I fell in love with the first book of the Radiant Emperor duology, and pounced on He Who Drowned the World as soon as I could. These are thick books, filled with myth and history, and politics--and they wrap you up and carry you with them where ever they go. This book is somehow even more intense that She Who Became the Sun, Parker-Chan has already lured us into this brutal and tender world, and now there is nothing holding back in love or war. If SWBS was an undertow, HWDW is a rip-tide.

Let's get things straight, the writing is really good. I really loved that. I really wanted to read this one after She Who Became the Sun, but I'm just not sure these books are for me. I couldn't really connect with the story.

If you liked She Who Became the Sun, I definitely recommend this one though!

We love a character who knows they don't want to be great. They want to be the greatest. He Who Drowned the World is about ambition and power. About reaching to the stars. There were so many scenes here which have this resonance. One of my favorite is when one of the characters remark that the insults headed their way are ones the attacked always assume will hurt because it would hurt them. About these old wounds, He Who Drowned the World is about the lines of alliances and bargains made, compromises won.

Let me just start by answering the question that’s on everyone’s mind: “Does this second book, does this series conclusion, stick the landing?” Yes, it abso-fucking-lutely does.

“Epic historical fantasy” truly is the best descriptor for this duology. By the time you get to the end of each book, you feel like you’ve lived entire lifetimes with these characters, but there’s these incredibly distinctive, unforgettable adventures and gambits that very clearly punctuate those large swaths of time. I feel like for some people, lengthy epic historical fantasy might be a hard sell, but both of the books in this duology feel incredibly accessible. They’re very grounded in these incredibly human needs and ambitions. You always know what the characters want, what they’re feeling, what they’re trying to accomplish, and there’s never a moment where you’re not completely on edge. Even in the quieter moments, there’s always something happening beneath the surface.

I think in this book, especially, there are so many different camps now vying for power, vying for the throne. There’s so much at stake for everyone involved, and even the smallest choices that all of those players make result in a complete reshuffling of the board. What really makes this series resonate for me is the fact that power in this story is never simply just power. It’s not just about political power, it’s not about fame or riches or palaces. It’s about how power means different things to the different characters, whether that’s revenge, agency, visibility, justice, or respect.

Zhu remains an incredibly compelling character to follow. She has this unwavering belief in herself and her destiny. But what really endears you to this character who might otherwise be read as power-hungry is the fact that the power she’s fighting for is so much bigger than the throne. She is fighting for the power to remake the world into one where people like her can exist, where people can decide who they want to be for themselves.

And while I described her belief in herself as “unwavering” before, I think what’s interesting about this second book is that she's actually questioning herself. Zhu—and all the other players—are having to ask themselves how far they’re willing to go, how much they’re willing to sacrifice, how many people they’re willing to hurt in order to get what they want. And if they get what they want, will the price they paid have been worth it?

There’s action, epic battles, subterfuge and deception, unlikely allies, political and interpersonal drama at the absolute highest level imaginable, but it’s also an in-depth exploration of the difference between obligation and free will, and how belief can only be as strong as the actions and choices that uphold it.

There’s so much I want to say about this book, and I know I’m not doing it justice. It is difficult to read at times—definitely a lot of self-harm, so please tread carefully with that—but the pay-off is so much greater than I could have hoped for. This was, without a question, five stars.

He Who Drowned the World was everything I wanted it to be and so much more, I couldn't hope for a greater conclusion to the series. Thank you so much for Shelley Parker-Chan for that story.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop. fyi this is a sequel

YIKES

It took me forever to finish this book. It's a brutal read. I mean, the first book dealt with some hardcore stuff, but this blows that out of the water. This was rough. It's very different in tone to She Who Became [..], but it was still riveting. If you follow history, you'll probably go into this book knowing how it will end, but I hadn't, so I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.

Thank you so much, NetGalley, Tor Publishing Group, Tor Books, for the chance to read this amazing book in exchange of an honest review,

Zhu Yuanzhang is now the Radiant King and after tearing southern China from the Mongols she wants to seize the throne and crown herself emperor. She's not the only ambitious one, though. In the south, madam Zhang wants the throne for her husband and she's strong enough to beat Zhu. To keep fighting, Zhu decides to risk an unlikely alliance with the talented eununch general, Ouyang, who has sacrificed enough in order to get a chance to avenge his father's killer, the Great Khan. Unknown to them there's a third contender to the throne, the scorned scholar Wang Baoxiang and with his lethal court games not only he wants to bring the empire to its knees, but become the most degenerate Great Khan in history, making a mockery of the Mongolian traditions, in order to get revenge on his family, who valued them more than him.
All three of them are willing to do anything in order to achieve their fates and destinies, but the price could be too much to bear for someone.

