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4.3 AVERAGE
4.3 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I’m torn on whether I liked this book or the first book better. I think that the first book sets up Zhu for her journey and this book dealt with the cost of those decisions. It was a very good duology and one I would highly recommend.
Spoiler Thoughts
Spoiler Thoughts
- Ouyang being betrayed by his men.
- Zhu and Ma sneaking into the city as merchants.
- General Ouyang losing his army to Zhu.
- Didn't see Ouyang and Zhu working together. They worked well together. The capture of the garrison.
- The moments between Ouyang and Zhu. When both of them were trying to get through the checkpoint. I really am loving this dynamic.
- Rice bucket killing his brother for sleeping with the Empress
- Zhu knowing exactly what Ouyang needed in order to get him to stay. He lives off of pain. It is all he knows. Ouyang allowing Zhu to hurt him. This is so sad. Both are very alike but it this path will not end well.
- Wang Baoxiang felt like Little Finger in this book. Him turning on the Minister of Revenue and set him up for the fall with Khan. His toying with the 3rd Prince.
- Ouyang finding out that Zhu is a woman. The hurt that Zhu feels. They both felt so betrayed.
- Lady Qi giving the tea to the Emperess and killing her. I didn’t think this was how the Emperess was going to die. It was surprising. Then for Khan to give it to the 3rd prince. Lady Qi is not going to let this go.
- Xu Da loves Zhu. This man dies 3 times for her! That is love! OMG and then only to give his life a 4th time! So sad. He was my favorite. His love knew no bounds. He gave up everything without a second thought for Zhu. His death was really sad.
- Ouyang making it all the way to Khan and kill him only to be played by Baoxiang. Ouyang was always used. I think Essen really was one of the only ones who did care for him in his own way.
- Lady Qi is siding with Zhu to get her revenge on Wang Baoxiang.
- Ma being used to kill Baoxiang. She is not going to survive. Zhu is going to get her throne, but it will cost her everything. I think she will realize that it wasn’t worth it.
- It took a turn! I thought for sure Ma was going to die and Zhu would rule looking at the cost. I think Zhu already realized that the cost was so high. Her decision to start her rule a different way was poetic. Ouyang finally being given peace. What a sad life he lived.
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
***Thank you to Tor Books for providing an advanced copy of the book via NetGalley. My review contains my honest thoughts about my reading experience with a finished copy from the library.***
It only took two years, but I’m finally reviewing He Who Drowned the World. Do I regret waiting so long to read it? Sort of. It definitely lived up to the excellence of the first book. Reading them closer together probably would have helped me sink back into the story easier. There were a lot of different players, and I honestly didn’t remember them all at first. However, I just wasn’t in the right headspace for a book this heavy when it first got published. So, I think I made the right choice in waiting until a time when I was ready. I ended up loving the journey this book took me on.
The story in He Who Drowned the World was a wild, grim, and incredibly tragic one. There were twists and turns galore with plenty of political intrigue, battle action, and shifting allegiances. The path to the throne was treacherous. I never quite knew what horrible thing would happen next despite already knowing where things would end up once the dust settled. This second half of the story felt much more epic than the first, but it also didn’t lose its focus on character.
As for the characters in He Who Drowned the World, Zhu was probably the least interesting, which came as a surprise to me. Her trajectory was pretty linear with a foregone conclusion in this one despite having some difficult moments along the way. Ouyang and Wang Baoxiang were the stars of this book with Madam Zhang coming in a close second. Their stories had more emotional resonance, and I found them to be more complex than Zhu this time. Zhu definitely still had her trademark ambition and stubborn will, though, and I was curious to see how much she was willing to lose to build the world she wanted.
Unsurprisingly, He Who Drowned the World had a lot of great thematic content. This story doubled down on the exploration of gender from the first book. It did a really great job of illustrating the potentially harmful impacts of rigid gender roles. Each of the main POV characters interacted with the concept of gender in unique ways, and it was so interesting to see how it shaped their personalities and decisions. I also really liked that the story showed how ambition coupled with a vision for a better world ended up being more powerful than hate, revenge, or lust for status in the end. The motivation of wanting to build something specific rather than just destroy the existing order seemed to make all the difference for Zhu.
