but something tells me there might be something more.
Michaela: I’m so anxious and excited for the next book in this series. I was not expecting to like this book as much as I did. I genuinely loved reading this book and I thought the story felt so different from the things I have read in the past, while also reminding me of some of my favorite stories and authors. I loved the writing, the world was fascinating, the characters are wonderfully gray, and it combined the dark with some sweet moments.
In case you couldn’t tell, we really enjoyed this book. I am so excited to re-read this one and so excited to devour the next one whenever it comes out! Until next time friends!
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