Shelley Parker-Chan does it again in HE WHO DROWNED THE WORLD. Another edge-of-your-seat ride full of gender euphoria and plot twists that successfully ends the series begun in SHE WHO BECAME THE SUN.

Shelley Parker-Chan can do no wrong. This book was absolutely magnificent and worth the extended wait. 11/10

I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to really immerse myself into this because it had been a while since I’d read She Who Became The Sun. Turns out my worries were misplaced. It’s like the author laced these pages with carck because I was HOOKED from the very first page. The political intrigue and character development was all so well written. Shelly Parker Chan never misses.

Reading She Who Became the Sun, I repeatedly felt the urge to grab the main characters by the collar and yell, “for the love of god, get some fucking help”. The sequel excited no such compassionate impulse in me; instead, I was left wondering if bathing in holy water would be a viable solution to exorcise the monsters summoned by Shelley Parker-Chan.

There is no other way to put it: most of the characters in this novel are straight up demonic. There is villainy, and then there is Wang Baoxiang. I have never before read a fantasy book that could have so easily been a product of Dostoevskij’s imagination. The main cast members constantly one-up each other in terms of cruelty and depravity; just when you think it can’t possibly get any worse, someone shows up with a jar of pickled hands and you lose another shred of faith in humanity. I’d truly like to know what the author was going through while drafting this, because despite her claim that she doesn’t write grimdark, He Who Drowned the World very much reads like grimdark to me. It’s not so much that the violence is especially graphic, it’s that there is almost no respite from it.

The tone is markedly darker than in the prequel, and the narrative is permeated with a sense of oppressive hopelessness and despair. I can already tell that the main criticism readers will level at this book is that it’s too grim and cruel. While I understand where this sentiment comes from, I’ll admit that I wasn’t overly bothered by the turn things took. While the story could have come off as voyeuristic trauma porn in the hands of a less skilled writer, Parker-Chan managed to craft such three-dimensional and compelling characters that I found myself morbidly fascinated by their horrifying descent into madness.

It helps that the plot is fast-paced and action-packed, full of twists and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat. Despite knowing from the beginning how the series would end—this is, after all, a retelling of the first Ming emperor’s ascent to power—I could never predict what was going to happen next; in fact, I realized at one point that I had fifteen pages left in my e-book and the story hadn’t wrapped up at all. I think it’s truly a remarkable feat to keep one’s readers guessing until the last chapter of a five-hundred page tome.

What really made the book so enjoyable for me, however, were the characters. While the protagonist Zhu is definitely morally ambiguous, her antagonists reach such hellish levels of perversion that she almost seems like a well-adjusted human in comparison. I was captivated by their tragic arcs, their Machiavellian schemes, and their supremely twisted relationships with one another. Ultimately, this is a story about the value of self-acceptance and the devastating consequences of social rejection and self-hate, particularly in relation to gender identity and expression. I think the author effectively showed how self-loathing and bigotry can destroy not just the individual, but society as a whole.

This won’t be a book for everyone. If you like your characters to be at least partially redeemable, you might be better off skipping it. It was, however, a book for me. At the end of the day, I am a simple Wuthering Heights stan who incessantly gravitates towards tormented villains doomed by the narrative.

Haunting and yet beautiful, with an ending that felt harrowing but gloriously deserved. It's easy to write about pain and despair but one of the hardest things to try and lift characters out of it, but HE WHO DROWNED THE WORLD does both with deft skill and incisive confidence. Parker-Chan brings us to the darkest depths before offering a brilliant pinpoint beam of light back out.

Major thank you to Shelley Parker-Chan, Tor, and NetGalley for the DRC of this book.

Zhu Chongba is a girl who rose from nothing, assumed her brother’s identity, as well as his destiny for greatness. She took his destiny into her own hands and skyrocketed from a lowly peasant girl to the King who tore Southern China from Mongol rule. Now she has her sights set even higher - taking the entire Mongol Empire and crowning herself Emperor of China. Yet, she is not the only one with such ambitions. Her shattering of the Mongol’s control of the South sent ripples throughout all of China. Now, she not only has to contend against the Great Khan, but also several others with the Mandate of Heaven who see themselves on the throne. Zhu isn’t the only one willing to risk it all for a new dynasty - and she will have to prove that she will do whatever it takes to seize her newfound destiny and truly become the Radiant King, Zhu Yuanzhang.

