“I prefer Empress Orchid to this. There is too much poiltics involved in this book, something I don't fancy. Also, more years are squeezed into this book, watering down the narration. At times, especially in parts about politics, Orchid seems to have lost her voice and Anchee Min's voice comes in as a third person narrator. I find it also unrealistic when Orchid says "future historians would label me as..." or "future historical records would say that..." This is written from her point of view, and presupposes that all her 'knowledge' would end when she dies. Hence how is it realistic for her to comment on what future historians say or write? Unless I am assuming wrongly that 'future' here happens after her death (it sounds very much like it, though, and in any case, it is open to interpretation). I enjoyed Empress Orchid a whole lot more as it detailed the inner workings of the court and how she climbed her way up. More drama there, than this book which merely speeds through Chinese political history at the turn of the century.”
