A review by warlocksarecool21
He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.5

He Who Drowned the World was a stunning conclusion to the Radiant Emperor duology. Shelley Parker-Chan’s writing is beautiful and captivating. I think she does excellent character work, I was fascinated by the major characters even if I didn’t like them. Having the four main perspectives be the four people vying for the throne was such a cool juxtaposition because they all had the same-ish goal but you really got to analyze all their differing motivations. I also really loved that the book explores how a patriarchal society can really fuck somebody up, including how it manifests in misogynistic and homophobic beliefs/practices that infests everything and everyone. It was really interesting to see that on a deeper level when we were presented with our main characters. They all experience the effects of the patriarchal society they live in differently. I especially adore the way the author explores gender in this series, how it’s not a neatly defined thing, but rather a uniquely complex experience. I thought each character’s development over the course of the story was well done, and I liked that for some, their development was a downward spiral. 

I have ✨thoughts✨ about each character that I must share so here they are: 

-Baoxiang was such a fascinating character bc he had such a different skill set than Zhu and Ouyang and it was interesting to see the political maneuvering of what he was doing.
Watching him grapple with his gender expression and sexuality was very interesting to read, even if it was uncomfortable at times. I thought the shift of his personality from being sharp and cunning to spiraling into grief and desperation was so chilling to read. <Spoiler>I loved how in the last section he realized that his anger and revenge did nothing to change the past, that all it was hurting was himself. 

-I’m going to talk about Zhu and Ouyang at the same time bc they had such a strong connection in the book. I was obsessed with their dichotomy of how they are the same kind of person but they both make choices that alter their destiny. The idea that they were running the same parallel course but they ultimately went different ways. Ouyang’s journey broke my heart, because all he needed was for someone to show him understanding and love, that he wasn’t broken. He kind of got that with Zhu but he was so far gone that he couldn’t accept that he was deserving of those things. That in order to fulfill his revenge he also had to suffer. And Zhu, who had that same driving ambition to defeat the Khan, but instead of believing that her path was finished beyond that, she took the world and made it her own.
At the end, when she made the choice that the world does not need to be harsh and unforgiving, that she could move into the future without causing anymore pain was so good, I loved that that was her conclusion. After all she went through I’m glad she decided that violence and anger could be things of the past.
 

I have one thing to say about Madame Zhang: her character was so excellent, I hated her like actually despised but I still felt so bad for her. she was so strong in a society that was brutal towards women and I really liked the exploration of feminine rage and the performance that women have to put on to survive in a society like this. 

In regards to the plot, I thought it was really cohesive, all the different sections and viewpoints really worked to bring about the end. There were certain chapters that I thought could’ve been condensed but I still think it worked. I did think that when
Ouyang killed the Khan and Baoxiang came out and revealed he was controlling everything and that Ouyang’s sacrifice was for nothing was a little underdeveloped. Like I fully believe that Baoxiang was responsible for manipulating all this and I knew that he was moving all the pieces together, but I wish we got more in his pov about this specific reveal. 

While I was really happy to see that Ma had such a vital role in helping Zhu become emperor at the end, I was a little sad she wasn’t as important in the rest of the book. I really like her and how strong she is in her convictions about life and if she was involved from the start she would’ve had everyone in line 😂. And I adore her relationship with Zhu they deserved more moments together.

If you read all of this, then congratulations 😂. This duology was really well done and is definitely worth a read (it’s really brutal though so watch out). 
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