To paraphrase its author Xiran Jay Zhao, Iron Widow is a YA Pacific Rim meets The Handmaid’s Tale retelling of the rise of Wu Zetian, the only female emperor in Chinese history, featuring mechas inspired by East Asian mythology and controlled using a sexist boy-girl piloting paradigm. These mechas are deployed along a Great Wall as the last line of defense protecting a crass consumerist society with a toxic fanboy culture that worships the boys as media celebrities while offering up girls as disposable and interchangeable concubine co-pilots. There’s also a BL subplot that evolves into a polyamorous relationship involving the main characters who live in a country ruled by a patriarchal and remote “Council of Sages” led by Chairman Kong (as in Kongzi/Confucius), and, by the way, one of the villains is named An Lushan.
You either saw that paragraph and are currently dropping everything to immediately buy Zhao’s new book, or you read that paragraph three times, had no earthly idea what it meant, and have already turned the page to read about honey production trends in Guangxi.
Myth and Mechas: “Iron Widow” Sees Historical Figures Piloting Robots | Book Review