Mulan Must-Reads: 7 Epic Books with Women Warriors

March 16 2020
Share Mulan Must-Reads: 7 Epic Books with Women Warriors

As a child, I was absolutely obsessed with Mulan. I was the proud owner of four Mulan Barbie dolls collected across multiple birthdays, the Mulan computer game, the Mulan soundtrack, and—of course—Mulan on VHS. And there’s no question that I’ve seen the movie several hundred times. So, I was definitely excited when the Mulan live-action remake was first announced, and I’ve been thrilled to hear this film will stay closer to the source material—even if we’re losing everyone’s favorite talking dragon. (Never fear. You can always rewatch the original film for more dishonor to be placed upon your cow.) While the movie’s original release date of March 27 has been moved back to an undetermined date, I still wanted to share some books that remind me of this amazing story of a strong woman fighting to protect her family and save China. Hopefully these must-reads help pass the time until the movie premieres. 

This post was originally published on GetLiterary.com.

The Island of Sea Women
by Lisa See

Do you love Mulan because she defies her patriarchal society, saves her country, and is overall hard-core? Of course you do! And that’s why Lisa See’s The Island of Sea Women is the perfect book for you. This historical novel, based on true events, shares the story of the haenyeo, female divers living in a matriarchal society on an island off the coast of South Korea. These women, fierce and resilient—survivors of gruesome wars and hardships—support their families by completing the almost impossible physical feat of diving deep into the ocean without any equipment.

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The Island of Sea Women
Lisa See

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“A mesmerizing new historical novel” (O, The Oprah Magazine) from Lisa See, the bestselling author of The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, about female friendship and devastating family secrets on a small Korean island.

Mi-ja and Young-sook, two girls living on the Korean island of Jeju, are best friends who come from very different backgrounds. When they are old enough, they begin working in the sea with their village’s all-female diving collective, led by Young-sook’s mother. As the girls take up their positions as baby divers, they know they are beginning a life of excitement and responsibility—but also danger.

Despite their love for each other, Mi-ja and Young-sook find it impossible to ignore their differences. The Island of Sea Women takes place over many decades, beginning during a period of Japanese colonialism in the 1930s and 1940s, followed by World War II, the Korean War, through the era of cell phones and wet suits for the women divers. Throughout this time, the residents of Jeju find themselves caught between warring empires. Mi-ja is the daughter of a Japanese collaborator. Young-sook was born into a long line of haenyeo and will inherit her mother’s position leading the divers in their village. Little do the two friends know that forces outside their control will push their friendship to the breaking point.

“This vivid…thoughtful and empathetic” novel (The New York Times Book Review) illuminates a world turned upside down, one where the women are in charge and the men take care of the children. “A wonderful ode to a truly singular group of women” (Publishers Weekly), The Island of Sea Women is a “beautiful story…about the endurance of friendship when it’s pushed to its limits, and you…will love it” (Cosmopolitan).

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Women Warriors
by Pamela D. Toler

Have you seen the recent news stories about the discovery of graves of female Viking warriors? Have you thought their stories would make equally good Disney films? It can’t just be me, right? So, for the Disney executives reading this post, I highly recommend checking out Women Warriors. This well-researched book details the stories of women warriors throughout history. From the West African ruler who led her warriors for thirty years in a fight to expand their territory, to the female leader who killed Cyrus the Great of Persia, there are so many awesome women to read about. And plenty of ideas for new films just in case it’s determined we don’t really need Frozen 7.

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Women Warriors
Pamela D. Toler

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The Incarnations
by Susan Barker

I adore this novel. It begins with a Beijing taxi driver finding a series of letters left in his cab. Each letter claims to describe one of the driver’s past lives, intertwining Chinese folklore with real events from the age of Genghis Khan to the Opium Wars. This is the perfect story if you love Mulan for its fantastical look at Chinese history and culture, and it will leave you thinking about reincarnation and the journey of our souls. I highly recommend reading it with a friend because you’ll want to talk together about this one after.

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The Incarnations
Susan Barker

Read a Book Wherein All Point-of-View Characters Are People of Color

Taxi driver Wang begins to receive unusual letters from a mysterious “soul mate” that are filled with the stories of his previous lives—from escaping a marriage to a spirit bride, to being a slave on the run from Genghis Khan, to living as a fisherman during the Opium Wars. With each letter, Wang becomes more convinced that someone is watching him—someone who claims to have known him for more than 1,000 years.

