Hello, everyone! Today I’m reviewing a book that has been on my NetGalley shelf for ages, He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan. I’m not sure why I kept putting this book off. I loved the first book, She Who Became the Sun. So, I was stoked to see how the duology wrapped up. I just never found myself reaching for it. Did I make a mistake in waiting so long to read it? Read on to find out!

How much would you give to win the world?

Zhu Yuanzhang, the Radiant King, is riding high after her victory that tore southern China from its Mongol masters. Now she burns with a new desire: to seize the throne and crown herself emperor.

But Zhu isn’t the only one with imperial ambitions. Her neighbor in the south, the courtesan Madam Zhang, wants the throne for her husband―and she’s strong enough to wipe Zhu off the map. To stay in the game, Zhu will have to gamble everything on a risky alliance with an old enemy: the talented but unstable eunuch general Ouyang, who has already sacrificed everything for a chance at revenge on his father’s killer, the Great Khan.

Unbeknownst to the southerners, a new contender is even closer to the throne. The scorned scholar Wang Baoxiang has maneuvered his way into the capital, and his lethal court games threaten to bring the empire to its knees. For Baoxiang also desires revenge: to become the most degenerate Great Khan in history―and in so doing, make a mockery of every value his Mongol warrior family loved more than him.

All the contenders are determined to do whatever it takes to win. But when desire is the size of the world, the price could be too much for even the most ruthless heart to bear…

***Thank you to Tor Books for providing an advanced copy of the book via NetGalley. My review contains my honest thoughts about my reading experience with a finished copy from the library.***

It only took two years, but I’m finally reviewing He Who Drowned the World. Do I regret waiting so long to read it? Sort of. It definitely lived up to the excellence of the first book. Reading them closer together probably would have helped me sink back into the story easier. There were a lot of different players, and I honestly didn’t remember them all at first. However, I just wasn’t in the right headspace for a book this heavy when it first got published. So, I think I made the right choice in waiting until a time when I was ready. I ended up loving the journey this book took me on.

The story in He Who Drowned the World was a wild, grim, and incredibly tragic one. There were twists and turns galore with plenty of political intrigue, battle action, and shifting allegiances. The path to the throne was treacherous. I never quite knew what horrible thing would happen next despite already knowing where things would end up once the dust settled. This second half of the story felt much more epic than the first, but it also didn’t lose its focus on character.

As for the characters in He Who Drowned the World, Zhu was probably the least interesting, which came as a surprise to me. Her trajectory was pretty linear with a foregone conclusion in this one despite having some difficult moments along the way. Ouyang and Wang Baoxiang were the stars of this book with Madam Zhang coming in a close second. Their stories had more emotional resonance, and I found them to be more complex than Zhu this time. Zhu definitely still had her trademark ambition and stubborn will, though, and I was curious to see how much she was willing to lose to build the world she wanted.

Unsurprisingly, He Who Drowned the World had a lot of great thematic content. This story doubled down on the exploration of gender from the first book. It did a really great job of illustrating the potentially harmful impacts of rigid gender roles. Each of the main POV characters interacted with the concept of gender in unique ways, and it was so interesting to see how it shaped their personalities and decisions. I also really liked that the story showed how ambition coupled with a vision for a better world ended up being more powerful than hate, revenge, or lust for status in the end. The motivation of wanting to build something specific rather than just destroy the existing order seemed to make all the difference for Zhu.

Overall, He Who Drowned the World was a fantastic conclusion to The Radiant Emperor duology. It was epic in scope and incredibly dark while never losing sight of its characters. I think fans of The Poppy War would probably “enjoy” it a lot. I never wanted to put it down. Therefore, I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars.

There you have it! My thoughts on He Who Drowned the World. Have you read this duology? What did you think of how this book wrapped things up? Let me know down in the comments!