Unlike anything I've ever read.
Devastating, funny, complex, and absolutely bonkers.
A perfect finish to a reading year. ( )

Sequel/final book in duology; the Mandate of Heaven is real in the sense of producing a flame/giving mystical powers, though many different people can have the Mandate at any given time. Our main protagonist (who largely identifies as a woman throughout this book) is one such holder and schemes and fights to take the Empire for her own. It’s a little rapid, after giving basically every major character the same arc: the world wouldn’t let me be who I was, so I’m going to control/destroy the world while hating the fact that I am embodied (and sometimes hating women too). It’s supposed to be hopeful that the new Emperor focuses on changing the world instead of destroying it, though it’s not clear how much she understands the difference. I read it quickly! ( )

He Who Drowned the World completes Shelley Parker-Chan's Radiant Emperor duology, a fantasy-tinged, gender-queered alternate history take on the foundation of the Ming dynasty. In many ways this is a stronger book than the first one—Parker-Chan had a much surer grasp on pacing this time around—with all the vicious politicking and psychosexual drama you could hope for.

(And perhaps a little more. There's an awful lot of trauma here and every single character needs therapy and a nap.)

Ultimately, I think this is a series I find myself respecting more than loving. Parker-Chan's worldview is assured and complex, and they make some interesting points about gender and power. Yet there were points where events were so bleakly tragic, the characters so determined to make bad and amoral choices over and over, and consciously so, that I found the book teetering on the verge of camp. Parker-Chan clearly understands the constraints within which women have to operate in a patriarchal system, but I found their portrait of Madam Zhang to be unconvincing—oddly endorsing of certain misogynist stereotypes rather than unpacking them.

I can't say that I'll continue on with further works by Parker-Chan—if their future books are as brutal as these twos, I think it will be too much for me—but I don't regret having read these two. ( )

Series Info/Source: This is the 2nd book in The Radiant Emperor Duology I borrowed this on ebook through the library.

Thoughts: I enjoyed this conclusion to the Radiant Emperor Duology but thought it was weaker than the first book in the series.

This book follows many different characters as they fight for the throne. My favorite character continues to be Zhu, whose plucky attitude is contagious and coupled with a ruthlessness that is chilling. We also hear from Madama Zhang who wants to put her husband on the throne, General Ouyang who wants revenge, and Wang Baoxiang who wants to mock his Mongol family by becoming the most vile Great Khan in history. All the characters are very relatable and have a lot of depth to them. I enjoyed watching them try to out-maneuver each other. The story is engaging and easy to read.

This is mainly historical fiction but it does have some intriguing fantasy elements. The magical Manifests that these feuding members have are intriguing and the ability they give to see ghosts is fascinating. I also enjoyed some other fantasy elements like Zhu figuring out how to use his powers to bring back his dead companions.

While I enjoyed this overall, there was one thing that bothered me throughout. The characters have a lot of internal dialogue going on that takes up a lot of page space. Much of this internal dialogue was repetitive and didn't add much to the story. I frequently found myself skimming some of these portions to get to the meat of the story. I would have preferred some better editing to tighten up all of these internal thoughts and conversations. They just took up way too much page space.

As with the first book, I would have loved an afterward on how much of this book was historically accurate and how much was fantasy. I am always intrigued to learn about history and in a historical fantasy like this it is nice to have some help sorting out what is real and what is fantasy.

My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed this. There are some wonderfully despicable characters in here and they are fascinating to watch as they try to out-maneuver each other for leadership of China. I did think the internal dialogue that characters had in their head were way too drawn out and should have been edited down. I would have also really enjoyed an afterward comparing this to actual history. I look forward to Parker-Chen's future novels and would recommend this book to those interested in historical fiction fantasies, especially those that look at historical China. ( )

My initial response to "She Who Became the Sun" was that this was going to be something of a chore, but this turned out to be the gender-bent historical epic I didn't know I needed. That brings us to the follow-up book, which I feel is a step up in quality, as Parker-Chan takes you into a world of lethal dynastic conflict. George Martin has nothing on this lady as you'll feel like you need a shower after reading some passages.

My hot take is that this one of the best fantasy novels of the year and it should contend for all the relevant prizes. ( )