Okay I cannot rave about this book enough. Parker-Chan shattered my expectations for the sequel in the best way - this was different from the original but the character development and depth is unparalleled. Truly, if you have any interest in alternate histories, Chinese history, Mulan, or LGBT+ stories - you need to read this.

I will say I was shocked at the crazy amount of kinky twists and intimacy in this one. But I mean that in a good sense - I was enthralled in these messy characters and their messy relationships. I was hooked and never wanted to put it down.

I really enjoyed how much this highlighted perspectives and stories from other characters. It was fascinating to follow Zhu's opponents and counterparts, and to really get a sense of the stakes. I also loved the depth that we got between Zhu and Ouyang.

This book really kicks you down and doesn't let up. It's juicy, it's messy, it's violent - and if you live for drama, BOY is there drama.

I can't say I love it as much as She Who Became the Sun - but I can say it is a sequel that lives up to its predecessor and makes for a satisfying duology.

As opposed to She Who Became the Sun, this book felt grander with higher stakes. Zhu, while still very much at the forefront, felt more like a piece in the puzzle rather than the sole focus. She was very much an important piece, mind you. But where the first book seemed to heavily focus on her with deviations from other POVs from time to time, He Who Drowned the World focuses a lot more on other POVs. And what's really interesting is how they all still point back to Zhu.

We get a lot from Ouyang who seems to be written as a sort of counterpart to Zhu—a "what if" in human form. What if Zhu wasn't confident in her own skin to know that her body is not the definition of her? What if she held resentment over everyone who assumed she was something she wasn't. Through Ouyang's perspective, we also see Zhu through the eyes of someone who does not know her. Zhu's pronouns are he/him in Ouyang's eyes, as opposed to the she/her that Zhu's or Ma's sections use. In this we see a reluctant sort of camaraderie: he sees himself in Zhu, or at least the person he thinks he is.

On a personal level, I found the book to be very enjoyable. I will say that while I thought the overall pacing was impeccable, some of the individual chapters and sections within seemed to drag. There was a lot of, "Yeah. Mhmm. K," going on in my head during those parts.

All in all, He Who Drowned the World tackles topics of self-identity, sacrifice, and confidence. Other characters certainly portray these elements separately. But Zhu embodies all of them at once, even if it means going through an existential crisis at what it means to sacrifice. The book is an excellent continuation and conclusion of She Who Became the Sun. Zhu's story will be unforgettable.

If I had to make a choice of She Who Became the Sun and He who Drowned the World I would have to go with SWBTS. I absolutely ATE UP that world building in the first book and by losing that in the second book it just made the story feel a little longer but it was still a great conclusion to the duology.
This story is dark - and you know the saying "it packs a punch" ? well, this book punches, and punches again, and doesn't let you back up, and then punches one more time for good measure. I had to read a fluffy fast paced romance afterwards just to wash the anxiety and dread from off of me. With that said, I loved it, haha.

A fantastic conclusion. Darker, more action-packed, more expansive and more introspective. A legit epic!

(1) First of all is it truly an epic sequel (pun intended) if it DOESN’T start with a helpful synopsis of whose armies and alliances stand where? I’m just saying, if you don’t need to give your audience that recap, you’ve gone wrong somewhere. Go back and add more battles, more alliances!!

For me this book was at the exact sequel sweet spot where I knew enough of the big picture that I never got confused but I still read it thinking “I bet this would be even better if I read it right after the first one so I remembered, say, *why* Chen Youliang is evil, or *how* Esen died” lol. Very promising in terms of reread potential.

(2) Love the Zhu Yuanzhang villain arc/Ouyang redemption arc overlap. So much of this book was “your beloved characters from book 1 finally meeting up/going to battle/teaming up/betraying each other/[redacted]ing each other/understanding each other like no one else can.” Call me Zhu because I ate that shit up like ******’s ***. 😜😂

(2) Wang Baoxiang…. 🫣🫣🫣🫣🫣🫣🫣🫣🫣 buddy. Buddy. 😰😰😰😰😧😧😧😧 He had me alternately screaming and cringing away from the pages of this book. Buddy!! Redefining toxic with literally every choice he makes, from the very beginning of this book he’s like “oh you think the bar can’t go any lower?? Gimme a sec” and then it keeps getting worse from there!! And for the record I did not expect to be this emotionally invested in a straight man, in this book of all places and yet here I am??

