He was the eclipse that sucked the light and life out of the world. He was the moon eating the sun, and it was his racing shadow that stole the life from the world below.
He Who Drowned the World
by Shelley Parker-Chan
Genre: Adult Fantasy
About: For a long time Zhu merely had the desire to be great. Now she has a queen, an army and the Mandate of Heaven, it should only be a matter of time before she takes the throne. But she's not the only one. Enemies new and old build up armies, make alliances, plot betrayals and seize on ambition and revenge. She isn't the only one Heaven has chosen and her light might not be bright enough to wage war on them all.
Thoughts
This book. I was blown away by She Who Became the Sun. It was such a stunning debut and set a really high standard for its sequel. The only negative I remember from the first book was that it was a bit too slow paced to begin with. He Who Drowned the World does not have that issue. There are heists, prison breakouts, dangerous alliances, pirate competitions... And quite a lot of sex on the page - though not in the steamy sense (at least not most of the time) as the relationships are intensely complicated and layered.
It's an emotional ride. Quite a few of the character arcs are rooted in pain and suffering and that can be difficult to read through, but I really loved that Shelley Parker-Chan balanced this heaviness with characters like Zhu and Xu Da who do suffer but bring a playfulness and sense of hope to the pages. Ma is also an exceptional character, it made me so happy every time she was brought back into the story.
Without going into spoiler territory, I loved how the relationships developed. Some took me by surprise and so many of the connections felt deep and personal. Every character is given complications and pushed to their limit.
I loved it. The prose is stunning, the characters raw and human, and the world-building is so good that my library has this labelled as Historical Fiction when really it's High Adult Fantasy. It is of course steeped in history, but the way that fate and ghosts are weaved into the story is very epic and fantastical.
The only nag I had was that the literal last scene didn't give me enough. I wanted more. I need an epilogue. It was a fantastic end to the duology and I especially loved how I didn't know how we would get to the point that we did, each turn took me by surprise, but the final scene was over a little too fast for me. Shelley Parker-Chan had me trapped in this world and I don't think I was ready to let go.
Comments