Review of Heart of the Sun Warrior by Sue Lynn Tan

Last year I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Daughter of the Moon Goddess, Sue Lynn Tan’s reimagining of the mythology of Chang’e (and specifically, her daughter). I was apprehensive whether Tan would bottle moonlight twice with Heart of the Sun Warrior—yet here we are, another five-star read. What can I say? Tan’s storytelling abilities are impressive.

Some time has passed since the end of the first book. Xingyin is living fairly contently on the moon with her mother, who is now free to leave whenever she pleases, though she still has the duty of lighting all the lanterns that illuminate the moon each night. Liwei, heir to the Celestial throne, continues to court Xingyin and make moves towards proposing. Yet Xingyin knows Liwei’s parents are no fans of hers, and this is confirmed when she begrudgingly attends a birthday celebration at the Jade Palace. An engineered slight puts the moon goddess—and her daughter—on the back foot again as they ultimately become ensnared in a much larger attempt on the throne. Xingyin and her allies—including some unexpected ones—must fight back against a usurper who only has evil in his heart. But this war might cost Xingyin all of the precious love she has gained since her previous victory, and there is no guarantee even of success.

Spoilers for both books in this review.

Tan’s writing continues to be operatic in form and epic in scope. Once again we are thrust into a rich world. As she brings elements of Chinese mythology to life, she uses them to tell a broad and adventurous story. The stakes—the Celestial throne and stability of the entire immortal world—could not be higher. The love triangle of Xingyin with Liwei and Wenzhi is back, and once again, this aromantic reader did not mind the romance here. Additionally, the appearance of Houyi and his return to the immortal realm is very touching. At first, I thought it was a bit trite, until I really dug into the book and understood the genre and form in which Tan is operating.

I won’t attempt to get too technical here, because I haven’t read or watched a lot of Chinese drama. But I feel like Heart of the Sun Warrior kind of has everything? This is best demonstrated at the climax of the book, when Xingyin is about to go up against Wugang with the ultimate subterfuge. Wenzhi helps her, and Liwei finally gives his rival a grudging nod of respect—they will never be friends, not after what Wenzhi has done, but suddenly we have the Celestial Prince and the Demon Prince on the same side, fighting in a war together, and if that isn’t epic, I don’t know what is. But you have to be able to get to that payoff, and this is where Tan excels.

This is a book that lays down groundwork and then pays it off. It’s seldom a surprise—foreshadowing is strong here—but it is always rewarding. The dragons come back. The Celestial Empress baits Xingyin into a terrible promise, and then that comes full circle. Xingyin is caught between worlds—the worlds of the court and the moon, even the worlds of duty and family. What is she supposed to do? How come everything falls on her shoulders?

The death of Ping’er hits hard as well.

I love the ending. I love that Xingyin and Liwei don’t end up together. Sometimes you love someone, but it just doesn’t work out. You want too many different things. Xingyin and Wenzhi getting a second (third?) chance is perfect for this genre of story, even if, again, it feels trite. Tan has a masterful grasp of what is expected and works in a story like this.

As with the first book, I don’t feel like I have a lot of need to go into detail though. This book is a block of marble, expertly carved and exquisite from every angle. Definitely read the first book first, then do yourself a favour and pick this one up when you can. It’s a book where happy endings aren’t always the ones we expect or even desire, but they are the ones we need—and they are forever.