Also there’s a YouTube classical music compilation called A Playlist to Feel Like a 19th Century Villain Who Won the Game and honestly WBX needs one of those, the 14th Century edition. I mean what else is going to be the soundtrack as he swishes his way through Beijing?? (Other than the tortured screams of his enemies - and he’s already got that covered.)

(3) Look I love an old-school epic and this book just feels epic! The plot events are epic, the characters’ ambitions and motivations are epic, the scope is epic… I was legitimately worried that this book wouldn’t be able to match the high that She Who Became the Sun ended on - but He Who Drowned the World *starts* hectic, I was rapt *immediately*.

And actually there’s a sort of a mirrored tonal structure with the first book which I like a LOT. Of *course* these books had to be a duology, of *course*.

(4) This is a personal message to Ma Xiuying, please disregard if you are not Ma Xiuying. …Okay, Ma Xiuying, now that we’re alone and I can finally, finally relax - marry ME!! Melt MY cold cold heart!! Okay that’s all.

(5) And last but not least… Love an author who just goes for it frankly, all the way to the last word (which……!!). This is the right way to approach historical fantasy! Don’t just give me a basic narrative version of the historical record (or “record”), try to DO something with it!

Anyway, the tldr:

Me reading She Who Became the Sun: how can this author possibly top this in the sequel
This author: 🌞🌚

I've posted the review below on goodreads earlier but thought to pist it here to

Disclaimer: I got sent this on netgalley from Tor Publishing Group for a review but my thoughts and feelings are my own.

I read She who became the sun, last year and I was highly looking forward for the next one that comes out later this year.

The story hooked me like the first one and altough there is many characters it didn't feel confusing to read. The historic and action packed story felt epic, intriguing and very human. The characters in this book will stop at nothing or no one to get what they want, however cruel the situation might be. The characters are violent and ruthless but at the same time they show a lot of other emotions on the page such as grief, abanoment, selfdoubth and others which made the story feel very real.

But I will point out a containt warning on self harm.

4.5 stars

If you’re looking for morally grey characters, sweeping historical inspired fantasy, and murder-queers, you need to pick up this duology.

He Who Drowned the World is a sequel so I won’t go into too much detail because I don’t want to spoil the first book.

I loved this sequel a thousand times more than the first book. It delves so much deeper into the gender question (which was my favourite part of She Who Became the Sun), and the lengths people go to to achieve their goals. There are plots, conquests, betrayal and twists throughout the whole story, so you’re always on your toes. In spite of most of the characters being awful at times, I was really invested in all the storylines. I worried for my favourites’ wellbeing 100% of the time. It is not a fast-paced and full of action kind of story, but I enjoyed the deep dive into the human condition, and I liked seeing how the different characters justified their actions.

There were definitely a few slow parts throughout the book and the characters live in their own heads a lot, which can be quite the mix of exhausting and interesting. However, I think my biggest critique is that this book has immensely long chapters and most of the time I really struggle with that - especially if I am trying to read “just one more chapter” before bed and it’s over an hour long.

All in all, I found He Who Drowned the World to be an incredibly satisfying end to The Radiant Empire duology (yes, even with all the heartbreak) and I cannot wait to see what Shelley Parker-Chan writes next! I hope it will include more queers doing terrible things!

Thanks to Netgalley and Tor for giving me the chance to read an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. He Who Drowned the World is out in August 22.

If you thought "She Who Became the Sun" was a stunning introduction to a brutal world of politics, betrayal, and warfare, than get ready to be astonished once again with "He Who Drowned the World." Shelley Parker-Chan has written a satisfying conclusion to the duology that brings back all of the powers vying for the throne of imperial China and throws in several horrifying complications, double-crosses, unexpected allies and enemies, and so much more.

This is not to be missed.

Phenomenally written with an immersive sensitivity to the historical setting and a thrilling, edge-of-your-seat plot, He Who Drowned the World is a spectacular follow up to She Who Became the Sun. The cast of familiar characters compete and collaborate in intriguing combinations, and the central question of "In the end, will all of this be worth it?" keeps readers invested and guessing until the very end.

