HE WHO DROWNED THE WORLD by Shelley Parker-Chan

An ARC was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. HE WHO DROWNED THE WORLD will be published on 24 August 2023.

Even after being crowned Radiant King, Zhu Chongba (now Yuanzhang) is only at the beginning of her journey. But her path to the capital, to dethroning the Great Khan and to seizing his power for herself is full of old enemies and she cannot crush them all. New alliances form and crumble as she marches towards greatness.

A masterful, devastating and kinda sexy milestone of modern fantasy

He Who Drowned the World is just as fierce and powerful as She Who Became the Sun. Zhu is as determined as ever to achieve her goals, but so are her opponents who get even more "screen time" than in the first book in the Radiant Emperor duology. It is absolutely fascinating to see these additional points-of-view explored in depth, all of which, seemingly share the same ambition and desire for power but whose intentions, motivations and means are very different. Continuing a theme from She Who Became the Sun, every character is shaped by notions of gender, either through expectations and actions of others or their own concepts developed as a result thereof. And all of them have learned how to wield these notions as weapons.

Sex, too, is often used as a tool in He Who Drowned the World. While a lot of readers might remember She Who Became the Sun for one particular sex scene, Shelley Parker-Chan wrote a wide range of them for the sequel. Though there really are quite a lot, they are all emotional, crucial to the plot and often visceral. Not all of them are consensual. But Parker-Chan manages to write about rape in a way that feels not good but right. Devastation, despair and determination are some of the many threads continuing in the duology and they weave it beautifully and masterfully.

There are times when Parker-Chan's craft turns a bit too visible, for example in the above mentioned sex scenes, where their multiple functions are quite obvious, or when the endings of certain story arcs feel a bit convenient. Occasionally, that may lessen some of the emotional impact of the story. But, and this cannot be stressed enough, none of it is actually less than good. The sex is layered, the endings satisfying and fitting. She Who Became the Sun was already a strong debut but He Who Drowned the World is a masterpiece.

Rating

When I initially read She Who Became the Sun I was surprised by how much I liked it. It made me really excited for the sequel and I started He Who Drowned the World with high expectations. And it did not disappoint. Though there is a bit of a shift in tone and focus so the two books read differently, they're unmistakably two sides of the same, devastatingly delicious cookie. To think these are only the first two published novels by Parker-Chan... They are without a doubt a major milestone for modern fantasy and I cannot wait to read what they write next. Five stars.