Iron Widow: Volume 1

Xiran Jay Zhao

Sep 2021 · Iron Widow Book 1 · Penguin Random House Audio · Narrated by Rong Fu

About this audiobook

An instant #1 New York Times bestseller!

Pacific Rim meets The Handmaid's Tale in this blend of Chinese history and mecha science fiction for YA readers.

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.

Ratings and reviews

I haven't been reading books in general for a couple of years. But this story has truly captivated me. I felt great joy finishing this book and am excited for the second one to come out.

Amazing story and world building, the sort of book that leaves an empty space afterwards because you know it's going to be hard to find another just as good.

I don't know how to explain how much this book absolutely rules and that everyone should check it out immediately. Like I want to write a strongly worded letter to the author about how they have irreparably raised the bar for all future books I read and it's kinda not fair to everyone else because DUUUUUUUUDE

About the author

XIRAN JAY ZHAO is a first-gen immigrant from small-town China who was raised by the Internet​. A recent graduate of Vancouver’s Simon Fraser University, they wrote science fiction and fantasy while they probably should have been studying more about biochemical pathways. You can find them on Twitter for memes, Instagram for cosplays and fancy outfits, and YouTube for long videos about Chinese history and culture. Iron Widow is their first novel.