I was such a fan of "She Who Became the Sun", the first book in this military fantasy duology by Shelley Parker-Chan. I gobbled it up in 2021 and spent a solid week afterward gutted, shocked at my reaction: I tend to prefer a cozy vibe with fantasy, and "She Who Became the Sun" had *claws*. A searing conversation about gender, identity, fate, and violence in a fantastical 14th century China, it rocked my world with its complex, intriguing characters and thrillingly told battles. Zhu Chongba became one of my favorite antiheroes of all time; her burning ambition threatened to render her without the burden of human feelings, and she teetered on the edge of cruelty. Where would she inevitably fall?

I approached "He Who Drowned the World" with excitement but also trepidation - in the years since devouring "She Who Became the Sun", I'd expanded my fantasy reading to include some grittier stuff. I hadn't reread it, and was wondering to myself: would I connect as immediately with these characters a second time? Would this duology conclude satisfyingly?

Yes, and yes. "He Who Drowned the World" is a light-footed masterpiece.

We return to the middle of the action set up in "She Who Became the Sun": several players are eyeing the position of Great Khan for their own, Zhu being one of them. Also in the mix is corrupted scholar, Wang Baoxiang, Madam Zhang with her salt fortune, a new character called Third Prince due to his tentative position of inheritance (he was born of a consort, rather than the Empress), and several other contenders that pose dangers unseen. Ouyang, a eunuch general, has a simpler goal in mind: to kill the Great Khan as revenge for what was done to his family and himself. Luckily for him, his desire to kill the Great Khan aligns nicely with others' goals of taking his throne - meaning Ouyang is a useful eunuch to know.

I spent most of the weekend reading this book. I'm a quick reader, and 500 pages should generally take me a little over 6 or 7 hours, but I kept having to set the book down. I kept writing down my favorite quotes. I needed breaks. I annoyed my housemates muttering horrified expletives under my breath at plot developments. I cried on and off from about 60% of the book onward until the end.

What delights me most about this series is how effortlessly Shelley Parker-Chan makes you feel for these characters. I hated each and every one of them in turn - they're selfish, greedy, cruel, and petty - but nonetheless with a few moments of care, I mourned with them. I burned with them. I wanted them each to succeed despite the cruelties of the world closing in. This is not a happy book. Characters make bad decisions that have worse consequences. Beloved people die. And yet after clawing my way to the plot's apex, what touched my heart most was the love and empathy Parker-Chan clearly felt for each one of these complete jerks of characters. And I, too, loved them, and empathized with them.

Mind the trigger warnings for this one - it's bleak. But it's also one of the best books I read all year, and possibly the last five years.

Shelley Parker-Chan's second book is somehow even better than the first. This is a solid 5-star read. The characters, the world, the plot are all A+. Highly recommend!

Fucked up people… do fucked up shit. Ruthlessly brutal and devastating. I am scrubbed emotionally raw. This was such a wonderful end to this duology. It lived up to, if not surpassed the first book. God the characters, their complexities, I’m a mess! My favourite complicated, murderpusThank you NetGalley for the ARC.

This is horrific, brutal, dark-- and absolutely stunning. A worthy successor to She Who Became the Sun. I will be endlessly singing praises of these two books. Any library collection would be lucky to have these two masterpieces!

Vicious, and savage; heart-wrenching, distressing, stunning, and shocking; twisty, and relentless, and deeply powerful.

Pretty much what you'd expect after She Who Became The Sun, although possibly More. Just... more.

Do not read this without She Who Became the Sun. You definitely want to read She Who Became; and this will make no sense without that first book.

Zhu appears to be on her way to becoming emperor. There are some seemingly insurmountable obstacles in her way, but she's already overcome several of those in her life so why should these be any different? Of course, you should be expecting the unexpected when it comes to Parker-Chan's treatment of her characters: so there are unexpected alliances and betrayals, unexpected deaths and survivals, and overall an utterly relentless and at time frightening drive from Zhu to claim her destiny. The question is frequently asked: is it worth it? And I'm not so sure of the answer.

Something I really appreciated about this as a sequel is the fact that all of the main characters were set up in the first book. They are greatly enhanced here - in particular, Madam Zhang and General Zhang are given much greater space and, fittingly, Madam Zhang becomes a point of view character. The other opponents who had more characterisation in the first, especially Ouyang and Baoxiang, continue to develop and have their motivations and experiences explored. Of Zhu's allies, Xu and Ma get some more space, but honestly it's really all about the enemies.

My one neg is that just occasionally, it did feel like there was too much time spent on the pain and existential crises of some of the characters. Of course part of the point of the story is questioning the lengths to which someone will go to for revenge / to get what they believe they're owed / and so on, and sometimes that has required them to do truly dreadful things. But a couple of times it felt like there was too much focus on the pain felt by some characters, such that it became a bit repetitive and nearly undercut the rawness and enormity of the emotion - because it was overstated.

However, overall this is another truly amazing book from Parker-Chan. I hate to say it but I can't wait to see what they do next... and I only hate to say it because it must feel really weird, and slightly distressing, to try and follow up this epic duology.

"You could only hurt that much — hurt enough to turn the whole world into a reflection of your pain and misery and despair — if you had, once, loved."

