In the dwindling glow, the waters of the Changjiang glittered as it wound like a fiery serpent across the emerald valley…”, I was almost transfixed by them—in my head I could imagine the very scene Tan painted with her words.

BOOK REVIEW: FICTION

Of friendship, love and dragons

Sue Lynn Tan’s magical debut novel about a classic Chinese legend

AAQIB HASIB

If you’re a fantasy nut like me, you’ll be acutely aware of just how “westernised”—almost to the point of being whitewashed—the entire genre is. This is, of course, a direct reflection of the fact that most of the popular fantasy writers are from the Western side of the world. And while, in the last decade, more fantasy/fiction books based in Asia and Africa have started to enter the market, they have centuries of catalogues to catch up to.

That is why it was genuinely refreshing when I came across Sue Lynn Tan’s debut novel, Daughter of the Moon Goddess (Harper Voyager, 2022), a book where the foundations of its fantastical world is based around Chinese mythology.

Inspired by the legend of the Chinese moon goddess, Chang’e, the story follows the tale of Xingyin, daughter of Chang’e, as she goes on a magical journey to be reunited with her mother.

While there are many iterations of the tale of Chang’e, one of the popular ones is as follows: Hou Yi—the Lord Archer and the husband of Chang’e—is given the elixir of life from the Celestial Emperor after saving Earth from the emperor’s sons, who had transformed into 10 suns and tried to burn the planet to a crisp. Hou Yi, however, does not want to become immortal if his wife cannot join him as one. Chang’e, who was holding the elixir for her husband, is confronted when Hou Yi’s apprentice breaks in and tries to force her to hand over the elixir. Inorder to protect the potion, Chang’e ends up drinking it herself.

Writer Lynn Tan’s novel shares a similar story, only in this instance, Chang’e has a daughter, who, with her mother, has been imprisoned by the Celestial Emperor on the moon. However, the emperor has no knowledge of Xingyin’s existence.

As Xingyin grows up her powers slowly begin to manifest—despite her mother’s attempts to keep them hidden—and when the Celestial Army is able to detect a disruption on the moon, they arrive to find out what exactly Chang’e is hiding.

At its core, Daughter of the Moon Goddess is a story about a young woman finding her way in the world, after she is stripped of the only identity she has ever known. Xingyin, who has grown up under the protection of her mother, is thrust into the world of the immortals with no one to guide or protect her.

Tan’s ability to write the emotions of love and anguish that Xingyin experiences is heartbreakingly beautiful. Seeing Xingyin growing up by herself and developing as a character—from a young girl to a woman—all while struggling with the pain of being separated from her mother and the heartbreaks that come with young love.

Tan’s writing style is one of the best parts of the book. Coming across the lines, “The sun had faded to a muted orb of crimson light. In the dwindling glow, the waters of the Changjiang glittered as it wound like a fiery serpent across the emerald valley…”, I was almost transfixed by them—in my head I could imagine the very scene Tan painted with her words.

While Chang’e had sent away Xingyin so that she is safe from the Celestial Emperor, we find that she is not able to rid her heart of the grief of letting her mother rot away, imprisoned on the moon. This is the kind of internal turmoil the protagonist is frequently faced with and owing to Tan’s ability to evoke a sense of empathy in the readers, we find that so are we.

Adding a defining dimension to this Young Adult novel, Xingyin is also going through the stages of youthful love and heartbreak that all of us go through at some point in our lives, which is another magical facet of the plotline that draws the readers in and hooks them to the story.

Daughter of the Moon Goddess is part of the Celestial Kingdom duology ; the second book, Heart of the Sun Warrior , is set to be released in November, 2022.

Aaqib Hasib will someday finish writing his book. But not today. Write to him at aaqib.hasib@thedailystar.net.