“Greatness. Zhu had wanted it her entire life. With a certainty as crisp as shadow cast across salt, she knew it would always be everything she wanted.”

Shelley’s prose is just as perfect as before: textured, luscious, precise, powerful. There are political machinations, calculated seductions, and vividly wrought battle scenes; but where the book lives and breathes is in the fierce inner lives of its characters.

He will become what he needs to be.
She will stop at nothing in her pursuit of power.
He will do anything to have his vengeance.

Ouyang is fuelled by an all-consuming rage that fairly leaps off the page. Zhu’s determination is quieter if no less passionate. Madame Zhang, Chen Youliang, Wang Baoxiang- all of them scheme and act and desire. Shelley writes a depth of raw feeling that is blazingly powerful: in a few deft sentences, they seat you squarely in the heads of each character. And how they all burn.

“But pain was only pain. If that was the price she had to pay for what she wanted, then she was glad for it.”

I have read many books where a shared goal unites people: I have never read a book like this, where the binding, blinding force is both power and pain. In each character of focus they both war and strengthen each other to an inexorable end. The book is also very gender: the careful explorations of presentation, expectation, and subversion form themes that link the characters together in their challenges and struggles for success.

“She blazed with desire. She was full with it, and her faith was in herself.”

A masterpiece, but one that will ravage you. Dizzyingly, frighteningly good. A gloriously queer triumph. If I could give this more than five stars, I would.

i really enjoyed the first book, although the middle did lose me a bit - maybe because i wasn’t prepared for such an interesting and complex political intrigue to unravel amongst the main story.

this book was great because i was definitely prepared, and it impressed from the outset to the end. parker chan has a talent of creating an interesting world that is so believable in its own downfall.

thoroughly enjoyed.

5/5

This is a masterpiece. I have never encountered a book so visceral, I have never encountered a book that bleeds.
She Who Became the Sun is one of my favourite books of all-time and I just hoped beyond hope that He Who Drowned the World would live up to it. It is everything I could ever have possibly dreamed and more. This is my book. I am tethered to this story like it is my centre of gravity, I can't imagine a world without having read it. There has never been a book so perfect.

Shelley Parker-Chan writes so effortlessly, their construction of such a complex and riveting narrative is astounding. I am in such awe of their talent. You can feel the weight of the labour and the love that was put into this novel, yet it also reads like we're flying across the pages. Every detail is so vivid and steeped in emotion. The scenes spill off the page, creating such vibrant images as we dance between each word. There is clear intention behind every sentence that allows us to feel the raw emotional weight of every line. It is beautiful writing and even more beautiful storytelling.

Each character plays such an important role in the story and I found the addition of new perspectives to be so interesting. Each one brought something completely different to the story, yet Parker-Chan controlled all of these narratives with such refined skill, spinning these webs together, drawing parallels and contrasts, twisting each moving part until every action became bigger than what it was. In linking these characters together through this narrative, their every action became enlarged into the vastness of the question, what does this mean for the others? The links and subversions added upon this duology's themes created such a fascinating opportunity for exploration. He Who Drowned the World took everything that She Who Became the Sun said and delved deeper.

The cores themes perpetuated in The Radiant Emperor duology have always been desire and suffering. If She Who Became the Sun was the focus on desire, He Who Drowned the World is the focus on suffering. She Who Became the Sun explores grasping the intent of desire with both hands and claiming your fate, it is the hunt for greatness, it is about the strength it takes to become great, it is the knowledge that you will do anything and suffer anything to achieve that greatness. He Who Drowned the World explores the consequences of greatness, it explores loss and pain and suffering to newer heights, and with savage glee tears this clarity on suffering into something more warped, it questions whether the suffering that has been endured for greatness is worth it.

This is where He Who Drowned the World strides in larger steps than She Who Became the Sun (as perfect as that book also is). Its focus on suffering and on pain is where this book shone even brighter. We are tortured by the shifting moralities of the main characters, by the new ambiguity around how much suffering is worth the ultimate goal of greatness. We witness these characters driven to madness by their pain, we witness their suffering as it eclipses their hope, we witness them despair and cry and break. There are many ghosts that haunt the characters of this story, there are many torments that the world wounds them with, but the most fascinating element of this discussion around pain is when we witness the pain the characters inflict upon themselves.

