She Who Became the Sun

I set myself a (low pressure) goal of reading 40 books this year. At first I thought it would be easy, then I started playing more computer games and suddenly had less time for reading books and it looked more challenging, and then I went on semi-vacation and read 13 books in July so now it looks easy again. Most books I haven't really felt like posting about, and/or was too lazy.

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan is the latest book I read and I enjoyed it a lot. I borrowed it as soon as the library got it after reading an interview where the author said she wanted to write a story about an evil monk, and that sounded intriguing. It's set in 14th century China, with many historical liberties taken, and has very few but important fantasy elements.

Most notably: the "Mandate of Heaven" China's emperors claimed is here an actual visible sign, i.e. magical fire that some people can summon. So obviously when the Mongol emperor's fire seems to burn less bright, and the Red Turban rebels find a boy with the mandate, this strengthens the conviction of the rebels. And when there are multiple people who appear to have the mandate, this is obviously a problem, since There Can Only Be One…

( Spoilers )