A review by kaulhilo
He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan

5.0

i really loved this a lot. this book is such an excellent study in pain and misery, in all its types and forms, that i’m astounded, finishing this, how spc managed to narrate quite this many layers of grey to the same overarching emotion: grief. it’s done explicitly and wonderfully, written out in brutal details and confessions and moments of shame, painted in contrast to the possibility of glory and achieving makebelieve self-realization. the writing is exquisite, with sharp turns and angles, taking our characters from where they left off in the first novel, in something of a stalemate, to the climax and conclusion of one of the most fascinating and riveting retellings i’ve personally read, of chinese history. it’s a wonderful book. we go through fallacies and ruin, through self-doubt and hate, and there are several, several moments that had me scared of which way this book was going to go. there’s so much an author, and then the book they write in turn, hold in their hands, and i’ve never been so utterly aware of it as in this book, where a deficient resolution would’ve wrecked most of what the duology was trying to do. but - the ending lands perfectly, it creates space for something that held so much value in the face of strife and suffering, brings the characters to a resolution they were “destined” for, and was truly - really - earnestly, immaculate. AND i’m saying this knowing full well the author has revised the arc to make the final edition somehow even better, and there are just no words for how excited i am to get to read that when it releases.

thank you to tor books for the arc. (5/5)