Ouyang reaches into this place of pain to shield himself from a greater wound weeping inside of him. He is haunted by his duty, by his need for revenge. He drives himself onwards, against reason, running headfirst to his end. He wants to achieve this vengeance and have it be done, he wants this gaping wound inside of him to stop flowing out blood, he wants to reach the end before his pain bleeds him dry. He wants everything that he's done to get there to be worth it.

Another character overwhelmed by this pain is Baoxiang. Baoxiang's pain spills out of him and drowns the world in its darkness, it is a poisoning pain with a bitter touch. It is an uncontrollable pain that Baoxiang cannot recognise for what it is. He cannot recognise it for grief.
This shared pain these two characters are plagued by pulls very evocative parallels, but it proves these character's differences more. We see the biting edge of a pain that is weaponised against the world and we see a maddening one that is sure to be their doom.

In Baoxiang we find an incredibly interesting perspective. What is so brilliant about these characters is that even if you dislike them, they are still riveting to witness and to explore.
Baoxiang believes that through his pain he will find something worth its suffering. He believes, like Ouyang believes, like Zhu believes, that what he endures now will be worth it later. But his experience is immensely different to theirs and adds a whole new layer to the fascinating conversation this duology has around gender.
Baoxiang wields his effeminacy against the Mongol Empire and its warriors like a sword. He becomes the things they think of him, as we have already seen in the first book. He shrouds himself in the worthlessness that they perceive of him. He performs the role that they have given him.
What is so vital to understanding Baoxiang's character is to understand his hatred. He hates the way they view him, he hates the way they discard him, he hates that they find him worthless. But what he hates more is the hypocrisy he views. They condemn him because he is no warrior, yet their own true warriors are more like what they think of him than he is. He finds the secrets some of the great warriors keep indistinguishable from his own experiences and treatment. He hates their blindness, he hates their desire. He proves to us here how much his hatred infects every move he makes. And even when we start to unravel this hatred and glimpse his grief, it is an inescapable burden that he carries across his back as his pain turns in on himself and consumes him. There is a point where, after swallowing the world, the only thing left for his darkness to swallow is him.

Baoxiang is only one part of a very detailed and nuanced discussion of gender and queerness throughout these books, but a new layer that I thought was added in this story was the layer of perception. I found the element of perception hidden all throughout this book and what intrigued me most about it was the questions that it ended up asking. Whose perception truly matters? Is a thing real because it is perceived to be so or does another person's perception not matter at all to the truth of one's being? What then is the answer to whether love is real if only one person can perceive it? There is so much rich ground to cover here that I cannot without giving too much away, but I found these elements of the story so engrossing as I tried to pick apart every different angle that was uncovered.

What enriches the already ingenious conversation on gender (alongside this addition of perception) is that of performance. We see performance used in Baoxiang's perspective as he fits into the role they have decided for him, we see it in Zhu's perspective as she plays into and adjusts the world's perceptions to achieve her end, we see it in Madam Zhang and her porcelain surface, as well as in so much more.

Madam Zhang brings a new aspect to this in her performance. In her perspective, we witness how she uses her own body—detached from her mind—to wield other people's desires against themselves. We see sex used as a tool to discuss these elements of desire, body, performance and gender. Madam Zhang is so disconnected from the pain of her body that she becomes unfeeling, she controls her body as you would a clockwork toy and winds herself up again for her next performance. She is conniving because she has to be and she so desperately desires more of the world but her options and perceptions of her possibilities are limited.
She is a porcelain doll, perfectly broken and made up again, all smooth surfaces without cracks and without scars. She need only apply another coating of makeup and slip into the appropriate façade. It is her means for survival in a world that does not care if she survives it.

Ultimately, The Radiant Emperor duology focuses on a collection of different characters who are all people that the world does not want to win. It shows us their brokenness, it shows us how fractured and desperate and damaged they are and asks us to root for them anyway.

Zhu and Ouyang have always been the most interesting to me. In She Who Became the Sun we see their similarities discussed alongside their vast differences, but in this book we are allowed to see their connections in an even sharper light. We are allowed the clarity of their sameness, the ache of their joint wounds and sorrows, we feel the reverberations of that string pulled taut that binds them. And so it is with even greater betrayal that we see the jagged edges of their differences once more.
This dance between them is so riveting because it is so visceral. We are as connected to them as they are to each other and so we root for this connection to hold true, for it to mean something, for it to forge a new path—a path that we can follow them down.

