She lifted her arms and let the pure white light stream from her until their folded bodies were bathed in a brightness to rival that of the sun. From inside the coruscating aura of her own radiance the spectacle of them was a vision of the future. It was the most beautiful thing Zhu had ever seen.
She said joyously, “Rise.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book began life during a series of brainstorming sessions with friends, in which we all decided to write the books we longed for but could never find. I’m not sure any of us realised then how long a journey it would be, but guys: we did it. To those who were there from the beginning: thank you from the bottom of my heart. Vanessa Len, for trudging every step of the way with me towards the finish line, and for understanding the joys and frustrations of being a mixed-race member of the Asian diaspora. I’m delighted beyond all measure that we’ll be debuting together in 2021. C. S. Pacat, for inspiring us to delve deep to find our stories; for your endless support and counsel; and for your inability to lie about art. Beatrix Bae, for hosting that very first session, thereby starting the food arms race that left the rest of us mentally broken, and then taking us back and feeding us delicious soup.
Anna Cowan, what a good friend to have found! Thank you for being my K-drama partner in squee during the hell year of that first draft, and for your pithy character insights. I’ll never think of Ouyang’s sword the same way again.
My indefatigable cheerleader with a brain as big as a planet, my agent Laura Rennert: I can’t thank you enough. Like a martial arts master in a training montage, you said, “Again! But better!” even when I thought I was too exhausted to keep going (although unlike a real sifu, you always said it in the nicest possible way). This book is immeasurably better because of you. Thanks also to your wonderful team—Paige Terlip, Laura Schoeffel, and Victoria Piontek—and the rest of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency.
My very first editor at Tor, Diana Gill: thank you for your enthusiasm and tireless in-house support for this book. I still can’t quite believe the Tor logo I saw on my treasured fantasy paperbacks will be on the spine of something I wrote. Will Hinton, Devi Pillai, and the entire team at Tor, including the freelancers: thank you for your magnificent efforts, including the many that went unseen from my end, to bring this book into the world.
Bella Pagan and the wider Pan Macmillan team: many thanks for your warm welcome to the world of publishing, and your enthusiastic and dedicated work bringing my book to the Commonwealth and, particularly, Australia.
Thank you to the Otherwise Award: the 2017 Fellowship gave me vital encouragement when I still had many miles to go.
Thanks to the delightful Ying Fan Wang for help with names and pronunciations. (Any remaining infelicities are, of course, my own.)
To Cindy Pon, Jeannie Lin, Courtney Milan, and Zen Cho, whose genre books with Asian protagonists made me believe it was possible for my own to be published.
To the patient and welcoming authors in the group chat, who answered my questions and shared in yay and woe alike during this long journey towards publication.
To my mother, who always encouraged my writing.
And thank you to my two nearest and dearest: John, for years of unwavering support despite my refusals to let you read the manuscript, and for arguing that at least one of the male characters should be a decent human being; and Erica, for sharing time and attention with an older sibling who happens to be a book.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge the Wurundjeri people who are the traditional custodians of the lands on which I wrote the final drafts of this book.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shelley Parker-Chan is an Australian by way of Malaysia and New Zealand. A 2017 Tiptree Fellow, she is the author of the historical fantasy novel She Who Became the Sun. Parker-Chan spent nearly a decade working as a diplomat and international development adviser in Southeast Asia, where she became addicted to epic East Asian historical TV dramas. After a failed search to find English-language book versions of these stories, she decided to write her own. Parker-Chan currently lives in Melbourne, Australia, where she is very grateful to never have to travel by leaky boat ever again.
Visit her online at www.shelleyparkerchan.com, or sign up for email updates here.
Twitter: @shelleypchan
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Epigraph
Map
Part One. 1345–1354
1. Huai River Plains, Southern Henan, 1345
2
3
4
Part Two. 1354–1355
5. Huai River Plains, Tenth Month
6. Anfeng, Southern Henan, Eleventh Month
7. Yao River
8. Anyang, Northern Henan, Twelfth Month
9. Anfeng, The New Year, 1355
10. Anyang, First Month
11. Outside Lu, Second Month
12. Hichetu, Shanxi, Third Month
13. Anfeng, Summer
14. Southeastern Henan, Summer
15. Anyang, Summer
16. Anfeng, Eighth Month
17. Anfeng, Tenth Month
Part Three. 1355−1356
18. Anyang, Eleventh Month
19. Anfeng, Eleventh Month
20. Anyang, First Month
21. Anfeng, Second Month
22. Bianliang
23. Anfeng, Third Month
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
SHE WHO BECAME THE SUN
Copyright © 2021 by Shelley Parker-Chan
All rights reserved.
Cover art by JungShan
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates
120 Broadway
New York, NY 10271
www.tor-forge.com
Tor® is a registered trademark of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Names: Parker-Chan, Shelley, author.
Title: She who became the sun / Shelley Parker-Chan.
Description: First edition. | New York: Tor, 2021. | A Tom Doherty Associates book.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021009142 (print) | LCCN 2021009143 (ebook) | ISBN 9781250621801 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781250837134 (Canadian) | ISBN 9781250621795 (ebook)
Subjects: GSAFD: Fantasy fiction.
Classification: LCC PR9619.4.P369 S54 2021 (print) | LCC PR9619.4.P369 (ebook) | DDC 823/.92—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021009142
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021009143
eISBN 9781250621795
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at [email protected].
First U.S. Edition: 2021
First Canadian Edition: 2021
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