Reviews with content warning for Death - Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor

This book is very entertaining. I enjoyed it very much, and I hadn't been sure I would since I hadn't been very fond of Iron Widow, Xiran Jay Zhao's debut novel. The premise was too interesting to pass over, though, and I'm very glad I didn't.

I'm not this book's target audience, but I don't feel you have to be to enjoy it. For one, it's just fun, and very funny. I'm not sure if it's the author's writing style developing, or just that this premise suits it better, but a lot of the problems I had with the style of Iron Widow don't apply here, or are actually a boon for this particular story. It made me laugh out loud multiple times, and while many times the author's voice broke through the narrative, it was all right because I think they were saying something that even a little left of center of the target audience as I was, I could feel how it was going to resonate with someone, could tell it was something the author desperately needed to say, and something someone, somewhere, needed to hear.

For another, it does something I enjoy in YA books, which is that it treats their main characters...like kids. As in, kids who make mistakes and don't always notice things that an adult would and sometimes that causes problems (and sometimes it solves them, but that's basically the YA genre as a whole so I'm not sure it deserves special mention). I won't spoil you, but I will say that if you're reading this book and are an adult or older teen, and a red flag or twenty or 100,000 or so start waving...you probably aren't wrong. I'll leave it at that. (I lied. Not really spoilers but behind a cut just in case since it's sliiiightly spoilery.)

And obviously the protagonist isn't going to see it, which makes it even better. It's a completely natural tension. What 12-year-old who has adults falling over themselves insisting they're the only ones who could possibly help them is going to look at that strangely? Of course they're competent enough to handle adult problems (says the preteen). Oh, they're being sworn to secrecy and can't tell their adults anything? Sounds legit. ('Hey, kid, I got some ~~candy~~ wishes in here, you want some?' says Tang Taizong, hanging out of white van while Wu Zetian mans the gas pedal.) What 12-year-old knows - and I mean really knows - that they are, in fact, only 12? That's realistic. Meanwhile an adult hears these conversations and should slowly be reaching for the nearest baseball bat, but instead has to suffer in silence watching these children stumble into a trap you badly want to protect them from but can't.

Also, Zach is a very good kid. I'm proud of him.

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lettuce_read's review against another edition

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4.5

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purplepenning's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

A fun, fast-paced, intricate adventure with the vibrance and adrenaline of gaming, the depth and philosophy of traditional mythologies, and the heart and hope of family and friends. I was skeptical of the "Percy Jackson meets Yu-Gi-Oh" billing, but it's pretty fair! I don't think I've had this much fun with a middle grade fantasy since the first Tristan Strong book and Kiki Kalliri Breaks a Kingdom.

Things I loved:
• the sensitive discussion and representation of how ethnically diverse China and the diaspora are (our main character, Zach, is Muslim Chinese American)
• the funny chapter titles and pop culture hooks
• the way Chinese history and legends were explained throughout
• how nothing was forced into a simplistic black-and-white perspective

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leonormsousa's review against another edition

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adventurous funny informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

TRIGGER WARNINGS

racism, islamophobia, religious bigotry, xenophobia, violence, war, death (including of a parent), grief, bullying, police brutality

REPRESENTATION

Hui Chinese American Muslim Gay MC, Chinese secondary characters (one Miao Chinese), own voice Chinese author

REVIEW
Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor is everything you want in a good fantasy middle-grade book! It’s action-packed, fast-paced, filled with lessons to be learned and has excellent representation.

Xiran may be the royalty of creating cool concepts. They did it in Iron Widow, and they did it again in Zachary Ying. As someone who’s into tech and extended reality, I loved seeing that mixed with Chinese history. It was the perfect combination that even made me think more and more about all the possibilities that technology opens to education and didactic activities.

It was also a book that made me realise how little (or nothing actually) I knew about Chinese history. I think it’s a pretty “western” thing to do to get so caught up in ourselves that we don’t realise all the beautiful history and culture from other parts of the world that we are missing out on.

Like in Iron Widow, Xiran also exploited the boundaries between good and evil and how blurry they can get. The main character Zach is many times conflicted and it’s often discussed how how to reach peace and end up in a “good” world, bad things need to be done. It’s one of those truths that are hard to face but that I believe make a great topic for the book.