Zhu reckons with the themes of desire and suffering the most throughout the duology as this is, after all, her story. But she struggles more with desire's demands in this book than she ever has before. We know as well as she does that 'desire is the cause of all suffering,' and that 'the greater the desire, the greater the suffering, and now she desired greatness itself,' but how much is too much for Zhu to bear?

Alongside these characters we go through devastating losses and haunting realisations, we are left shocked and speechless. Shelley Parker-Chan always knows the most harrowing ways to wrench our hearts straight from our chests. (I will, in fact, be demanding emotional reparations!) It's an agonising, all-consuming masterpiece of a book and you will not regret picking it up.

I absolutely devoured this story, I couldn't get enough of it and never wanted to stop reading! I cursed my body for needing sleep. I have never loved a series so unfalteringly, there is truly nothing that compares to it. My love for the characters is so exceptionally strong (Xu Da steals my heart as always) and I cannot exaggerate how viscerally I relate to them and how heart-breaking this book truly was. One thing I can say with absolute surety is you guys are not prepared for this one!
I'm astonished to find that it's over. I need a million more books set in this time and about these characters, complete with Parker-Chan's lush prose and evocative themes. I could go on and on about this book forever! When I next reread I'll do a spoiler review with all my increasingly rambly thoughts.
Parker-Chan has secured their place with great surety as one of my absolute favourite authors, I will clamour for any scraps of writing they deign to give us. My life has been fundamentally changed with this duology and I am just honoured that I got to experience it.

Shelley Parker-Chan has not only created an exceptional piece of literature through their immersive and explosive storytelling, but has transported us through time into a world where we are as desperate and as ravenous as the characters themselves. It is always a shock to look up and discover that we are no longer inside the pages.

I do want to issue a warning that this book is a lot darker than She Who Became the Sun so please look up the content warnings (I'll have them listed on my Storygraph) and read with care!
Thank you Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

He Who Drowned the World was one of most anticipated releases of the year; I absolutely adored She Who Became the Sun and was ecstatic to get to read this so soon. This book is just everything. It is gorgeous, heart-wrenching, hopeful and agonising. It's an absolutely incredible sequel that just surpassed every expectation and completed Zhu's story in the most sublime way.

The amount of gender-fuckery in this book is just incredible. I LOVE the way that tied Ouyang, Zhu and Wang Baoxiang together. They're all gender nonconforming messes striving for power, revenge and the fates they feel they deserve. The sheer determination, the stubbornness and conviction that came from them all was just so potent and palpable.

**SPOILERS BELOW**

Ouyang and Zhu working together was everything I wanted from She Who Became the Sun. Every interaction they had in the first book was so charged with the similarities of their character, it was just like pieces falling into place to have them work with one another. And then the twist, the reaction from Ouyang as he discovered Zhu's identity, was just brutal. The way his own disgust at the feminine nature of his body meant he couldn't see through to understand how similar he and Zhu are, the way that may have been his undoing as he went off to seek his revenge alone. Their whole dynamic was just one I loved sinking my teeth into.

Continuing with Ouyang, the twist when he sought his revenge!!! The futility in this book was something else entirely. Just the sheer agony of seeing him finally kill The Great Khan, the moment he had built his entire life around, only to learn that his father was still alive. Only to learnt the revenge was never needed, that his father rejected him as a son because he was a eunuch, that Esen's death was for nothing!! That was just awfully, brilliantly executed tragedy. Ouyang died knowing nothing he did was worth his, that his revenge was never real. Just heartbreakingly awful.

The futility just continued, especially with Wang Baoxiang. He built himself without anyone ever really realising and claimed the throne. Yet it wasn't worth it. He destroyed himself and was forced to destroy those around him, like the Third Prince, for it. And just the imagery of his sadness seeping out of him, the realisation that he is who the title is referring to, that his agony drowns the world. Just so good!!!