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The Woman Warrior
by Maxine Hong Kingston

I first tried to read this memoir as an assignment for a multicultural studies class I took as an undergrad, and I’ll be honest, I was taking 22 credits—nine of them in French—in over my head, and didn’t finish it. Already recognizing just how gorgeous this memoir is, though, I swore to myself I would return to it one day, and I’m so glad I did. Maxine Hong Kingston shares her family’s stories, intertwining them with folklore and giving voice to legendary Chinese heroine Fa Mu Lan. It’s an immersive look at a Chinese-American upbringing and culture, centered around the women—fictional and real—that played a significant role in the author’s life.

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The Woman Warrior
Maxine Hong Kingston

This is the only book on this list by a Chinese-American writer—a category of books that is hugely important to me both professionally and personally, so much so that I could make a list composed entirely of those. THE WOMAN WARRIOR launched the publication of all subsequent novels about the Chinese-American experience. It captures so many themes that are important to me as a writer: women’s history, the Chinese-American experience, the West, race and racism, and the nebulous borders between history, what Maxine Hong Kingston’s mother called “talk-stories,” and fairy tales, legends, and myths.

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Hild
by Nicola Griffith

So, you loved Mulan as a child, but maybe, as an adult, you’re kind of wishing it didn’t just end with her returning home. (For the record, I refuse to acknowledge the direct-to-DVD release of Mulan II as part of the Mulan canon, so we’re starting from the premise that Mulan returned home, invited Shang over for dinner, and he might have stayed forever, but that’s where it ends.) Maybe you wish she’d accepted the Emperor’s offer of an advisory position and went on to rise to further power. If you’re looking for a story that involves an intelligent woman bending the ear of the king, I recommend checking out Nicola Griffith’s Hild. The title character establishes herself as the king’s seer, amassing an increasing amount of power as she defies the expectations set for her gender, rides into battle, and becomes a formidable political strategist—maybe exactly what Mulan would have done if she’d taken a different path.

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Hild
Nicola Griffith

So, you loved Mulan as a child, but maybe, as an adult, you’re kind of wishing it didn’t just end with her returning home. (For the record, I refuse to acknowledge the direct-to-DVD release of Mulan II as part of the Mulan canon, so we’re starting from the premise that Mulan returned home, invited Shang over for dinner, and he might have stayed forever, but that’s where it ends.) Maybe you wish she’d accepted the Emperor’s offer of an advisory position and went on to rise to further power. If you’re looking for a story that involves an intelligent woman bending the ear of the king, I recommend checking out Nicola Griffith’s Hild. The title character establishes herself as the king’s seer, amassing an increasing amount of power as she defies the expectations set for her gender, rides into battle, and becomes a formidable political strategist—maybe exactly what Mulan would have done if she’d taken a different path.

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MENTIONED IN:

Mulan Must-Reads: 7 Epic Books with Women Warriors

By Erin Madison | March 16, 2020

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Circe
by Madeline Miller

I’ve heard that the new Mulan movie has a witch—how cool is that?—so that makes Circe an obvious addition to this list. While Circe focuses around mythology from a very different part of the world than China—Greece—it includes many of the themes seen in Mulan. Circe is a child of the gods, but born without her parents’ powers, she finds companionship in the world of mortals, discovering that she actually has a knack for witchcraft. Banished by a threatened Zeus to a deserted island, she hones her powers, ultimately finding herself standing against both men and gods as she fights to protect those she loves.

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Circe
Madeline Miller

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Leviathan
by Scott Westerfeld

Another of my favorite “girl-disguises-as-a-boy-to-join-the-army” tales, Leviathan is the first in a steampunk trilogy featuring Deryn Sharp, a girl who dresses as a male in order to join the British Air Service. In this alternate-timeline World War I story, the British Darwinists use genetically altered animals as weapons—and airships—while Germany is known as a “Clanker” nation that relies on machines. Deryn serves aboard a giant airship made from a whale and must fight to keep her real identity a secret while her ship becomes part of an important diplomatic mission involving the son of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

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Leviathan
Scott Westerfeld

It is the cusp of World War I. The Austro-Hungarians and Germans have their Clankers, steam-driven iron machines loaded with guns and ammunition. The British Darwinists employ genetically fabricated animals as their weaponry. Their Leviathan is a whale airship, and the most masterful beast in the British fleet.

Aleksandar Ferdinand, a Clanker, and Deryn Sharp, a Darwinist, are on opposite sides of the war. But their paths cross in the most unexpected way, taking them both aboard the Leviathan on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure….One that will change both their lives forever.

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Mulan Must-Reads: 7 Epic Books with Women Warriors

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