Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao

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Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao
Published by Margaret K. McElderry Books on May 10, 2022
Age Group & Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Science Fiction
Representation: Hui Chinese American Muslim gay protagonist, primarily Chinese cast (one Miao Chinese and one Hui Chinese Muslim side characters)
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: Publisher

A middle grade contemporary fantasy that follows a young boy as he journeys across China to seal the underworld shut and save the mortal realm.

Zachary Ying never had many opportunities to learn about his Chinese heritage. His single mom was busy enough making sure they got by, and his schools never taught anything except Western history and myths. So Zack is woefully unprepared when he discovers he was born to host the spirit of the First Emperor of China for a vital mission: sealing the leaking portal to the Chinese underworld before the upcoming Ghost Month blows it wide open.

The mission takes an immediate wrong turn when the First Emperor botches his attempt to possess Zack’s body and binds to Zack’s AR gaming headset instead, leading to a battle where Zack’s mom’s soul gets taken by demons. Now, with one of history’s most infamous tyrants yapping in his headset, Zack must journey across China to heist magical artifacts and defeat figures from history and myth, all while learning to wield the emperor’s incredible water dragon powers.

And if Zack can’t finish the mission in time, the spirits of the underworld will flood into the mortal realm, and he could lose his mom forever.

A copy of the book was provided for review purposes - thank you! Receiving a copy does not guarantee a positive review and therefore does not affect the opinion or content of the review.

Trigger & Content Warnings: racism (mentions of, internalized), suicide

Although I didn’t like Iron Widow as much as I hoped I did, I absolutely loved Xiran Jay Zhao’s writing style — the few things that didn’t work for me in their debut wouldn’t stop me from picking up their future works. I knew full well walking into Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor that it would be entertaining and enjoyable, and the pitch of Chinese Percy Jackson and Yu-Gi-Oh? I have an absolute need for this book and I might even hug it.

Zhao’s debut middle-grade novel was an absolute joy to read — those who have read Iron Widow will recognize a few elements they’ve carried over: this novel is action-packed, entertaining, and there’s a blend of Chinese history and legends. I loved seeing familiar figures my mom has mentioned in the few times she did talk about my heritage, seeing them wield magic inspired by those stories and how this was tied in with AR gaming as well through the headset Zack uses to play Mythrealm. I especially loved the little bios that would pop in Zack’s headset as he encounters them.

While there is a lot of information Zhao covers that sometimes feels overwhelming, especially for a middle-grade reader, it’s definitely much less info-dumpy than what I felt with Iron Widow. It also feels absolutely spot-on: we learn quickly that Zack never had many opportunities to learn about his Chinese heritage due to his mother being busy working and his schools only teaching Western history and legends. He’s pretty much thrown headfirst into everything and learning as he goes when he learns he’s a descendant of the First Emperor of China and born to host his spirit so he can help seal the portal to the Underworld before the Ghost Month begins.

Zack’s struggle with his identity and complicated relationship with China is explored quite a bit — his feelings of isolation and loneliness because of the way he looked and talked, the desire to fit in with his predominantly white classmates by letting their comments slide and throwing out lunch his mom made, etc. Even when Zack finally feels he may have found people who could relate to his struggles as he goes on his journey across China, he still felt like an imposter and fraud because he didn’t understand the language, legends, and history as much as his companions did. As someone who grew up as the only (or few) Asian kids in school, Zack’s struggles and feelings spoke so much to me.

I honestly enjoyed this more than their young adult debut, so if you weren’t a huge fan of Iron Widow or struggled a little but loved Zhao’s writing style like me, you might feel the same with Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor. If you’ve not read their other novel but you love middle-grade novels with adventure and humor, this might be up your alley as well. Overall, this was a fun read and I loved every moment.