Review of Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea

Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea by Rita Chang-Eppig

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I met the author when I was with her on a panel at Wiscon entitled "Why (Not) Pirates?" She plugged her book about real-life pirates in the South China Sea, an area and era I was not familiar with. My interest piqued, I bought a copy of her enjoyable debut novel.

The novel opens with Shek Yeung seeing her husband, the pirate king Cheng Yat, being mortally wounded by a Portuguese sailor. He's left half the Red Banner Fleet to her, half to his boyfriend Cheung Po. The story becomes one of Shek Yeung maneuvering among and occasionally beheading, rivals and seducing Cheung Po to maintain control over the fleet and keep her own head on her shoulders.

The book has an epic sweep and was a fascinating view into an place and era of which I knew little. I found it highly enjoyable.



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