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A review by pages_of_emma
He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
What a book. I had very high hopes for this book after loving 'She Who Became The Sun' so much and it did not disappoint! It is breathtaking in its pace and its ability to tear at your heart from the very first page as we drop right back in to the battle for the title of Great Khan.
We have characters we love (hate? love to hate?) returning and some new perspectives too. I loved how we got to see Zhu and Ouyang together in this one – their complex and charged connection is everything I wanted it to be. Other character highlights were Ma (oh Ma) and Madam Zhang. I loved how, despite these women not being ‘allowed’ to have power like the men, they wielded what they did have in clever ways.
I also knew that Ouyang would break my heart but I did not expect how it happened. I am not one to cry at books at all, but I definitely felt my eyes prickle!
And Wang Baoxiang… goodness me. If you think someone is nasty, put him next to them and they’ll probably look like an angel.
The thing about all these characters and the way Shelley has written them though, is that even though you know they are all terrible people, you cannot help but be sucked in to their machinations. You need to keep reading, to follow them on their journeys because they are so compelling.
Shelley Parker-Chan’s prose is, as it was in the first book, outstanding. It’s brutal, lush and textured and I drank it all up.
As with the first book we have the exploration of gender and the breaking of gender norms at the heart of the tale. In a world where being other than male or female can bring shame and even death, it was fantastic to witness characters blazing their own paths while defying these rules.
This story is dark and heavy all of the time, the pain and sufferings of the characters unrelenting as we move through the pages. They all strive to be great, and all have to face the consequences of that quest. There is so much plotting, more betrayal and many twists and turns all bringing these character threads to a truly epic conclusion.
The Radiant Emperor Duology is nothing short of a masterpiece, and it will sit on my favourites shelf forever.
Content warnings galore for this one – please check them!
Huge thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for an e-arc of this book in exchange for review.
We have characters we love (hate? love to hate?) returning and some new perspectives too. I loved how we got to see Zhu and Ouyang together in this one – their complex and charged connection is everything I wanted it to be. Other character highlights were Ma (oh Ma) and Madam Zhang. I loved how, despite these women not being ‘allowed’ to have power like the men, they wielded what they did have in clever ways.
I also knew that Ouyang would break my heart but I did not expect how it happened. I am not one to cry at books at all, but I definitely felt my eyes prickle!
And Wang Baoxiang… goodness me. If you think someone is nasty, put him next to them and they’ll probably look like an angel.
The thing about all these characters and the way Shelley has written them though, is that even though you know they are all terrible people, you cannot help but be sucked in to their machinations. You need to keep reading, to follow them on their journeys because they are so compelling.
Shelley Parker-Chan’s prose is, as it was in the first book, outstanding. It’s brutal, lush and textured and I drank it all up.
As with the first book we have the exploration of gender and the breaking of gender norms at the heart of the tale. In a world where being other than male or female can bring shame and even death, it was fantastic to witness characters blazing their own paths while defying these rules.
This story is dark and heavy all of the time, the pain and sufferings of the characters unrelenting as we move through the pages. They all strive to be great, and all have to face the consequences of that quest. There is so much plotting, more betrayal and many twists and turns all bringing these character threads to a truly epic conclusion.
The Radiant Emperor Duology is nothing short of a masterpiece, and it will sit on my favourites shelf forever.
Content warnings galore for this one – please check them!
Huge thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for an e-arc of this book in exchange for review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Death, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Grief
Moderate: Child death and Miscarriage