Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea

April 15, 2023
A debut novel inspired by the legendary career of one of history's most successful pirates. This story begins with the heroine watching her husband die during a failed attack on a Portuguese ship. Cheng Yat's death is both a personal and professional problem for Shek Yeung. He freed her from her life as a sex slave to make her a pirate, and upon his death she's surprised to realize she loves him. Her more pressing concern, though, is that Cheng Yat has left his ships to his male prot�g�, Cheung Po. She commands her own junks and her own men, but the Red Banner Fleet cannot survive divided. The character Shek Yeung is based on a real historical figure, a woman who survived sea battles with both the Qing Empire and the East India Company during the early 19th century. In making Shek Yeung her heroine, Chang-Eppig didn't have to commit herself to writing a story that conforms with the basic contours of this real-life pirate queen's life, but that's what she's chosen. At the same time, it seems like the author doesn't want to commit to writing historical fiction. Chang-Eppig is a serious writer, and there are many moments of real lyrical beauty in this novel. While it might be anachronistic to expect a pirate queen to spend a lot of time in introspection, Shek Yeung never quite emerges as a fully formed character--and, given that the story is told from her point of view, the other characters are flat and opaque, as well. It's no surprise that the author devotes a lot of this book to sea battles, political machinations, and the logistics of running a vast criminal enterprise, but any reader primarily interested in those elements of the story may be best served by nonfiction, while those looking for a rich story may have trouble caring about these details without a three-dimensional, compelling protagonist. Shek Yeung is a fascinating figure, but Chang-Eppig doesn't quite know what to do with her.

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Starred review from April 24, 2023
Chang-Eppig debuts with a rollicking 19th-century adventure on the South China Sea. During a botched raid on a Portuguese merchant ship, pirate Cheng Yat, captain of the Red Banner Fleet, is killed by sailors who “had come prepared for war.” In the aftermath, his wife, Shek Yeung, fears for her standing among her fellow outlaws. Cheung Po, Yat’s adopted son, is the fleet’s legal heir, and Yeung worries Po may take the opportunity to wrest control away from her. She convinces Po to marry her and agrees to bear him a son, believing their alliance is the only way to ensure the fleet’s survival. Meanwhile, rumors circulate that the emperor has brought in a specialist to extinguish the threat of piracy. What follows is a bold and bloody showdown between the government and the pirate queen. The prose is lyrical (“Typhoons and cannonballs cared nothing for the complicated little folded cranes of feeling that beat their wings in the heart”) and the plot is clever and serpentine, exploring questions of power, violence, gender, and fate. This is not to be missed.

May 15, 2023
Even before her life as a Chinese pirate queen, Shek Yeung was always drawn to the sea. As a child, she could be found with a toy boat by the water, and after trying to find her place in the kitchen, she follows her father and brother as fishermen on a small, two-masted ship. But an encounter with pirates leads to her capture to a "flower boat," where Shek Yeung meets a man who recognizes her talents and offers marriage as a way out of prostitution. The young woman accepts and thrives as a pirate's wife who can wield her ferocity and cunning without mercy. When a sailor kills her husband, imperiling her reign, she understands what she must do to survive: marry the pirate fleet's second-in-command, immediately. What ensues is a gripping saga of power and resilience, as Shek Yeung fights to keep her control as well as her life. Author Chang-Eppig fearlessly helms this seafaring debut with grand, sprawling prose. Perfect for fans of historical fiction, pirates, and strong female protagonists.

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