Overall, He Who Drowned the World was a fantastic conclusion to The Radiant Emperor duology. It was epic in scope and incredibly dark while never losing sight of its characters. I think fans of The Poppy War would probably “enjoy” it a lot. I never wanted to put it down. Therefore, I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars.
First 75% 4.5, last 25% 3.5. I loved the first book and how feral the characters were and the furious drive they had—for life, power, revenge. The sequel doesn’t give me that same feeling—it instead immerses you in the deep pain and misery driving the characters’ motivations and actions. It is uncomfortable, unpleasant, and many of the power plays—emotional, sexual, and otherwise—are disturbing.
The relationship between Zhu and Ouyang was the highlight of this book, although I was left devastated by everything to do with it.
The pacing falls apart in part three and although you knew where the story was always going, it ultimately felt unearned in the moment.
Honestly this was still a very good duology and I look forward to reading more from Shelley Parker-Chan.
The relationship between Zhu and Ouyang was the highlight of this book, although I was left devastated by everything to do with it.
The pacing falls apart in part three and although you knew where the story was always going, it ultimately felt unearned in the moment.
Honestly this was still a very good duology and I look forward to reading more from Shelley Parker-Chan.
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Following She Who Became the Sun, this sequel closes off on the duology in a satisfying way (for me). We continue following the perspectives of previously introduced characters Zhu and Ouyang while introducing two new perspectives from Wang Baoxiang and Madam Zhang. I was compelled to keep reading to see how Zhu miraculously overcomes impossible odds against her in a world that doesn't favour women. I also was intrigued at the three different ways characters show their anguish and pain: Ouyang through self harm; Wang through self hatred; Madam Zhang through compartmentalization . While I was engrossed by the slow descent into darkness that Wang goes through and am gladden that Zhu found a better way, I felt like the third part of the novel remedied Wang's darkness a little bit too hastily. I could have easily read another 200 pages for the end to feel more built up but the pacing of the third act also made sense. Like a black hole where all the events coalesce into a single point before a super Nova explosion. An engrossing book, even if the characters routinely challenged me. A fitting sequel to She Who Became the Sun.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny, Transphobia
God, what do I even say about this masterpiece that hasn't already been said? I never knew where this was going, only where we would end up, and every twist and turn that got us there had me on the edge of my chair. My heart was broken and mended and rebroken time after time. Truly, this was a masterful piece of work, and it will easily become one of my most-recommended books to anyone who likes queer fantasy literature.
To quote WaPo, who summarized this much better than I ever could: "These novels beautifully capture the feedback loop wherein queer-coded characters are reviled, which drives them to unbearable viciousness, which in turn fills them with self-loathing. Parker-Chan's characters struggle to break this cycle, and the nuance with which they're portrayed makes us root for them. In the end... power belongs not to the most ruthless but to those who are most successful at self-forgiveness." This story is in turns tragedy catharsis and heartbreak, pushing the characters past the brink of human endurance and suffering and rebuilding (or, in cases where that's impossible, disintegrating) them in the process. This book was a cocoon, and having finished it, I am now a gay butterfly, weeping for the body I've left behind.
To quote WaPo, who summarized this much better than I ever could: "These novels beautifully capture the feedback loop wherein queer-coded characters are reviled, which drives them to unbearable viciousness, which in turn fills them with self-loathing. Parker-Chan's characters struggle to break this cycle, and the nuance with which they're portrayed makes us root for them. In the end... power belongs not to the most ruthless but to those who are most successful at self-forgiveness." This story is in turns tragedy catharsis and heartbreak, pushing the characters past the brink of human endurance and suffering and rebuilding (or, in cases where that's impossible, disintegrating) them in the process. This book was a cocoon, and having finished it, I am now a gay butterfly, weeping for the body I've left behind.
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes