#xiranjayzhao

[high-quality-tiktoks]

🤷‍♂️publishing can’t ask us to write bestsellers for them on no money

[queenofmagpies]

Just watching @xiranjayzhao receiving Hugo Award 2024 for their debut “Iron Widow”, against the odds of Chengdu incident aka self-censorship by Hugo administrators to appease Chinese government.

Congratulations to our Monarch!

[cant-think-of-anything-creative]

hi @xiranjayzhao I just finished Iron Widow (FANTASTIC time) and was looking through some fanart when I noticed that most of them don't depict Wu Zetian's bound feet (hypothesizing this is because of lack of reference or straight up not wanting to)

just wondering if that bothers you at all, and do you have a preference either way??

thanks for writing this amazing book!! eagerly awaiting Heavenly Tyrant :D

[tardisfireworks]

Can't believe Li Shimin, most commonly known as Emperor Wu Zetian's first husband, spent actual hours trouncing preteen gamers in @xiranjayzhao 's Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor

I love this book, it's great to reread too!

[pyxisbr-blog-blog]

A "Viúva de Ferro", da série "Entre sem bater".

O segredo para entender as mulheres está aqui.

A melhor indicação de um presente para elas nesta data hipócrita.

#ViuvadeFerro #Entresembater #XiranJayZhao #Hipocrisia #DiadaMulher

[taliejane]

Review: Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

I absolutely adored this book from the beginning! I don't usually go for fantasy or dystopia but this book is big in queer bookish spaces so I went for it. I wasn't disappointed!

The story takes place in a fictional dystopia, inspired by various historical Chinese epochs, where female concubines are routinely sacrificed in battle in order to fuel the futuristic war weaponry piloted only by men. Wu Zetian, inspired by the historical Chinese Empress, decides to enlist as a concubine with the intention of murdering the pilot who took her sister's life. However, in a world where power comes from mental fortitude rather than physical, she soon proves herself to be a powerful force to be reckoned with.

TW: Sexual assault, misogyny, alcoholism and Chinese foot binding.

Spoilerful review:

Wu Zetian immediately subverts expectations of a dystopian heroine, which had me hooked from the start. Whereas usually the Katniss Everdeens of the world are fighting to protect their family or loved ones, Zetian is motivated purely by revenge. Despite knowing it will condemn her entire family to death, despite knowing there are no hopes of survival for herself, she single-mindedly pursues the pilot who murdered her sister.

The pure rage that fuels her throughout the story was so addictive to read. I've seen criticisms of this book which lamented that her feminism was purely violent. So what? I've been sexually assaulted and my feelings afterwards were also violent. I also would have wanted horrible consequences for everyone who hurt me. Zetian gives catharsis to any reader who has ever just wanted to scream and rage against the seemingly untouchable forces in society that hurt them.

Her melodramatic inner monologue really worked for me too. She is an epic figure on an epic journey. The tone worked. Especially in contrast to the even-tempered rhetoric of the sages and strategists. Which is obviously just placating bullshit when they actively participate in a system which purposefully sacrifices girls.

I enjoyed the way the weaponry works in this story too. Despite having bound feet, Zetian is poweful because she is powerful in spirit. Maybe that allegory is too obvious for some people, but it really worked for me.

Her relationship to the two love interests was also a really nice counterbalance to the main narrative, and added some complexities to her understanding of her own world.

As someone who doesn't love sci-fi, I found the battle scenes easy enough to follow as well. That meant there weren't scenes were I lost interest and so I can comfortably recommend the book to other non-scifi or fantasy fans.

Where this books lost me a bit was the lore behind the 200 year old emporer. Maybe this was a problem with my own reading comprehension. I thought we needed more time with the nomads and the discovery of the 200 year old man??? for her victory to feel deserved. Maybe this was cut for the length of the book to be more typical but idk. Hopefully the sequel will give this more time.

Ultimately this was definitely a 4.5/5 read for me!

[ajtorres0]

QotD: If your mother's spirit was taken to an underworld, but the only way to save her was to allow a spirit to possess you, would you let it? Hola bookstagram, ever since I finished this book with the fam I've been wanting to talk to you guys about it for like EVAH! Haha and that is Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor and oh my goddess, this book was amazing! The humor, the characters, THE STORY! Seriously guys if you like Percy Jackson and anime, pick up this book, you will fall in love with Zack and adopt him like I did hehe. This book is also not afraid to hit you with the hard stuff which will only make you want to hug Zack even more. I seriously cannot WAIT for book 2. In fact, I hate that I have to wait because I want it nooooow! Anyone got the deets yet? Not to mention look at that gorgeous cover by @velinxi, can you just say AMAZING! 😍😍😍😍😍 Because I sure as heck can! Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor is by @xiranjayzhao . . . . #bookstagram #fantasybook #booksofig #readersofig #booknerd #booklover #bookworm #bookdragon #ilovebooks #bibliophile #bookcommunity #zacharyying #zyatde #xiranjayzhao #mgfantasy #mgbook #urbanfantasy #queerbook #middlegradebook #middlegradefantasy https://www.instagram.com/p/CpVaUvjLxaj/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[nadajamal11]

A small tent can't protect from the biting winter cold.

We urgently need your support now!

Donate to help us through this crisis 😭😭😭💔🍉

[isanarte]

50 Shades Of Red

Another commission for @xiranjayzhao about their Iron Widow book! This time a lil fun 50-shades meme about their Iron Widow sequel, Heavenly Tirant, I cannot wait until it's out this december!! I'm so hyped!!!