Zachary Ying is also an incredibly funny book, but between laughs, it approaches islamophobia and queerness and bullying and oppressive systems, all in a delicate way that is not too overwhelming but it’s still there to make you think or feel represented. Probably my favourite topic of the book is how you can feel so different or alienated by your own culture/roots. I think it’s something that so many kids (and adults!) can relate to.

If there’s anything I could point out that could be better in this book though, then it would be that it could get a little bit too complex. As I said, I love that this book brought Chinese history to the spotlight, but I admit that sometimes, it got a bit hard following all the historical characters and stories. Maybe a visual timeline of the historical events mentioned at the beginning/end of the book would help?

Nevertheless, I still think this is a great book to recommend to middle-graders (although I believe all fantasy-lovers will enjoy it), and I’m hoping it gets translated to Portuguese so I can make my little cousin read it! As for me, I’ll be expecting the next Zachary Ying adventure!

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asipofcozy's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Thank you to the publisher for sending me an advanced finished copy for review. All opinions and ratings of this book are my own.

(I am hoping that there will be a second book to this as it shows a stand-alone. I do not want another Master of One situation.)

I think the last time that I picked up a middle-grade book was way back when I read the Percy Jackson series. That has been at least 10 years or so. One of my goals this year was to read more middle-grade literature, especially middle-grade literature that contains underrepresented identities. I have heard so many things about Xiran Jay Zhao and while I have not had the chance to read Iron Widow yet, I wanted to give this book a try to see if I enjoyed her writing style.

Which I did.

Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor follows the story of a young boy who has ancestry to the first emperor of Qin Shi Huang. During a normal school day, Zachary is attacked by one of his schoolmates possessed by a demon. The emperor tries to save the kid's life by taking over the boy's body and instead takes over his gaming glasses. Being sent on an action-filled journey across the globe, Zach not only encounters other young pre-teens like him possessed by ancient emperors but he also starts to connect with his ancestry and what it means to accept all parts of himself.

I really enjoyed the magic system that Zhao introduces, it has a mix of airbending, YuGiOh, and cultural magic/myth all mixed into one. It was unique and really captured me at the beginning. I also love how Zhao bases power on the awareness of these ancient figures and if their story continues to be told they are stronger. Also adding in the element of there are spin-offs to these individuals' stories and they are widely known they also play a part in creating strong lasting spirits.

It was all quite unique and I enjoyed it. Along with the action. We don't wait long into the book where we get action and it is continuous throughout the book.

Where I think the book deters from its intended audience is the culture/history dump we are given quite often. Any time a new character, individual in history, myth, creature, and cultural artifact is introduced we are given an entire 1-2 page history lesson on that thing. This would slow the plot down immensely. At times I felt like I was reading more of a history book than a middle-grade contemporary/fantasy novel.

There is also a lot of commentary on politics and a lot of name dumps. It was hard to keep track of at times. Also, the villains, side-characters are brief within the story, and then we are pulled along to the next thing that we get an entire backstory on. As a 27-year-old who reads quite avidly, I felt like this book was far denser than what a middle-grade book ought to be.

I am also curious as to if the references are understood by the younger generation. I understand a lot of the YuGiOh references as Pokemon and YuGiOh are what I grew up on; however, I am curious to know if this is something that is still popular today? I do not see YuGiOh streaming on TV like Pokemon and I don't know if a majority of the audience for this book would get these references. This is just a thought process and I am really curious as to the answer to this. Also because of these references, the setting is changing quite often and it left me baffled at where we were in both setting and plot.

All in all, I really enjoyed the bantering between the emperors, the history that the book brings in, the representation, and the action that we were given. I am hoping that there is another book to this stand-alone as there are a lot of things left open with no conclusion and character development still needed.

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lilybear3's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny informative inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

Thrilled to have read a middle grade book with so much Chinese history and mythology! I hope this book is received well as I believe we need more representation in children's literature. I learned a lot from it and I love that it is told in a lighthearted way that's digestible for children, while not shying away from the not-so-good things that have happened in history. I related to Zachary in the sense that I grew up distant to my Chinese heritage and being in-between two cultures. I particularly loved all of the references to gaming and anime culture (watch out for the Code Geass spoiler, even though the anime is from 2006 lol)! I can't say enough good things about this book, it was so fun to read and I can't wait to see what the author has coming next.

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