And then Zhu. Oh, Zhu was as wonderful a character as in the first book. I loved the use of she/her and he/him for her dependent on who the POV was focusing on and how they perceived her. I also just found the development Zhu had so compelling. And that all really kicked off with Xu Da's death. The genius brutality of having Zhu be so vehemently in denial of Xu Da dying that it convinced me that he would live was just amazing. It made everything so much more heart-wrenching to read and pulled me into the story, had me consumed by emotion like Zhu. It was just an incredibly well crafted moment. And just the way that broke Zhu's emotions out, had her realising the feelings of grief and pain. The impact that had on her, the way that changed the trajectory of her actions was just so good. Her doubts about whether everything was worth it as she learnt of how everything hadn't been worth it for Ouyang or Wang Baoxiang - the way she was thinking about giving up, her worry for Ma. And that final scene, her making Ouyang's ghost let go of his pain to go live a new life. Her choosing not to kill Wang Baoxiang but instead making him give up his mandate and go live a new life elsewhere, under a new name. Just the way she clawed her way to her fate and made sure others released it to live better lives, the way she started her reign with a new attitude to previous Great Khan's. That was just the perfect ending.

Just, this book is a masterpiece and I cannot recommend this duology enough.

I feel like I need ten thousand years to process this book and the whole of the duology.

This was the finale we needed and wanted for She Who Became the Sun and despite expecting something incredible, I still feel like I was punched in the emotional face.

I can't talk about this book separating the plot and characters because they are complete drivers of each other. We of course follow the stories of our favourite emperor, Zhu, our favourite general, Ouyang, and really see Wang Baoxiang as his own character on the stage. There is no part of any of this that isn't reeling.

Wang Baoxiang uses all the things people sneer at to make them under estimate him. Ouyang of course being the machine of vengance against the Yuan and fueled by the disgust forced upon him. Zhu still doing anything and everything to make a place for herself in a world that doesn't have one she wants. We know all this. None of this is new information but all of them are left with the questions: What is it worth? And when you have it, was it worth it?

As you close the book, you have to ask yourself the same questions. We know the answer for Ouyang, who, without too many spoilers, learns vengence wasn't all what it seemed. But what about the endings for Baoxiang and Zhu? And poor, sweet and loyal Ma also stuck in the crossfire.

This book has everything. How far will everyone go to get what they want, how far will those who support them go and the difference in their motivation for support. It leaves you with characters you love, characters you hate, and ones you love to hate. It closes with such a powerful ending but you can't help but wish there was more to know how it all really goes after the ending. And you can't help but want to ask if it was worth it?

There is a scene where Ma asks "Isn't pain infinite too?" and that is all I could think of after finishing this.

He Who Drowned the World simply put was an amazing book. Full of Heartbreak, pain, hope and ambition composed masterfully by Shelley Parker-Chan.

There was not a single thing I hated about this book and my only “criticism” with it was the heartbreak and tears it left me with (the first tears appeared around 4%).
Actually when I said I had no other criticism I lied, I wanted more Ma! (And for certain characters to have better fates then they did!).

Every element of this book was amazing from wide range of characters to each of the settings to the exploration of gender, gender norms and roles and the characters challenging and breaking those roles.

One of my absolute favourite things about (/ from) this book was the relationships between the characters. From Zhu and Xu Da to Baoxiang and his dead family. Each relationship was interesting in its own way whether the relationship was good or bad they were so intriguing and well written.

One thing I really enjoyed and thought was done well in Drowned was how the Point of Views changed, it seemed seamless in the way we’d go from Zhu to Ouyang or Ma. A reason I enjoyed this was because when we’d go from Zhu’s PoV to Ouyangs it felt like because of their connection they really were one!
I also enjoyed all the different points of view, to see not just Zhu competing for what they desire but all the other players too. Seeing these characters struggle and plot and plan. Each character with their own motivations and obstacles and personal issues. I ended up rooting a little for all the characters by the end, after all they’d all sacrificed so much.
On the topic of characters Drowned featured such an interesting cast, each character so well written and nurtured, all unique yet with things tying them all together.

Throughout Drowned I loved all the ambition and revenge, all the motives of the characters and seeing how it drove them towards what they wanted. And the scheming! Seeing a certain character plot from the shadows whilst another had to plot openly, it was just to interesting to read!

Over the course of the book there were time jumps which I felt were done perfectly, usually I end up feeling like I’ve missed too much or like it’s just a quick way to get the story to where it needs to be but the time jumps in Drowned were well executed indeed.

