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julies_reading 's review for:
He Who Drowned the World
by Shelley Parker-Chan
Thank you so much to Tor for gifting me with a physical ARC and an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
4.5 stars
In the sequel and conclusion to She Who Became The Sun, more forces than ever are vying for control of the empire. The eunuch General Ouyang is struggling to keep command of his army and is driven to harm himself. Zhu is intent on destroying others who would take the throne for themselves. Baoxiang is infiltrating the empire, not through military force, but by pretending to be its loyal servant and pulling threads from within.
This series is such an impressive debut. If the first book was about suffering and then grabbing power because of it, this book is about grabbing power and suffering for it. We follow so many depraved characters willing to do whatever they believe they need to secure their power - and everyone goes about it in different ways. Not only that, but they all have parts of them that humanize them, making you empathize with their struggles... and they turn around and commit war crimes. For example, Madam Zhang does some horrible things, but she also severely dissociates from her body because of the sexual and physical violence done against her; then she in turn puts herself in those positions to get hurt again because she sees that as her only way to establish power - with her body. All of these characters are so well-fleshed out and dark and thoughtful in their own ways. Each sentence they say or movement they make has several layers of thought behind it. The discussions around gender and sexuality and the performance of each were so thoroughly and expertly explored. The book is well-plotted and -paced, with lots of violence and hatred and tragedy: Parker-Chan does not pull any punches. Still, I would have liked to see more from Zhu's perspective proportionately. The shift away from her made it feel less personal, or maybe less tied to the first book. That also meant that my favorite character, Ma, got very little screen time. I also would've liked to see somewhat of an epilogue, especially because Zhu is based on a real-life historical figure.
Overall, this series promises a long and celebrated career to come for Parker-Chan. The unnumbered layers of this story make me so excited for their books to come!
4.5 stars
In the sequel and conclusion to She Who Became The Sun, more forces than ever are vying for control of the empire. The eunuch General Ouyang is struggling to keep command of his army and is driven to harm himself. Zhu is intent on destroying others who would take the throne for themselves. Baoxiang is infiltrating the empire, not through military force, but by pretending to be its loyal servant and pulling threads from within.
This series is such an impressive debut. If the first book was about suffering and then grabbing power because of it, this book is about grabbing power and suffering for it. We follow so many depraved characters willing to do whatever they believe they need to secure their power - and everyone goes about it in different ways. Not only that, but they all have parts of them that humanize them, making you empathize with their struggles... and they turn around and commit war crimes. For example, Madam Zhang does some horrible things, but she also severely dissociates from her body because of the sexual and physical violence done against her; then she in turn puts herself in those positions to get hurt again because she sees that as her only way to establish power - with her body. All of these characters are so well-fleshed out and dark and thoughtful in their own ways. Each sentence they say or movement they make has several layers of thought behind it. The discussions around gender and sexuality and the performance of each were so thoroughly and expertly explored. The book is well-plotted and -paced, with lots of violence and hatred and tragedy: Parker-Chan does not pull any punches. Still, I would have liked to see more from Zhu's perspective proportionately. The shift away from her made it feel less personal, or maybe less tied to the first book. That also meant that my favorite character, Ma, got very little screen time. I also would've liked to see somewhat of an epilogue, especially because Zhu is based on a real-life historical figure.
Overall, this series promises a long and celebrated career to come for Parker-Chan. The unnumbered layers of this story make me so excited for their books to come!