He Who Drowned the World: the epic sequel to the Sunday Times bestselling historical fantasy She Who Became the Sun (The Radiant Emperor, 2)

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While I understand where this sentiment comes from, I’ll admit that I wasn’t overly bothered by the turn things took. As they’re all willing to do whatever it takes to rule, who will have to sacrifice the most, and who will emerge victorious? We see the biting edge of a pain that is weaponised against the world and we see a maddening one that is sure to be their doom. This is where He Who Drowned the World strides in larger steps than She Who Became the Sun (as perfect as that book also is). Although I had several minor problems with the execution, the emotional complexity of the three main characters was interesting enough not to make me regret giving this a try.

It’s so consistent in its richness, so precise in its sequencing that even the grimmest of moments become enthralling and vital. Reading She Who Became the Sun, I repeatedly felt the urge to grab the main characters by the collar and yell, “for the love of god, get some fucking help”. She found she couldn’t muster up much regret for the deaths of Ma’s father, or the two Guos: Old Guo and his son Little Guo, Ma’s unfortunate fiancé. An] important debut that expands our concept of who gets to be a hero and a villain, and introduces a pair of gender disruptors who are destined to change China – and the LGBTQ fantasy canon – forever. And with the exception of her capital, Yingtian, none of the dozen cities she held in the south could match even the poorest of the Zhang family’s canal-linked economic centers.Her flirtatiousness had taken on a sheen of disdain, and Zhu had the mental image of the door to a private room slamming in her face. Both She Who Became the Sun and He Who Drowned the World have relatively slow pacing as the characters arrange pieces to enact their complicated plans. but there is just something about this second half of the duology that failed to keep me interested. Zhu in particular manages to inhabit a world that is neither entirely male or female and succeed in part because of that distinction.

None of the main characters are particularly likable, nor do they have a single good bone in their body, except maybe Zhu. He hates the way they view him, he hates the way they discard him, he hates that they find him worthless. Her army, an infantry-dominated force built from the former Red Turban rebellion and additional peasant recruits, was barely half the size of the Zhangs’ well-equipped professional army. Parker-Chan is a previous winner of the Astounding Award for Best Debut, and the British Fantasy Awards for Best Fantasy Novel and Best Newcomer. Witnessing ripples of one character’s actions brush against the POVs of other characters created the perfect amount of tension and suspense.Surely it requires no extended consideration,” the woman’s voice said from behind the stirring gauze curtain of the carriage.