Wu Zetian with bound feet and as a pilot? You bet
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In the dystopian world of Xiran Jay Zhao's novel Iron Widow, humanity is under attack by aliens.
Girls and boys are drafted into the military to pilot Chrysalises, towering mecha fighting machines, in pairs. The girls - or "concubines" - usually do not survive because their minds are consumed by the male pilots to power the Chrysalises.

