Science-fiction author Xiran Jay Zhao has announced the long-awaited sci-fi novel Iron Widow sequel Heavenly Tyrant is launching this holiday.
Xiran Jay Zhao is an enthusiastic weeb. In 2021, Xiran released the science-fiction novel Iron Widow, which is both a love letter and a response to the popular anime Darling in the Franxx.
While being a huge fan of the anime, Xiran was disappointed by the ending and decided to create a brand-new story using similar tropes but going in a different direction. Iron Widow was a massive blockbuster hit, reaching the number one sport on the New York Times bestsellers on the first week of release. Now, after a delayed release, Iron Widow’s sequel Heavenly Tyrant is due to be released in December of this year.
Originally, Heavenly Tyrant was slated to release in September of 2023. Iron Widow is a massive 400-page volume, so it makes sense the sequel took a couple of years to write. The release was postponed to April 2024. When again the date was moved, there was speculation that people at Xiran’s publisher were attempting to sabotage the book due to disagreements with Xiran’s politics.
Unlike other similarly popular authors such as Sarah J Maas or Neil Gaiman, Xiran Jay Zhao is not politically correct, and has strong moral convictions they are vocal about on social media, most prominent in recent years is an anti-war stance and criticism of neo-cons. Xiran also has been critical of book censorship. This has alienated some in the publishing industry, but has earned respect and a large following from readers and anime fans at the grassroot level.
Quickly after the allegations of censorship emerged, though, it was announced that Heavenly Tyrant would be coming out after all, just in December rather than April. That would be a very foolish thing to do, considering Xiran is one of their publisher’s most popular authors of the past decade.
Iron Widow is even getting a movie which will likely go into production next year. Recently, Xiran entered the news for exposing fellow author’s Cait Corrain’s attempts to sabotage her fellow authors, which shows Xiran is not afraid to take on corruption in real life just as the protagonist of Iron Widow does in the book. Cait Corrain later admitted to the allegations Xiran charged her with, and her book was canceled.
Here is the plot blurb for Heavenly Tyrant:
After suffering devastating loss, Zetian finds herself at the seat of power in Huaxia. But her world is not as it seems, and revelations about an enemy more daunting than she imagined forces her to share her power with a dangerous man. Zetian must join this man in a dance of truth and lies to take down their common enemy.
With perilous forces aiming to undermine Zetian at every turn, can she enact positive changes as a fair and just ruler? Or will she be forced to rely on fear and violence and succumb to her darker instincts in her quest for vengeance?