He who drowned the world is the brilliant sequel of She who become the sun, a powerful and fierce debut of war and destiny, set in an alternate China. The sequel is, if even possible, even better than the first book. The story is wonderfully twisted and complex, filled with many characters and POVs and, even though Zhu stands out with her cunning, intellingence and fierceness, Ouyang is my second favourite and it's almost impossible not to cheer for Wang Baoxiang too. These characters are complex, filled with rage and humilations, pains and revenge, determined to do anything in order to achieve what they desire and want, in order to follow their fate and they won't let anyone stop them.
It's a crash between titans, between powerful forces, like Madam Zhang, set in an ever expanding world, China, between wars, subterfuges, kidnappings, intense moments, violence and losses.
It's an incredible book. A bit slowed down by descriptions, but if you loved She who became the sun you will love this one too.

This an excellent sequel to ‘She Who Became the Sun’, the queer fantasy retelling of the establishment of the Ming dynasty. As with the earlier book, the writing is strong, the characters have been deeply developed and the historical events well researched.

Zhu Yuanzhang has become the Radiant King but is now intent on becoming emperor. However, there are several other cast members plotting to become the Great Khan. To reach her goal Zhu must convince her old enemy, the eunuch General Ouyang to combine his army with hers to defeat the powerful Madame Zhang in the south and a hidden contender who has also been plotting quietly in the shadows.

There is a lot of brutality, as well as rape in the novel (not surprisingly given the people and era of history) and many dark deeds as Zhu cleverly plots her way to outsmart all who oppose her. I did find this a slower book to read than its predecessor. It’s quite a plot dense novel with many threads woven together to eventually coalesce into the brutal climax. While there was still both humour and fantasy elements in the novel, it lacked some of the romance and lightness of the previous book. Those who enjoyed the history, great writing and flawed characters of the previous book should enjoy it and those who haven’t read that should definitely read it first to get the full background behind this.

It took me forever to read this one especially compared to She Who Became the Sun. I don't know if it was because I read the two too close together or I just personally did not like this one as much.

We return to the genderbent Retelling of the first emporer of the Ming Dynasty. While I wanted to follow Zhu from start to finish to see what crazy antics she gets up to, the story was bogged down by Baoxiang's POV.

There is a time and place for court politics and while there were moments I liked, it was stretched out too long resulting in a personal disconnect from the narrative. Overall, yes, it adds to the story but at what cost. There was a narrative imbalance.

Thank you Tor and Shelley Parker-Chan for giving me the chance to read this ARC in exchange for a fair review.

He Who Drowned The World is intense, beautiful, and tragic in every way. A new bar has been set for me with all future historical fantasy books I read, and I hope Shelley knows that they have permanently altered my brain chemistry through their writing.

The book matches the momentum of the first novel, with gorgeous writing and absolutely guttural scenes. You could literally feel the ghosts from the previous books between the lines, watching the story unfold. Overall, just seeing how ambition can push, drive, and destroy some of the characters made for some of the most heart-wrenching and soul destroying scenes I had ever read, and I loved every second of it.

As a transmasc reader, I’ve been absolutely FLOORED by the rich and multifaceted depictions of gender queerness – especially with broken, disturbed, and messed up characters. Both books explored gender in such moving ways, and each has given me new insight and vocabulary on my own gender identity, and lead to some fantastic introspection for me personally.

The ending left me so empty and broken (as intended), to a point where I have convinced my roommate to also read the series just so I am not alone in my suffering. Reading this duology has been an EXPERIENCE, and turns out nothing feels better than having your heart torn out and stomped on. Thank you, Shelley!

FANTASTIC follow up to She Who Became The Sun. Kept me fully engaged and had as much depth and power as the first book.

An attempt at a review.

It’s been a while since a fantasy book captivated me from start to finish and He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan was a delight (albeit difficult) to read.
As I have mentioned in my She Who Became the Sun review, I loved how Shelley seamlessly wove themes of gender, identity, desire, and fate, and making them integral to the story. These were even made more crucial in the sequel as we see the three main characters fighting for what they desire the most: power, destruction, and revenge.

