About the Author

Molly X. Chang is a first-generation immigrant born in Harbin, China. Molly grew up on Manchurian folklore and was raised by grandparents who taught her to take pride in the heritages and cultures that shaped her life, and the harrowing history of the ancestors who’d come before her.

She began learning English at age 13 after devouring Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series and has harboured a love for books ever since. By age 16, she was posting stories on Wattpad between classes, where those books garnered over 100 million reads. Molly is currently based in London, UK.

To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods is her debut novel, and the first in an epic YA fantasy trilogy. Now available as of 18th April 2024, and can be found here.

Synopsis

Inspired by the Opium Wars, Manchurian ghost stories and the Russian and Japanese occupations of Manchuria, To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods is an epic-colonial YA fantasy from an exciting debut author Molly X. Chang. Perfect for fans of Red Queen, These Violent Delights and Iron Widow.

Penguin Random House gave Asian Leadership Collective’s Beverly Tran the opportunity to delve into the inspirations behind Chang’s narrative, the fusion of cultures and themes, and the importance of representation in literature for ESEA authors and readers alike

Q&A

You mention that this book was inspired by your grandfather’s stories of Manchuria under occupation. How important was it for you to write a story embedded in your heritage and include the language, such as the Chinese characters and sayings weaved throughout? 

So much of this story is inspired by memories of my grandparents. I wrote it the summer after both of my grandmothers passed in the same summer. This book is something born out of grief and longing. I am bilingual and I originally wrote the Chinese phrases as they came to me. When I went back to translate them, I grew attached to these characters from my first language, and the language I spoke with my grandparents. I decided to keep them as a form of homage.

This story weaves together so many themes of love, family, honour, respect, sacrifice, morality and survival. These are themes we see a lot in the East and Southeast Asian (ESEA) community particularly relating to sacrifices our ancestors made for us. What drew you to including these themes in this book, especially for a YA audience and what impact do you think it will have on your readers?

I think filiality has always been big for me. I grew up in China where things such as hard work, always doing your homework and getting good grades are just things ingrained in me (my grandparents used to yell at me if I ever left my homework to the last minute, so they trained me well!). After I left home, and it was just me and my mother in a foreign land for years and years. I came to really miss and appreciate things that I used to take for granted such as the whole family sitting around a crowded table and that sense of belonging which I rarely felt as a teenage immigrant.

Some of the main dichotomies we see in the story are between magic vs. science, Chinese legends and mythology vs. Roman gods and science. What did you find in your research of both sides and were there more similarities that we think between the ‘opposing’ ideas? Did you envisage a world where they could exist in harmony?

So much of the magic vs science aspect is inspired by my grandfather’s stories of China in the 19^th and 20^th century when we used to fight our invaders with swords and arrows while they brought guns and rifles, made from things that we had invented. There is a saying my grandfather used to say: 落后就要挨打 which means ‘when you fall behind, you will get beaten’. I thought about this a lot during the writing of To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods, and what would have happened if we had magic to fight the technologies of our invaders?

Ruying is a strong female protagonist from ESEA heritage and we see lots of other strong female characters in this book such as Meiya, Ruying’s grandmother and Taohua. Did you see any representation like this in books you read growing up and could you share your views on the importance of representation in literature and publishing? 

After I left China, I never saw any ESEA representation. Nobody looked like me, and for years I didn’t think people like me were worthy of being heroes, and my first books all revolved around white protagonists. But as I grew up, I came to realize how wrong that was and how I wish to make sure the next generation of readers won’t experience what I had experienced.

At Asian Leadership Collective, we love storytelling through food and sharing these via our #ESEAEats. There are mentions of many familiar ESEA foods such as osmanthus cakes, lychees, tanghulu, hawthorn berries and black bean noodles. What are some of your favourite #ESEAEats that remind you of home and that you would recommend people try?

I grew up in Harbin, which is famous for its lamb skewers and tanghulus, so those are childhood favourites. And of course, I will never say no to hot pot—especially when the weather is cold!. In terms of what I would recommend people to try; there is this dish called 锅包肉 (guo bao ruo), crispy sweet and sour pork, which I believe is a northern dish, and I am obsessed with it!

The interaction between Ruying and Antony as we progress through the book becomes more intertwined and we see the ‘different worlds’ they come from merging – sometimes clashing. Ruying often talks about Chinese tradition and customs and Antony talks about Rome and the ‘greater good’. Conflict is never as easy as ‘good’ and ‘bad’ and there are often grey areas. In modern day, do you think Ruying and Antony would have this same conflict and do you see a more accepting world of ESEA culture now? 

I see Ruying and Antony as two halves of the same coin. They are both incredibly strong characters and very stubborn to their core because this is what they had to become to survive. But the two of them want very different things at the end of the day, so regardless of culture and worlds, as long as they stand on the opposite sides of a conflict/disagreement, they were always destined to clash.

Without giving away too many spoilers, what do you see for Ruying’s future? 

Pain…!! Pain and empowerment. I am extremely excited for her journey throughout the trilogy, and I will leave it at that….

I would love to see this book being made into a series or a film. Who would be your dream casting for your characters? 

I would love for the books to be made into a TV series, because I would love to see so much more of this world explored with more episodes and time. And I actually don’t have a dream cast, I am one of those people who sees absolutely nothing unless I’m looking at a picture, but I watched the new hunger games movie recently and Tom Blyth as a blonde gave me major Antony vibes.

Which authors inspired you growing up and do you have any books from ESEA authors you would recommend? 

Sabaa Tahir. She was the first author of colour I saw writing books as a kid. I love her so much, and she is just one of the kindest and genuinely nice humans I have come across in this industry. She has a book called Heir that is coming later this year, and I couldn’t be more excited!

Do you have any advice for any aspiring ESEA authors?

Write the book you want to read, stay true to your vision, and good luck! I’m rooting for you!