He Who Drowned the World absolutely spits in the face of the idea that a sequel cannot live up to the original. Not only does it absolutely live up to She Who Became the Sun, but it manages to do the oft-unheard of — stick the landing on the ending.

When I first read She Who Became the Sun, I was most struck by how effortlessly and magnificently Parker-Chan managed to entwine queerness with the character's arcs and narratives. While those themes certainly still hold true here, I found I was most struck by the fact that it was no longer queerness that was the driving force of the narrative — it was grief and womanhood. This novel is a journey about ghosts and how your actions and the people in your life will haunt you even if you cannot see them. This novel is an exploration into how having power within an established system can ultimately come to nothing because it is still only power within a cage.

I don't know what I expected to find in this novel because I was so thoroughly blown away by She Who Became the Sun. But it certainly wouldn't have been this wonderful gem filled with hope and despair in equal measure. I cannot wait to purchase a physical copy and read it all over again.

The triumphant second volume in the Radiant Emperor duology. Zhu Chongba has come a long way from being a nameless peasant girl. But there are many obstacles still to overcome to defeat the Great Khan and become emperor of China. And others are also contending for their destinies in opposition to--or support of--hers.

Brilliant, queer, fantasy-tinged historical fiction about the founding of the Ming dynasty.

"But the most dangerous person in a game is the one nobody knows is playing"

Unflinching, visceral, and a howling sequel that blows any possible sequel slump into dust. Parker-Chan's return to the re-imagined Ming dynasty was my most anticipated read this year and it did not disappoint! We return to the fight for the throne as Zhu and Ouyang find themselves on a level playing field, and Wang finds a double-edged sword alliance with the reigning emperor, favored consort, scorned empress with his own sword up his sleeve.

Thumbs up: I had to pace myself with this book. The exploration of sex, gender, power, and sexuality were nothing short of mastery.
- Ouyang's rage-filled rampage for revenge consistently brings him failure time and time again. It isn't until he sees Zhu's unabashed belief in fleshing out other's skills (not a commonly masculine leadership trait) that he starts to feel some kind of embodiment and de-construction of his own gender.
- Although women were not given formal power, Parker-Chan does an incredible job at showcasing that power comes from playing your opponent, not the board.
- I will be crying about Ouyang's storyline for the rest of my natural born life.
- "Heaven can't take you from me, I refuse, I refuse"

Thumbs down: It's been awhile since I read "She Who Became the Sun" but I am still not 100% clear about the mandate, how it works, and its relationship to the ghosts. It may be more of a reader error than a writing one but maybe give the first a re-read before you pick this one up.

Was it a nail biter? I will remember this book on my deathbed, 5 stars.

Similar to its predecessor, “He Who Drowned the World” does not shy away from anything, whether it’s matters of identity and gender, or graphic descriptions of pain or violence. And in regards to the action and intrigue, I would say that it ends up packing far more than “She Who Became the Sun.” The fact that it rarely let up mostly made for gripping reading. However, I did reach a point where I started to be a bit exhausted by Parker-Chan’s cast of hyper-driven, iron-willed characters as they all strove towards their respective goals at almost any driven cost.

Overall though, I was quite entertained between the various battles, intense scheming, plot twists, and bits of humor that were finely spiced in. Fans eagerly (if not impatiently) waiting for the conclusion of the Radiant Emperor duology will probably be quite pleased. And although I was in fact a bit wearied by the sheer mass of all that Parker-Chan packed into “He Who Drowned the World,” I also admit that I would also be pleased to see her return to this slightly fantastical historical China in a future work, either in a threequel that continues things a bit further, or starting afresh in another dynasty.

5 stars
What a beautiful and stunning series (duology). Chans writing is gorgeous, and the story telling is so captivating. This is a perfect conclusion to the first book and an epic story I won’t soon forget.

I requested a digital copy in order to sample the prose on my phone (since I don't have a eReader) before requesting a physical copy for review. My review will be based on the physical ARC I read (if I qualify)

He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan is the stunning sequel and conclusion to the epic alternate history series, following the debut She Who Became the Sun. Set in a beautifully crafted alternate China, this book is a poetic and gripping tale of war, ambition, and destiny.

In this installment, we follow the story of Zhu Yuanzhang, the Radiant King, who has just won a great victory that freed southern China from its Mongol oppressors. However, she is not content with this victory and wants to crown herself emperor. But Zhu faces fierce competition from her neighbor, Madam Zhang, who wants the throne for her husband.

To stay in the game, Zhu must make a dangerous alliance with the unstable eunuch general Ouyang, who seeks revenge against his father's killer, the Great Khan. Meanwhile, the scorned scholar Wang Baoxiang has his own ambitions to become the most degenerate Great Khan in history and threatens to bring the empire to its knees with his lethal court games.

The stakes are high, and all contenders will do whatever it takes to win. But as desire for power consumes them, they must face the cost of their ambitions.

Parker-Chan's writing is breathtaking, weaving together intricate plots and characters that are both compelling and flawed. The characters are complex, and their motivations and actions feel authentic, making them all the more fascinating. The world-building is rich and vivid, transporting readers to a beautifully imagined alternate China.

Overall, He Who Drowned the World is a stunning conclusion to an epic series that will leave readers spellbound. Highly recommended for fans of historical fantasy, especially those who enjoyed Mulan and The Song of Achilles.