She Who Became the Sun

Set in fourteenth-century China, this historical fantasy follows two children in a famine-struck village whose futures a seer reveals: greatness awaits Zhu Chongba, the eighth-born son, while his sister is promised nothing. After bandits destroy their home, he gives up hope, and she decides to defy fate instead. Assuming her dead brother's name, she sets out from peasant life toward war and power while rebellion spreads across the land. The novel retells the rise of Zhu Yuanzhang, the peasant rebel who drove out the Mongols and founded the Ming Dynasty, exploring love, loss, betrayal and triumph.

Why You Should Read?

• Follow a peasant girl who takes her dead brother's identity and strives for the greatness foretold for him.
• Experience a historical fantasy of love, loss, betrayal and triumph set in fourteenth-century China.
• Explore a reimagining of how Zhu Yuanzhang rose to power, from peasant rebel to founding emperor.
• Discover a story where a girl resolves to escape the fate written in the stars.

About the Author

Shelley Parker-Chan is a non-binary Australian fantasy novelist. Their debut was She Who Became the Sun; its sequel, He Who Drowned the World, completes The Radiant Emperor Duology.