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graculus 's review for:
He Who Drowned the World
by Shelley Parker-Chan
I absolutely loved the first book in this duology, so it came as no surprise that I felt the same way about He Who Drowned the World, helped I think by my decision to re-read the first book before tackling this one. What I did not expect was that this book would make me cry before the end and I can't remember the last time that happened...
These books are basically a retelling of the founding of the Ming, with added supernatural elements (the Mandate of Heaven is the ability to create light and those who hold it can also see the spirits of the dead). This book builds on the events of the first, where we met our main characters and this time we run straight into the events of this book, as our newly-self-proclaimed Radiant King tries to take over the remaining territory of what will become his empire. He finds himself up against others with ambitions to take the throne for themselves, with quite a bit of puppet-mastering going on from both a character we've met before and one who's newly introduced here.
In the end, however, the show is stolen by Ouyang - a eunuch general serving the killers of his family, who despise him for his unmanliness but also use him for his brilliance. This time around, Ouyang and the Radiant King find themselves working together, for a while at least, until events spiral and tear them apart. A wonderful piece of writing, as was She Who Became the Sun, and I can't wait to see what this author does next.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, via Netgalley. This is my honest review of the book in question.
These books are basically a retelling of the founding of the Ming, with added supernatural elements (the Mandate of Heaven is the ability to create light and those who hold it can also see the spirits of the dead). This book builds on the events of the first, where we met our main characters and this time we run straight into the events of this book, as our newly-self-proclaimed Radiant King tries to take over the remaining territory of what will become his empire. He finds himself up against others with ambitions to take the throne for themselves, with quite a bit of puppet-mastering going on from both a character we've met before and one who's newly introduced here.
In the end, however, the show is stolen by Ouyang - a eunuch general serving the killers of his family, who despise him for his unmanliness but also use him for his brilliance. This time around, Ouyang and the Radiant King find themselves working together, for a while at least, until events spiral and tear them apart. A wonderful piece of writing, as was She Who Became the Sun, and I can't wait to see what this author does next.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, via Netgalley. This is my honest review of the book in question.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence