DEEP AS THE SKY, RED AS THE SEA

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 protégé, 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.