Another well executed thing in the book was all the darkness and pain and heartbreak. There were times when such deep things were happening and I felt I couldn’t look away, like I had to read about all the pain.

A lot of my recorded thoughts on the book are just keyboard smashes and reaction photos because I didn’t have the words to fully express how the book was making me feel.
One of my recorded thoughts is ‘I already knew this book would be 5 stars not far into it but as soon as we got Pirates were I not going to rate Drowned 5 stars already that would’ve made me rate it 5 stars’. Another is ‘Shelley Parker-Chan pay for my therapy’ so take from that what you will.

I’ll leave this review by saying like Baoxiang with his pen, Shelley Parker-Chan is an artist at work with each word a masterful stroke, each sentence a well placed blow to make the reader feel the most they could whilst reading He Who Drowned the World.

Thank you so so much to Netgalley for the ARC.

What an incredible sequel! I was a huge fan of ‘She Who Became The Sun’ and I was super stoked to receive the sequel! I worry sequels won’t live up to the first book but I think I might actually prefer this one?!? SOO worth reading!!

The final half of the Radiant Emperor duology. I always have difficulty with second books, especially ones in which there is a huge cast of characters and non-stop action. After a gap of a few years, how do you remember who's who and what had previously happened? Thankfully, Shelley Parker-Chan provides a useful synopsis at the start of this book and I found myself up and running with the story in no time.
The engaging, if not exactly likeable, characters immediately draw you into the story. Their personal journeys were emotionally fraught as the sheer hatefulness of some of the characters was lightened by a spark of humanity.
Full of action with plenty of twists, this was a compulsive read. The ending did feel rushed and possibly a little disappointing but the emotional intensity of the book scored it the full five stars.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC of 'He Who Drowned the World' by Shelley Parker-Chan.

Arguably, 'He Who Drowned the World' by Shelley Parker-Chan is better than the previous book by Parker-Chan and it is a hill I will die on. Interesting and mind gripping, this book is the perfect fantasy read with enough characters to fall in love with - you'll definitely find someone to root for.

What do I do with myself, now that I've finished this duology...?
Parker-Chan delivers on her sequel, providing a tense, emotional conclusion that ends on the perfect note - but also a little too early, because I could easily read three more books about Zhu and Ma.
Emotional torment is clearly the focus here and (much like the previous book) it's interested to see the way in which gender and self-perception are addressed within. If I had to be super critical, some of the action scenes don't land, or feel a bit abrupt, but I can easily forgive. It's the type of book I'm compelled to give 5 stars to, even if it's not my favourite of the year, because I'll be recommending it to everyone for a long time.

I really enjoyed this book. Although I initially found it difficult to keep track of the characters, I very quickly found myself immersed in the story and was unable to put it down.

A very good sequel! I was eagerly awaiting this book after I read the first and it did not disappoint! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for early access to this book.

A twisted tale of antiheros trying to rule the world.

I found the second installment much easier to read than the first, maybe because I could draw on my limited knowledge of the dynamics of the Emeperor's court from all the time spent on k dramas ...there was a rush from seeing these multi faceted characters racing towards their one goal to rule the world and the pace kept me curious to see who would ultimately win. The conclusion was both satisfactory but also felt a little abrupt. Seeing these different anti heros clash with one another, I was expecting a suprise twist at the end, but it still delivered a relatively good conclusion.

Special thanks to PanMacmillan and Netgalley for proving an advance readers copy to review.

I do not know how to start this review.

There was sooo much going on which at times was a bit jarring. But I really did appreciate getting somewhat of a better understanding of characters and their motivations.

This book was constantly on 100. Characters dying and betrayals and pregnancies and dead people and more dead people and more dead people.

I just felt the ending left me wanting…more? Something different perhaps? After the 70-80% I could pretty much guess where the book was going and although the ending was deserved, the journey felt a bit…lacklustre.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and I always enjoy reading about Zhu & Ouyang.

Definitely darker than the first, but just as good. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, but at no point was confused. Grief, pain, shame all covered and written about so beautifully. Tis book will leave you reeling long after that last page. It so much, and so complex and covers so many emotions. The ending is so perfect, it wouldn’t work with so many books, but just fits for this one! Words can’t describe the beautiful heartbreak. Every character felt so human in their choices and their raw, powerful emotions. The perfect duology.