5/5 stars
Recommended if you like: fantasy, historical fantasy, Chinese fantasy, LGBTQ+ characters, morally gray characters

This review has been posted to Goodreads as of 4/24, my book review blog as of 5/3, and to Instagram as of 5/5.

TW: SA, rape

I'm always a little wary when I go into sequels of books that were really, really fantastic, but this one 100% lived up to expectations. The characters are in the midst of the effects/consequences of the end of the last book, and they grow and change throughout this one, but every one of them brings so much to this book. It's a fantastic follow up to She Who Became the Sun.

The plot feels very high stakes, and while there are parts where things are a bit quieter, you can still really feel that throughout the book. There's a lot of strategizing and re-strategizing and risk taking, which I enjoyed, and there's a palpable feeling of all these characters being so close to what they've been striving so hard for. This book is also definitely darker than the previous one (and there's also a lot more sex).

Zhu continues to pursue her dreams of greatness and builds on her victories from the previous book. naming herself the Radiant King seems to have stabilized some of her ruthlessness, but that streak is still in her and you can see it in how she strategizes and plans. I loved seeing Zhu's growth in this book as she gets closer and closer to her goal. There are definitely some major moments of growth and realization for her and we get to see a bit better how Zhu conceptualizes the Heavenly Mandate and becoming emperor/great. (Also, as a side note, I love the batshit crazy side plans she comes up with to make sure everything works).

Ouyang remains a main character in this book and we get to see exactly what toll was extracted from him after the ending of book 1. Ouyang is still on his path of revenge, but Esen's death has also changed him for the darker. Yet at the same time that suffering seems to have also opened his mind to alternative methods of getting what he wants (and by that I mean we get to see him and Zhu interact!). He's definitely a changed person from the previous book, but those underlying threads of him are still there and they really show when he has something to concentrate on, like, say, fighting a battle.

Ma returns as a POV character as well! I believe she gets fewer POV scenes than the last book, but I enjoyed getting to see things from her perspective. She's one of the few characters in this book who is not grasping for the throne or the death of the person on the throne (even if she wants Zhu to succeed, I think we all know she is no killer). Like before, Ma advises caution and a less ruthless approach to victory, and she drops some lovely pearls of wisdom for pretty much any character she spends any length of time with. Her scenes were a nice break from the scheming.

Baoxiang gets his own POV in this one. He's been quite busy with his schemes since the end of the last book and we get to see just how much more scheming he has to do in this one. Of all of them, I definitely think Baoxiang might be the most ruthless, though he competes for that title with Madame Zhang. There's a lot going on internally with Baoxiang and, ironically for them, both he and Ouyang are dealing with similar turmoil re: Esen, just perhaps with slightly different underlying feelings. While we got a hint of it in the last book, I was pleasantly surprised to see just how cunning Baoxiang can be when it comes to getting what he wants.

Madam Zhang also gets her own POV, which was interesting. Unlike most of the other characters, who are brimming with something, Madam Zhang is surprisingly void most of the time. She definitely has moments, more so toward the end of the book, of rage, but for the most part she seems to experience things at a distance from herself. As had been hinted previously, she is the rather strategic powerhouse behind the Zhang salt empire, and we get to see that being utilized more viciously and with a greater focus on the throne than before.

Xu Da returns as a side character and as before I greatly enjoyed his and Zhu's interactions. Zhu is really the only person whose side characters really carried over from the previous book, so we get to see a lot of them again. Ouyang has two of his commanders still, Geng and Chu, but they're relegated much farther back than before and, of course, Baoxiang is a main character in this book. Otherwise, we get a lot of new characters! I particularly liked some of the ones Zhu picks up.

Like before, this book really has a conversation about gender and identity and personhood. It's changed slightly since the last book since the characters have grown and we've added new POV characters to the mix. I enjoyed seeing how the conversation moved forward in this book and how each character came to a decision/realization about their own beliefs and identities.

This was a fantastic conclusion to this duology and I probably couldn't have asked for a better second book. Each character has a fitting ending, though I am sad about some of them, and I think the way things played out is true both to the story and the characters.

"Surely this book can't be as emotionally devastating as book 1," she thought foolishly, right before Shelley Parker-Chan delivered this brutal and gutting sequel. "Surely not."


Many thanks to Tor and NetGalley for providing me with this ARC!

