marcus_bines 's review for:

He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan

3.0

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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This historical fantasy sequel to She Who Became The Sun pales in comparison to it, sadly. The first book was focused on a fascinating pair of characters (Zhu and Ouyang), both existing outside gender norms in a world that lived strictly by them, and their stories continue in this novel. But as well as that, their strategic ingenuity and prowess as military leaders came to the fore, which the author has relegated to the background in this novel. Almost all the battles happen off the page, except for one naval conflict, and while I don't feel the need for endless military campaigns in my fantasy reading, it led to a very different feel to this book. Instead of that element, Parker-Chan spends a lot of time in her characters' heads, and  widens the scope of POV characters, including Baoxiang, a scheming civil servant, whose ambitions lead him to use sex as one of his weapons of power. I found his story less interesting, and found myself wishing to be back in the first novel. I also didn't love the conclusion to the whole duology, which felt rushed and somewhat out of character for certain key figures. But I love the fact that this is a historical fantasy that is deeply invested in LGBTQ and disability representation, and has fully-formed intersectional characters who make both good and bad choices, and who feel like real people.