“The daughter of the Moon Goddess” by Sue Lynn Tann is a really cool Asian
inspired fantasy world using real Asian legends and the heroine is very
strong and talented. I love reading fantasy books the most but usually they
are set in a more European inspired fantasy world so it was awesome to see
an Asian inspired one!
The book is based on the legend of the Moon goddess of how she came to be
on the moon. While there are many different versions of the story, the book
focuses on the version where the moon goddess was originally a normal
mortal happily married to a legendary archer. Ten suns had risen and
scorched the earth leaving the people on the land desolate and starving.
The moon goddess’s husband took his bow and shot down nine of the suns,
leaving only one behind for the humans to use. As a reward for his bravery
and skill, he was awarded an immortality potion which he gave to his wife
for safe keeping. However while he was out one day, invaders came to his
home where his wife was and tried to steal the immortality potion. Rather
than give up the potion, the wife swallowed it and ascended to the moon
becoming an immortal leaving behind her husband sadly. This is where the
story begins, focusing on the daughter of this moon goddess who lives in
isolation on the moon with her mother as technically the daughter is a
secret.
While the original legend ends with the moon goddess ascending to the moon,
this book gives a captivating tale of what happens afterwards and how the
characters involved feel. The heroine has a strong relationship with her
mother and this theme is prevalent throughout the book as she works hard to
save her mother after her mother is imprisoned by the Celestial Emperor for
secretly having a child. It’s nice to see a heroine with a strong
relationship with their parent as it is common in many books and tropes for
the main character to lose their parents entirely to propel them forward to
their destiny while here, she is motivated to save and return to her
family, her mother. While there is some romance in the book, it is not the
main focus which is nice and also not the typical boy meets girl trope
which is refreshing.
Overall, I recommend the book to anyone interested in a fun read and there
is a sequel called “Heart of the Sun warrior.”