HWDTW is bleak, tragic, ugly, uncomfortable, but at the same time there’s a tiny bit of hope blooming, and surprisingly, it’s also 40% comedy. The comedy comes in the form of Zhu and Ouyang’s reluctant alliance. While Ouyang may be an edge lord, he’s actually funny, especially when he has scenes with Zhu as they basically go like this:
Zhu: exists
Ouyang: you’re ugly

Obviously, there’s more to their relationship than Ouyang calling Zhu ugly all the time. These two have been set up as foils to each other in SWBTS, and seeing them start as enemies becoming reluctant allies made them one of my favorite character dynamics ever, especially with the book’s focus on their alikeness, which Ouyang kept refusing to accept.

“If they touched, how could it be the ordinary touch of two bodies? It would be a fusion of selves: the transcendence of perfect acceptance, because they understood each other’s feelings and physical existence. Because they were the same.”

The character who stood out to me the most though is the one and only Wang Baoxiang. I don’t have words to describe how much I loved Baoxiang in this. All I can say is that he was very baby girl and he gave the best fanart moments that I’m expecting more fanart of him.

“Watch me become the Great Khan, and bring ruin upon everyone and every value and every belief you lived and died for. Watch me destroy the world.”

Zhu Yuanzhang, Wang Baoxiang, and General Ouyang will go down in my reading history as some of the ugliest characters I have read, the latter two in particular. All three of them were willing to do and give anything for power, destruction, and revenge. These were people I would absolutely hate in real life but my god, their scenes were so captivating, despicable, uncomfortable, and you just can’t help but to root for all three of them.

“But you understand what it’s like to be nothing. You understand what it is to feel, and to hurt. You understand what it’s like to be someone who’s judged worthless because of their sex or the shape of their body or what they do or who they like.”

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Books for sending me a copy of this book! All opinions are my own!

Honestly, I was just here for the vibes by the end. I can barely tell you the names of any characters, what any of them were trying to do, why they were doing it, literally anything about the book. Other than that Zhu was a badass full of female power.

I really wish that I had been able to keep up with this book, and I wonder if reading the physical copy instead of the audiobook would have helped. It was hard for me to stay focused on this story and engaged, wanting to know what would happen next. I was so interested in it to start with, but alas, there was nothing that kept my mind engaged.

If you like epic fantasy, you might want to give this a try though!

This was a great sequel and I'm so glad I got to read it!! I loved the characters and the plot, def recommend.

I knew coming off the back of She Who Became the Sun the sequel would not disappoint and I am extremely glad that it exceeded my expectations. The richly entwined plot and the extreme depth of the characters made for such an engrossing conclusion to this series. There were many times I found myself wondering why I knew about something that was happening just to remember that a different character had been weaving this web from far far away. I would recommend this book to anyone that wants a fresh take on fantasy that contains queer voices and an enjoyable plot that makes you think.

I couldn't imagine how this book could be more stunning than the first, but Shelley Parker-Chan completely destroyed all my expectations and set the bar higher than ever before. The characters are so vivid and deeply developed, while the plot feels both easy and effortless but also breakneck and violent.

This is not a good book. Not in the literal sense but in a figurative way. If you thought the 1st book was graphic, then I can tell you that this one was darker to me.

I suppose I can't be too surprised by that because this is a series that features the Mongols, and most people are no stranger to the brutality that came with Mongol culture. I think with that in mind, this book does a great job of exploring the theme of "fallout". The characters in this book really consider what happens when they do or don't make a choice and how it affects everyone after. Seeing that conflict with the characters was cool because it offers a perspective on "villany" and that's not something every book does.

Read this series.

this novel chewed me up and spit me out in too many ways. i was emotional, i was in rage, i was excited and rooting for my babies. every character has their own desire, own want. every time they asked themselves if it was worth it, it usually was in every case. i know this book is going to send me into a slump because how can i find anything greater? i will never get over this novel. i wish i had more time to exist in this world, but all good things come to an end. thank you netgalley for this arc.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book before its publication date. I know that this review is coming after the book has been released, but I found myself thinking about this one over and over again.

This is the sequel to She Who Became the Sun, and it did not disappoint. There are so many twists and turns and moments to think about, that it isn't easy to write a review. On one hand we have Zhu who is relentlessly pursuing her desire to become Emperor of China. The road to power is not without challenges though, as Zhu finds herself needing help from people she never thought would help her. Then there is Ouyang, who had made huge sacrifices in his journey to avenge his past. Nothing ends up being what it seems, and although the ending is mostly what is expected for the people involved, I can't say that it is satisfying. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed this book, but it is for sure not an easy read.