But when Xingyin’s magic flares and her existence is discovered, she is forced to flee her home, leaving her mother behind.Īlone, powerless, and afraid, she makes her way to the Celestial Kingdom, a land of wonder and secrets. Growing up on the moon, Xingyin is accustomed to solitude, unaware that she is being hidden from the feared Celestial Emperor who exiled her mother for stealing his elixir of immortality. Wherever that road leads, however, it is sure to be one of boundless invention.Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5 Publication date: 11 January 2022 Synopsis:Ī captivating debut fantasy inspired by the legend of Chang’e, the Chinese moon goddess, in which a young woman’s quest to free her mother pits her against the most powerful immortal in the realm. On the contrary, so much happens in this first installment of the Celestial Kingdom duology that it’s hard to imagine where Tan’s imagination might take Xingyin and her friends next. However, don’t let the languid pacing of the early scenes of Xingyin’s life with her mother fool you into thinking that this is a book where nothing happens. Indeed, the first quarter of the narrative seems to exist in an entirely different time zone than the rest of the novel, which careens from one adventure to another as Xingyin fights for her mother’s freedom. The result is an all-consuming work of literary fantasy that is breathtaking both for its beauty and its suspense.ĭaughter of the Moon Goddess starts out slowly. At other times, Tan’s prose is close and personal, pulling readers deep into Xingyin’s fears, drives and desires. At times, she steps into a writing cadence reminiscent of a storyteller recalling a well-trod tale, as when Xingyin describes her childhood in her mother’s otherworldly prison or when she faces down monsters as First Archer of the Celestial Army. Tan’s story is mythic in its scope yet personal in its execution. As she trains and learns alongside the prince, Xingyin is torn between loyalty to her new friend and the desperate desire to free her mother from her eternal prison.ĭaughter of the Moon Goddess, Sue Lynn Tan’s debut novel, is filled with intricate world building, heartbreaking romance and mind-bending intrigue. While on the run, Xingyin is thrust into the uncomfortable role of learning companion to the Celestial Prince, the son of the very man who imprisoned her mother.

That changes when she accidentally accesses her own magical powers and is forced to flee to avoid detection by the Celestial Emperor and his court. Xingyin has lived a lonely life, hidden away in her mother’s sky-bound prison.

She is also the daughter of Chang’e, the infamous moon goddess who became immortal after drinking a potion that was given to her husband in recognition of his heroic deeds. Xingyin has never met her father, a mortal archer who saved the human world from destruction.

The moon goddess daughter