Berserk Button: Zachary snaps at any mention of the Chinese government, since they executed his father and forced his mother to run. Semantic Superpower: Spirits have powers based on their legends. For examples, Wu Zetian declared herself “the sun and moon in the sky” so she can create a blinding light, Cheng Yaojin was known for showing up out of nowhere so he can teleport, and Tang Taizong had six of his best warhorses immortalized so he can call upon their spirits. Cast from Hit Points: Tang Taizong’s spirit bow harms its user with every shot, as a reference to how he used it to kill his own brothers. Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor is a middle grade adventure fantasy and the second novel of Xiran Jay Zhao, released on May 10, 2022. Growing up, Zachary Ying never really had the opportunity to learn about his Chinese heritage. Especially since Western schools don’t teach anything but Western history and myths. So, when he discovers that he was born to the be the host of the spirit of the First Emperor of China, he’s unprepared. Very unprepared.

Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor | Rock The Boat Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor | Rock The Boat

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an advanced copy of this to review! Ever since reading Iron Widow last year, Xiran Jay Zhao has been on my radar. I’m so happy that this lived up to their debut! This book is so much fun, and middle grade readers are going to love it. I enjoyed this book much more than I expected to. I have never been passionate about (any) Asian a b Brooke, David (7 April 2022). "2022 Hugo Awards finalists, including in comics, announced". AIPT . Retrieved 12 May 2022. Nawotka, Ed (24 September 2021). "Publishing in Canada 2021: Novelist Xiran Jay Zhao on Blending SciFi and Chinese History". Publishers Weekly . Retrieved 24 March 2021. I for one liked it a lot more than the author's debut novel, which I sadly was unable to enjoy (i know, don't get me started if i could actively control and change my response to that book i would). I found the author’s prose to be a lot more confident in this one and their style really worked for this MG-type of storytelling. This is the kind of book I wish had been around when I was a 12yr old as I would have been able to love it, whereas now I can only just ‘like’ it. Anyway, I liked the humor and the historical facts, so this gets a thumbs up from me and I look forward to its follow-up.a b "Canadians C.L. Polk & Fonda Lee nominated for 2022 Hugo Award for best series". CBC Books. 11 April 2022 . Retrieved 11 May 2022. immersive, fast-paced, and wholly engrossing, zachary ying and the dragon emperor had me spellbound from the get-go; i devoured the book in one escapism-fuelled sitting. this was my first book by xiran jay zhao, and with a sample size of n = 1 (one) book they are already entering the top tier of authors i love, enjoy, and wish to support. My only complaint is that at times, the amount of history can be a little overwhelming. It can be a bit difficult to follow at times when a bunch of different stories and myths were being introduced. It is a priority for CBC to create products that are accessible to all in Canada including people with visual, hearing, motor and cognitive challenges. As Zachary Ying is a children's/middle-grade book, I expected it to be content with the emperors' spirits and the fun side of their legends and histories, however it took the story a step further towards greatness by challenging them. It didn't ignore their cruelties and the horrors of their reigns. I really appreciated this and thought it was incredibly well done, I loved that Zhao didn't dumb it down just because it's a children's book. Kids are much smarter than you think and can appreciate complexities and nuance like this, too.

Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor | CBC Books Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor | CBC Books

Koehler, Mimi (20 September 2021). "Q&A: Xiran Jay Zhao, Author of 'Iron Widow' ". The Nerd Daily . Retrieved 24 October 2021. Zhao, Xiran Jay (2022). Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1665900706. Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor, Xiran Jay Zhao's second novel, was released on 10 May 2022. [5] In an interview with CBC, Zhao highlighted their fascination with "genre crossovers". [6] Zhao stated that: Discriminate and Switch: Inverted. When Zachary receives a hateful message about him being a terrorist's son, he initially thinks it's a reference to his father who was executed by the government under false charges of terrorism. It takes him a moment before he realizes that it's an Islamophobic message directed at his mother, who wears a hijab.This is about your personal connection to me, not about you being Chinese enough. Which is not something that can be measured. Morrissy, Kim (6 June 2022). "How DARLING in the FRANXX Inspired a New York Times Bestselling YA Novel". Anime News Network. News . Retrieved 9 June 2022. Zachary Ying is an entertaining fast-paced middle grade novel in which Zach learns about himself, in both the sense of his culture and the type of person he wants to be. Author Xiran Jay Zhao is a master at keeping the stakes high while keeping the story fun.

Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor ARC Review: Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor

zachary ying succeeds at something that many novels i’ve read - whether targeted toward adults or youth - attempt and don’t always achieve: it interweaves macro-level, big-picture politics and social issues with the micro-level nuances and complexities of individual stories and characters. and it does all of this within a fantastical middle-grade novel featuring unique worldbuilding rooted in ancient chinese history and mythology and modern-day video-gaming and pop culture. It’s basically a really cool mix of Chinese culture with video games and Japanese anime like Yu-Gi-Oh, Code Geass, Shaman King, …also - i’m not a gamer myself and was totally surprised by how much i adored the way zhao interfaced video games, augmented reality, history, and fantastical worldbuilding - all of it became much more accessible and interesting as a blended collective. this eclectic mixture of subjects also showcased zhao’s pitch-perfect deadpan humour, pop culture references, and passion for and knowledge about chinese history - it is epic, to say the least. not to mention, the legend magic at the crux of the worldbuilding felt unique and progressive and utterly compelling. though some of the explanations verged toward info-dumping, this was balanced by the entertaining way in which zhao delivered the details: through witty character profiles (like pop-ups you’d see in a video game), sarcasm-infused storytelling, and rapid-fire banter. My God, What Have I Done?: Despite all Qin Shi Huang's blustering and excuses, 2000 years of Character Development have done a number on him and there are a few things he sincerely regrets. The most important being his abuse of his own son. When Fusu confronts him, he is nothing but apologies and does not beg for himself, but for China.