He Who Drowned The World is the sequel to the sensational She Who Became The Sun (see my review for that here) and brings the story of The Radiant Emperor to an end. After the events of the first book, Zhu has an army and a mission – to ride on the capital and seize the crown. But they aren’t the only one with a target – the machinations of other players in this game start to unfold as alliances are made and broken, people are betrayed and the desire for revenge and conquest is high.

This book is brutal and dark, not shying away from depicting gritty scenes and horrible deaths. No character could be described as ‘good’, each willing to take whatever steps necessary to achieve their goals. The story cleverly shows how brute strength and battle tactics are equally important as manipulations and mental scheming in rising to the top of this combat.

With the duology based on actual historical events, it could have easily fallen into the trap of having a predictable ending and so losing the suspense of seeing who will be successful. Shelley Parker-Chan expertly navigates this, keeping the tense atmosphere present throughout and the reader doubting what they think might happen.

I think I enjoyed this slightly more than She Who Became the Sun for the simple fact that I knew a little more of what to expect in terms of writing style and approach, which threw me a little bit when I read the first book. I felt a lot more of a connection to the characters this time around and fully drawn into the world. I am excited to read the future books by this author, I love their writing style and handling of intricate stories with multiple characters and threads.

4.5* rounded up

The second half of The Radiant Emperor duology lives up to the first, providing a spectacular ending alongside a a great exploration of gender, power and revenge.

The characters are as compelling here as they were in the first book - a particular highlight was this book further exploring the dynamic between Zhu and Ouyang.

It also has wonderful attention to detail and its historical setting. My one small issue is that the description, beautiful though it was, did sometimes slow the pace and I occasionally struggled with it.

Overall though, an excellent ending to a series I definitely recommend for any one wanting dark queer historical fantasy.

I adored this. It was incredible. I have two hardcover editions I bought after reading it through NetGalley.

After rereading book one I was excited to get back into this world and see how the story would progress.
I was captivated throughout. Intrigued to see the developments. What would happen to her and if she was caught.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of this arc!

This followed on from the first book and again was a little wordy so I couldn’t get into it like how I wanted to and felt myself forcing myself to read it unfortunately.

STUNNING. STUNNING. STUNNING. A fantastic sequel and a fantastic way to end the story. I loved every single moment of this and I wish it didn't have to end so soon. A bittersweet feeling.

I have tried so hard with this title but I think I am going to have to admit defeat. I've been trying to read He Who Drowned The World for months now and I have to keep re-reading from the beginning because I lose what is happening. I sort of enjoyed She Who Became The Sun and thought that book 2 was going to be more clear but I am lost and think this will have to be a DNF for me

A very dark but fitting followup. I enjoyed this one more than the first one, but still struggled with the writing style. The way the author writes traumatic events doesn't make me feel anything, but I do think the series ended well.

3.5 (rounded up)⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you so much to Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for an e-arc of this book.

I really loved She Who Became the Sun and was super excited to read this book. I think I wished this was a trilogy as I would have loved to have more of certain characters, like Ma, who I felt got left behind a bit in order to get the main action going.

It was also quite and abrupt ending, and I would have liked it to have taken a bit more time, I would have also loved a historical note at the end.

But I did really love this duology, that the characters aren’t all wholly bad or good, even those who would traditionally be heroes or villains which made for an interesting read and one that varies from a lot of book coming out at the minute, in both content, writing and characterisation.

This duology was stunning. The twists and turns, the heartbreak, the brutality, all of it. This book felt a lot darker, than She Who became the Sun and I would recommend reading the trigger warnings.

How did Shelley Parker Can make me care for characters I despised? Zhu continues her journey to become the next Great Yuan despite the obstacles in her way and the constant unlikelihood of it happening, she continues to defy the odds. It’s stuffed with sneaky schemes, politics, battles, so much blood, sex as a weapon and grief.

‘Nobody would lift a finger to change the World for us. To make a place for us. What choice did we ever have, but to do it ourselves?’

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

Screaming, crying, throwing up.

I love this duology with my entire heart. Give me more books like this, please and thank you.

An amazing read that was just as captivating as the first book. I was just entranced by the descriptions of the characters and the deviousness going through the whole book. The second book is much more about court intrigues and games the it is about war strategy, but I was still interested in how this will turn out and who will have the upper hand in the end!

I won’t be talking about specific plot points, because this is a sequel. Ultimately, if you loved the first book you’ll love this one too. It is more than the first book: darker, more intricate, more violent, more sexual. Truthfully, it was a little overwhelming at times: that’s probably what makes it not quite as good as the first book for me. Unrelenting is the word that keeps coming to mind; neither a good thing nor a bad thing necessarily.

That said, these two books are easily five star reads for me. It’s almost a cop-out to say, but these books have that nebulous quality of just being a really good read, a book you look forward to picking up and read breathless, immersed in the world and thinking about the characters long after you’ve finished. That’s an underrated quality when we talk about books being ‘good’ or not. So, that experience of reading is worth five stars alone to me.

Secondly, the characters, and inevitably tied up in this, their queerness. Parker-Chan takes standard archetypes - the girl who dresses as a man to be a soldier! the eunuch! the evil gay! — and really just runs with it, giving them complex identities and outlooks and motivations. I really loved these characters, and Parker-Chan’s ability to make me root for whichever character’s pov I was reading at the time.

So: I really loved this series, and I can’t wait to see what SPC comes up with next.

This was a great book.

I loved the first one, and was very much looking forward to this. Can’t wait to buy a beautiful special edition of it!

This was so engaging and readable – even though it’s 400 pages – just like the first book in this duology. All of our characters are so flawed, and make such questionable decisions, but it makes them so interesting to read about. I was very much struggling to see how on earth it would all come together, by the time I reached the last hundred pages or so and it all still seemed very open-ended. There’s slightly less martial prowess in this one – fewer battles, sieges and clever ruses – and more court intrigue. There are a load of content warnings – this was a brutal period – so do check them out! Interesting to see what Parker-Chan does next.

4.5 stars — the characters and the insistent tide of cruelty that swept through the whole book were very compelling. SO much happened, though, and i think a consequence of that was that things burned out a little in the last hundred pages or so.

I love Shelley Parker-Chan. Their writing is so vivid, so moving, and funny in places. There's so much heart to this duology. After She Who Became the Sun, I had high expectations for the sequel. I was not disappointed.

The very worst thing about this series, is that it was only two books - and now it’s over!! I mean, I’m happy to be told that I’m wrong, and that book three is on it’s way. THAT’S how much I loved it.

Zhu Yuanzhang is the Radiant King and is now after the throne she needs to crown herself Emperor. All power to her, I say!

There are battles, feats of cunning to outwit stronger and more numerous enemies, acts of heroism, friendship and love.

This book is my crack, and I would happily have read on and on, but it ended, I was sad, and then I came here to tell you all to go and read it. Because if you haven’t, then you most certainly should.

Oh, and I’m still waiting to be told that there’s a third in the pipeline (🙏🏻!).

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I initially found this a bit difficult to get into, even after reading a recap of the previous book. But eventually the narrative sucks you in. The concept behind this story, the idea that the founder of the Ming dynasty was actually a woman, allows Chan to explore all aspects of gender and delve into the concepts of femininity and masculinity in a really clever way through the various character POVs. She also doesn't hold back on the violence and gore that accompanied this time-period of war and rebellion. It's a modern take on a very traditional story of ambition and power which works extremely well.

A fantastic book. Includes an intricately detailed plot, allowing the reader to become fully submerged into the world. The characters where very well developed, and I enjoyed the character arcs. A solid 4.5 star.