She Who Became the Sun cover art

She Who Became the Sun

The Radiant Emperor, Book 1

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She Who Became the Sun

By: Shelley Parker-Chan
Narrated by: Natalie Naudus
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About this listen

THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

An absorbing historical fantasy, She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan reimagines the rise to power of the Ming Dynasty’s founding emperor.

In a famine-stricken village on a dusty plain, a seer shows two children their fates. For a family’s eighth-born son, there’s greatness. For the second daughter, nothing.

In 1345, China lies restless under harsh Mongol rule. And when a bandit raid wipes out their home, the two children must somehow survive. Zhu Chongba despairs and gives in. But the girl resolves to overcome her destiny. So she takes her dead brother’s identity and begins her journey. Can Zhu escape what’s written in the stars, as rebellion sweeps the land? Or can she claim her brother’s greatness – and rise as high as she can dream?

This is a glorious tale of love, loss, betrayal and triumph by a powerful new voice.

She Who Became the Sun is a reimagining of the rise to power of Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu was the peasant rebel who expelled the Mongols, unified China under native rule, and became the founding Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

©2021 Shelley Parker-Chan (P)2021 Macmillan Audio Action & Adventure Fantasy Fiction Historical Science Fiction China Magic Destiny Extrasensory Perception

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Critic reviews

"Epic, tragic and gorgeous." (Alix E. Harrow, author of The Ten Thousand Doors of January)

"As brilliant as Circe...a deft and dazzling triumph." (Tasha Suri, author of The Jasmine Throne)

"A dazzling new world of fate, war, love and betrayal." (Zen Cho, author of Black Water Sister)
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I confess that I struggled with the oriental names so only gradually worked out who was who. As this book was this month’s choice in our local book club, I felt I should persevere and I’m glad I did, so much so that I was disappointed when I reached the end.

The reader was a good choice as she gave each character a different voice which undoubtedly helped me sort out who was who, giving the names their correct inflection.

A good story, well worth the effort.

Persevere, it’s worth it!

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This book had so much potential, only to be let down by the narrator and the voices. It was like kids doing whining voices. I think the book version would be much better.

Performance let down the book

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The voice acting was amazing and the different voices really helped understand the different characters. The story itself was really interesting and I loved learning about the characters. Overall an amazing book

Loved it!!

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one of the best books i have ever read and listen to, the narrative was artfully created and the narration left me transfixed, do listen to the end

excellent!

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Really beautifully written book. Interesting storyline. Hard to follow the names of characters and at times the perspective of the narrative voice as I am unfamiliar with names from that part of the world in that era.

Great book. Tricky to follow names of characters

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It's a really great story with amazing characters even though they may be morally grey!

very enjoyable

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This was an incredible story narrated beautifully. Usually I lose track during audio books but when I listened to this one, I knew who all of the characters were and it was just a joy to listen to. This has been my favourite audiobook so far.

Breathtaking!!

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I really enjoyed this book. It’s outstanding both plot and narration. Beautiful pros one of the best books I’ve listened to this year.

Fabulous

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This book is an unexpected gem! Following Zhu’s journey is a true testament of what the mind can achieve. It took me a little while to follow the various people, but i got used to it after the first few chapters. I truly cannot wait for the sequel to this!

Just perfection!

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I loved the concept of this book and overall feel of chinese antiquity. I wanted to love it more, but by the end I was entirely turned off by the protagonist and some of the writing style. Personally, it seemed to jump around as if parts of the story were missing or had been heavily edited out. However, it was beautifully narrated, and lends itself to the storyline.

Mixed feelings on this audiobook

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