One thing about Shelley Parker-Chan is that they're going to come up with an incredible title to go with their remarkable writing. I absolutely loved She Who Became the Sun and I was so, so excited to get the ARC of He Who Drowned the World. This was...beyond words. Ineffable? That's it. A perfect way to wrap up the duology. Shelley Parker-Chan is an auto-buy author for me now. I will read anything they write and He Who Drowned the World just confirmed that. If I could rate it higher than 5 I would!!

I don't feel like this book works as a standalone, so we won't be actively purchasing for our libraries. While I didn't find myself personally gripped, those who enjoyed book 1 will surely enjoy this one.

Beautiful cover. Kudos, marketing team.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for the ARC.

First of all thank you SO much for this ARC, it's one of my most anticipated reads and I already have it pre-ordered. This was an absolute masterclass and I cannot wait to see what the author writes next.

Spectacularly written and incredibly intense. Every bit as good as she who became the sun, and I think, the darkness that resides in this book was the perfect balance. This was such and enjoyable read, even if it raised my blood pressure more than it calmed it. Shelley Parker-Chan is a wordsmith that builds amazing worlds with her sentences. It’s almost impossible to not feel like you are walking alongside these characters. Amazing read.

First, a thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I want to start this review by saying that I view the duet of The Radiant Emperor duology is a modern masterpiece. And I absolutely do not state this or use that term lightly. I think people will read this duology for years to come, write dissertations on it, list it as some of their top reads of all time - and live rent-free in the minds of many for ages.

I am absolutely of those such people.

I have been absolutely starved for the conclusion to this story ever since I read She Who Became the Sun (if you're curious, you can read my review of that book here) which feels like was both ages ago and only yesterday to me. I kept eagerly searching Netgalley to see if this was available - how fortuitous for me that while I was on vacation, I got an email from the publisher via Netgalley inviting me to read and review! Fate found me worthy of early reading of this book, and who was I to refuse?

It is still absolutely astounding to me that this is Parker-Chan's second book published (for all I know they've written a ton of other books, just not published with a major publishing house before) because the writing, the character development, the plot... Beautiful. Stunning. Impressive. 10/10

To harken back to my review of the first book, the common thread of tragedy, despair, and how one can deal with their grief came back full-force in this second novel. To see the way we are woven together through pain - every character in this book felt acutely human. Even when doing the inhumane, even while falling deeper into the assumption of monstrosity cast upon them, I felt deeply for the characters in this book. How so many of them felt victim to the cruel way society typecasts and then discards those who do not fit into a mold.

There were so many amazing quotes strewn throughout this book - and, impressively, none of them felt try-hard or like a reach - each was delivered like a ghostly squeeze to my heart, causing me to catch my breath and go back to read over and over again.

Like, for pete's sake, listen to this beautiful prose - and these are only a small handful of what I highlighted in my eARC:

His anger surged. Lately, since - events - he had the idea of his anger as a permanent dark sea inside him, sloshing and unstable. All it took was a single disturbance for that potential to gather into a tsunami of rage and hate. It was hard to imagine how he hadn't always been like this. He loved how completely the black feeling grabbed him. How obliterating and consuming it felt, and how it would never not feel that way because, unlike other emotions, it was infinite and inexhaustible.


When he opened his hand, the Mandate of Heaven rushed out of him with a hissing sensation of pure, vicious pleasure. The black flame on his palm wasn't light, but darkness, and it poured out of him until the room was drowned.


But instead of cowering from the sensation, as ordinary people did, he seemed to be pressing himself into it: there was no space at all between him and his suffering.


She felt a cavernous violence. She wanted to tear the guilt out of him with her teeth, and spit the soft, bloody mess of it into the refuse.


To witness him being undone beneath her touch was like feeling the shore being eaten away beneath her feet by a tide that was stronger and greater than herself. Even as she screamed and struggled against it, she knew: the force that was wrenching him away from her was the cold implacability of fate.


There are also some absolutely stunning quotes at the end of the book, but I will save those since I don't want to spoil anything for anyone.

This is already my favorite read of the year, and even though we are not even halfway through I suspect it will remain my favorite. I already know this book will be one of my all-time favorites, across the ages, across genres, and across my life. Absolutely spectacular.

Even if you aren't a big fantasy fan, I think you should take the time to read this duology. Everyone should read these books.

I will read any book Parker-Chan ever publishes; they have become one of my favorite authors of all time.