Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea

A Novel

By: Rita Chang-Eppig

Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller

Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

For listeners of Outlawed, Piranesi, and The Night Tiger, a riveting, roaring adventure novel about a legendary Chinese pirate queen, her fight to save her fleet from the forces allied against them, and the dangerous price of power

When Shek Yeung sees a Portuguese sailor slay her husband, a feared pirate, she knows she must act swiftly or die. Instead of mourning, Shek Yeung launches a new plan: immediately marrying her husband’s second-in-command, and agreeing to bear him a son and heir, in order to retain power over her half of the fleet.

But as Shek Yeung vies for control over the army she knows she was born to lead, larger threats loom. The Chinese Emperor has charged a brutal, crafty nobleman with ridding the South China Seas of pirates, and the Europeans—tired of losing ships, men, and money to Shek Yeung’s alliance—have new plans for the area. Even worse, Shek Yeung’s cutthroat retributions create problems all their own. As Shek Yeung navigates new motherhood and the crises of leadership, she must decide how long she is willing to fight, and at what price, or risk losing her fleet, her new family, and even her life.

A book of salt and grit, blood and sweat, Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea is an unmissable portrait of a woman who leads with the courage and ruthlessness of our darkest and most beloved heroes.

©2023 Rita Chang-Eppig (P)2023 Blackstone Publishing

Fascinating

I enjoyed this story and was fascinated by the Chinese culture, pirates, the role of woman and the gods of folklore. The main character is brave and smart and I was captivated by her story of trying to survive in a society where the odds are stacked against her. Some of the stories are like little pearls of wisdom. I recommend this book and narration.

An excellently performed tale of a towering figure

My book club chose this as our book for October, and I’m glad they did. Compared to many of our other books, this felt like a comparatively quick read, and like many of our books, detailed a strong female protagonist and the forces she is up against.

The narrator did a great job of embodying the character in all her folly and fury, and was a joy to listen to.

Story wise, it was fun to learn about a person I had only heard of in passing. While pirates are oft romanticized, I really appreciate how this focused more on the way it affected China, as opposed to more European powers.

Personally, I felt the story petered out a little at the end. But overall it was a thoughtful book with some suspense, great narration, and a neat tale to tell.

Long, not a page turner

This book was recommended on a morning talk show, and I was quite interested in listening. I have always been fascinated by Chinese history and culture. The narrative was monotone, and it was difficult to keep all the characters straight due to unfamiliar names. Not sad. I finish the book, but I would not recommend it to anyone.

Interesting story

Enjoyable story - excellent narration. If you are looking for a story about pirates in China, this is a great option.

Beautiful! Poignant!

Not a dull moment, fascinating, gripping, even transcendent. What is the measure of a life?

Excellent Narration!

Listener,
This was beautifully narrated. The narrator’s inflection gave a depth to the characters that enhanced the story.

All Character Little Plot

Story started out well and with a lot of promise but it stayed that way through out, waiting for something to happen. The characters were well developed and interesting, however not much came of the reader leaning more about them.

Unique story

This story was unique , describing role of women and motherhood that I had never considered. In the overall picture parallels
Can be made between the women who commanded pirate ships and the women of today.

Great historical, imagining of most interesting pirate leaders the world has ever seen 

The story was well taught told very interesting, and very graphically depicted. It certainly explained the challenges, and unfortunately difficult decisions that had to be made for so many people that were abducted by pirates enforce into their ranks in the south China Sea however, the protagonist played a much larger more important role historically, and I couldn’t help but think the story, and it separates to make it personal Never really described the height and significance of the protect this role.

Slow and Boring

The story is slow and boring, because the author spends too much time on an uninteresting love story that adds nothing to the plot. The narrator read so slowly that I had to speed up the recording just to stay awake. If you want an interesting story about a badass female pirate, look somewhere else!