He Who Drowned the World

This is the second and final volume in Parker-Chan’s breathtaking Radiant Emperor duology.

I love the alternate, 14th-century China setting and the fact that, while this is a fantasy, the focus is much more on the characters’ emotions, inner lives, and relationships than on the speculative elements. That’s not to say there aren’t plenty of high-stakes plot developments, because there are!

But each character’s arc is a detailed study of how past suffering can set people on horribly destructive paths. Some of these characters cannot help hurting themselves in their commitment to achieving things they’d probably be better… show more.

Sometimes, I’m hesitant to start a new series because I’m worried the author won’t stick the landing. If you’ve been considering The Radiant Emperor duology but had the same hesitation, let me reassure you: this ending delivers. 

He Who Drowned the World finishes the magic-laced, queer-driven retelling of the founding of the Ming Dynasty that started in She Who Became the Sun. The book’s three central characters—Zhu Yuanzhang, General Ouyang, and Wang Baoxiang—are all ruthless and damaged and monomaniacal in their own ways, and while I wouldn’t like to meet any of them in real life, I could have… show more.