A Feminist Tale of Vengeance and Redemption

In Iron Widow, the relationships are complicated, the stakes are high, and our main character, Zetian, is ready to raze it all to the ground. Set in a futuristic world ruled by the elders and the gods, a world where women are oppressed and barred from intellectual pursuits, taught to be obedient and to live and die for their fathers, brothers, and all men, the odds are stacked against rebellious Zetian.

Ready to sacrifice everything to avenge her fallen sister, Zetian leaps onto the blood-soaked battlefield as a forcibly enlisted concubine, a woman used to power the giant mechas exclusively piloted by men. The connection between concubine and pilot is vital to the strength of a team and the brutal fight against the non-human antagonizers threatening their civilization.

Zetian knows all too well that concubines get the short end of the stick in these so-called partnerships. She doesn’t allow this fact, or her partnership with the murderous Iron Demon, or her complicated and dangerous relationship with pretty-boy Yizhi who hails from a powerful family get in the way of her personal mission to bring down the system that killed her sister and so many other women. Zetian may have been treated like a bargaining chip to be traded for the benefit of her brother’s future all her life, but she’s ready to take control of her destiny, consequences be damned.

This book is one wild and thrilling ride, full of twists, turns, and reveals that prove there’s more to this world and these characters than meets the eye. The book ends on an absolute cliff-hanger, but lucky for you the second book, Heavenly Tyrant, is also available.