YMMV / Iron Widow

• Alternate Character Interpretation: It's unclear precisely how much of Huaxia society is the result of their own faults and choices, and how much is the result of divine mandates from the gods. There is little mention of the gods giving orders — or anything but blueprints in exchange for tribute — but the fact that they sometimes take girls as tribute implies they're just as bad as the people they lord over.
• Anvilicious: This book is not remotely subtle in its condemnation of patriarchal societies and misogyny, with the main protagonist frequently going on rants or making impassioned speeches that call out how her society mistreats and underestimates women. Considering how horribly misogynistic Huaxia is, Wu Zetian certainly makes good points, though some readers find it a bit much, usually when she expresses views that appear strongly influenced by 21st century feminist theories despite her living in a completely different setting. To be clear, real life Imperial China was not as sexist as this book... it was worse.
• Applicability:
  • While it is considered a Feminist Fantasy, it can also be considered a story about standing up to controlling authority and institutionalized lies.
  • It's emphasized multiple times how appeasement teaches tormentors nothing but the fact that they can get what they want and don't have to change. While it's used in the book almost exclusively in the context of the patriarchal society everyone is trapped in, it can be applied to any sort of oppression. Such as, say, a bunch of technologically advanced humans in a space station pretending to be gods.
• Awesome Art: Many people have commented that the cover art looks absolutely gorgeous.
• Idiosyncratic Ship Naming: Shimin/Zetian/Yizhi is most popularly referred to as the "Iron Triangle".
• Iron Woobie:
  • Zetian. Being mistreated and crippled by her own family, having her life be treated as at best a bargaining chip and at worst worthless, losing her older sister, the only member of her family to show her unconditional love and being constantly looked down on and dismissed for the crime of being a woman — none of these things ever keep her down for long. She continually stands up to people seeking to make her life a misery and never abandons her plan to change Huaxia for the better, with violence, if need be.
  • Shimin had it just as bad. He came from a lower background, fighting when he wasn't at school and then excelling while at it. Because of the bad lighting while studying he lost most of his vision. One day when he finds out that his two brothers raped a girl, he kills them both and later on also his father. He gets sent to a prison, put on death row and has a kidney and half of his liver removed. He is then put on brutal labor, then forcefully made an alcoholic to control his defiant behaviour. Once he is made a pilot he is completely broken and paired with one woman after another who have no chance of surviving him, through no fault of his own. However, he meets Wende, who initially looks like his Balanced Match, and he begins to fall in love! Hooray! However, due to the mech’s seats being unbalanced against women, Wende succumbs to Shimin’s spirit pressure, and dies. Shimin is the one who gets a horrible reputation, and becomes the most hated pilot in the world because of it. As a thank you for handing humanity one victory after another, he is treated like a rabid dog and continues suffering abuse until Zetian comes into his life. Damn.
• Magnificent Bastard: The whole Iron Triangle counts.
  • Wu Zetian begins the novel as a peasant sold as a concubine, meant to be used to have her Qi consumed as a mech pilot so her male partner can fight the supposed invaders, the Hundun. Zetian turns the table and devours the life of her sadistic partner, becoming known as the legendary "Iron Widow". Growing increasingly enraged at the hypocritical, misogynist system, Zetian, along with her two Love Interests, schemes to tear it apart from within and launches a rebellion to become the ruler of it all, culminating in even killing her parents and brother so they may never be used as a threat against her.
  • Gao Yizhi is the rich son of media mogul Gao Qiu, and Wu Zetian's lover. After failing to persuade her into marrying him and abandoning her plans, Yizhi uses his money to gain himself a ranking position by her side, even falling for her partner in crime against Huaxia. Aiding in her schemes, Yizhi joins her in both her battles and plots, proving brilliant time and time again. A smooth-talker and ruthless genius, Yizhi aids Zetian's scheme to torture, interrogate, and murder an official, personally ensuring his drugging and doctoring a photo of his young son to further torment him. When Zetian performs her coup, Yizhi is undaunted by challenge and moral scruples alike, ultimately killing his own father when he attempts to blackmail Zetian.
  • Li Shimin is a Chrysalis pilot and Wu Zetian's unexpected ally, whose might is matched only by his mind. Conscripted into military service after justly killing his brother and forcibly addicted to alcohol, Shimin remorsefully sacrifices countless pilots to ensure his own survival, until Zetian provides him with a way out. Shockingly cultured and even-minded, Shimin struggles to overcome his chronic issues until he is a vital asset to Zetian's revenge, falling in love with Gao Yizhi along the way to victory, whether through torturing and murdering an official or fighting by her side in battle. In the final clash, Shimin makes a last-second move to save Zetian, ejecting her from their Chrysalis fully prepared to die in the process, ensuring her victory against the corrupt system of Huaxia.
• Strangled by the Red String: Though it's justified that the book is told from Zetian's perspective, some readers find the polyamory romance to be rushed particularly between Yizhi and Shimin because the scenes between them were just complimenting their looks.

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