Patreon | Ko-fi| INPRNT

[high-quality-tiktoks]

The screenwriters are my comrades and I fully understand how they feel🫡

[daisymooonart]

Everybody's favourite Empress Wu Zetian from Heavenly Tyrant by @xiranjayzhao 😁🤩

[else-creates]

So I didn't preorder "Heavenly Tyrant" by @xiranjayzhao because of the delays, I just decided that I'd get it online or in person when it was released.

I genuinely thought it came out at the end of this month, I didn't know it had already been released until I saw it on a shelf today.

My girlfriend managed to swipe it out of my hands before I could pay for it though.....So now it's a Christmas present.

[axolone]

Gao YiZhi in Heavenly Tyrant by @xiranjayzhao!

He was my surprise favorite in this book, I loved so many of his scenes, especially the hair cutting one.

[viinas]

Girls like me are karma I'll rule the earth, I'll be the sky And I'll be all of your worst nightmares

My friends and I made an EP inspired by Iron Widow by @xiranjayzhao called Empress of Nightmares and it's streaming everywhere and to celebrate, I drew this Wu Zetian.

(lyrics are from @soc-ck's Concubines song Girls Like Me Are Karma)

[taliejane]

🏳️‍⚧️ Happy #transrightsreadathon week!! I'm pledging to read Yadriel and Julian, Felix Ever After, The Transgender Issue, and Iron Widow 💗💙 . . 💫 I've chosen to donate to Rainbow Refugees Munich. Seeking asylum for your sexuality or gender identity can be a terrifying ordeal. You have to somehow prove to the German government that you are gay. So maybe you will present witnesses or maintain a social media presence. But then what if you are deported anyway? Now you may be forced back to an environment in which you can be persecuted or even prosecuted for your identity, which you have just officially and perhaps publicly declared abroad. 🏳️‍⚧️🌈 . Donation Info: Stadtsparkasse München IBAN: DE 06 7015 0000 0013 1233 85 BIC: SSKMDEMM . . #transrightsreadathon #transrights #transgender #transliberationnow #trans #rainbowrefugees #rainbowrefugeesmunich #yadrielandjulian #cemeteryboys #felixeverafter #shonfaye #thetransgenderissue #ironwidow #aidenthomas #kacencallender #xiranjayzhao (at Munich, Germany) https://www.instagram.com/p/CqAUBJpAwJz/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[incorrect-ironwidow]

LETS TALK ABOUT THE AO3 TAGS

Note: this post contains a small spoiler, without context or detail, from Heavenly Tyrant.

So, it came to my attention (and I know many of you have already noticed too), that Iron Widow has several incorrect tags on AO3. I will leave some of the main examples in a print below for those who haven't seen it yet, but in short, the tags in the drop-down menu and those suggested as "official" when you are going to post a new fic appear giving titles to the characters or relating their names in the books to the real names of Chinese historical figures.

@xiranjayzhao, more than once (and even in the Heavenly Tyrant acknowledgments), talked about how the characters, despite having similar names, are not made as a historical reinterpretation, their characters do not seek to be a new, realistic or faithful version of their historical names. Rather, they are inspired by that historical essence, being completely original to the books in which they appear. In other words, it is not right to give them historical titles or relate them to real historical names (as happens with the tags for Qin Zheng and Sima Yi) as if they were new faithful versions of those people.

I opened a ticket with AO3 support to explain the situation. Because, despite knowing that the tags are written by the fandom, just the fact that they are in the drop-down menu and are suggested when posting a new work already makes people feel influenced to use them (it shows that they have more views/are commonly searched/used). I am not sure how long it will take or if they can solve the situation (in fact, please, if there is any volunteer who works with AO3 I would be extremely grateful to hear from you about how we can solve the issue and what the site can do), but I know that avoiding the continued use of these tags can help.

And, that is why I am writing this long post, to talk to you; creators in our fandom!

To ensure that your work has the correct tags and so that our creations do not reinforce a misconception about the books, which the author has said many times was not their intention when writing the characters, we need to change (and start to not use) the tags in the drop-down menu and in the suggestions when the characters have titles and names that were never presented in the books. In other words, for the Iron Triangle tag that reads "Gao Yizhi/Emperor Taizong of Tang | Li Shimin/Empress Tianhou of Zhou | Wu Zetian" change it to "Gao Yizhi|Zhang Yizhi / Li Shimin / Wu Zetian", for the tag that reads "Empress Tianhou of Zhou | Wu Zetian/First Emperor of Qin | Qin Shihuang | Ying Zheng" change it to "Wu Zetian / Qin Zheng", and so on. The same goes for individual tags with character names, choose to write only the name of the character that appears in the book or, if you feel it needs more context, add "(Iron Widow)" after the name (like write "Sima Yi (Iron Widow)" if Sima Yi is a character at your work).

With time and use, I believe this may even influence the correct tags to be suggested and appear in the drop-down menu, making it easier to search for works from our fandom on AO3.

Anyway, if you have any questions about the issue or how to correctly tag your work, don't hesitate to ask, I'm here to help. And, if you want to add more to this discussion, please feel free to use the comments or reblogs!

That's it for now, I can't wait to see all the future content you'll create for Iron Widow/Heavenly Tyrant (especially with our little Valentine's event starting tomorrow)… <3