USA TODAY bestseller, #1 international bestseller, and Indie Next Pick
"Even better than the first. . . . These novels beautifully capture the feedback loop wherein queer-coded characters are reviled, which drives them to unbearable viciousness, which in turn fills them with self-loathing. Parker-Chan's characters struggle to break this cycle, and the nuance with which they're portrayed makes us root for them. In the end, Parker-Chan seems to suggest, power belongs not to the most ruthless but to those who are most successful at self-forgiveness."--The Washington Post
"The most finely crafted fantasy novel of the year. . . . Sentence by sentence, Parker-Chan's prose is unrivaled in modern fantasy. It's so consistent in its richness, so precise in its sequencing that even the grimmest of moments become enthralling and vital. . . .The fearless Parker-Chan pulls no punches, repeatedly pushing characters to their limits and beyond."--BookPage, starred review
"Intricately plotted and devastatingly brutal historical fantasy. . . . Parker-Chan admirably continues the nuanced and compassionate examination of gender, sex, and desire that began in book one while simultaneously dialing up the intensity. . . . Parker-Chan successfully steers the complex political machinations to a satisfying conclusion."--Publishers Weekly
"A powerful historical fantasy filled with complex people and high stakes. . . . Paying equal attention to fierce battle scenes and deep conversations and filled with desperate decisions and brutal actions, this book is immersive and intimate."--Library Journal, starred review
"A heart-racing, emotional story that is also heartrending and shocking . . . . The conclusion of the Radiant Emperor duology makes use of every last word and stamps this series onto the map as a new must-read of the fantasy canon."--Booklist, starred review
"Gender, power, queerness, sex and empire are explored in complex and sometimes shocking ways. This duology will leave you breathless."--NPR, "Books We Love" feature
"An incredibly compelling novel, vividly written, with fascinating thematic arguments about gender and power - there are entire essays to be composed on that aspect of this novel alone - and with a startlingly fresh approach to combining the fantastical with the historical... I suspect I'll still be thinking about this duology in a decade's time. In either case, He Who Drowned the World is a worthy successor to She Who Became the Sun: a vivid and entertaining novel whose characters, for all their flaws, are never less than wholly fascinating."--Locus
"Just as exciting, epic and stunningly written as the first. It will leave you on the edge of your seat until the final page."--Ms. Magazine
"A dark, often brutal, and occasionally gory follow-up to (excellent) historical fantasy She Who Became the Sun. Shelley Parker-Chan sends their Radiant Emperor duology off in style."--Paste
Praise for SHE WHO BECAME THE SUN:
"She Who Became the Sun is epic, tragic, and gorgeous. It will wreck you, and you will be grateful." --Alix E. Harrow, Hugo Award-winning author of The Once and Future Witches
"Evocative and heartrending, Parker-Chan's debut is a poetic masterpiece about war, love, and identity."--S.A. Chakraborty, international bestselling author of THE DAEVABAD TRILOGY
"Instantly enthralling. Zhu is canny, charming, and ruthless as she claims her own fate in a richly detailed world, challenging dynasties and gender in the process." --Malinda Lo, author of Last Night at the Telegraph Club
"Gorgeous and sprawling masterpiece of historical fantasy."--Buzzfeed
"A gripping tale of rise to power, fate, betrayals and the bloody beginnings and endings of dynasties. Heartbreaking, stirring, haunting."--Aliette de Bodard, Nebula-award winning author of SEVEN OF INFINITIES
"Parker-Chan unrolls the painted scroll of her epic tale with the control of a master storyteller, revealing a dazzling new world of fate, war, love and betrayal. Fantasy will never be the same." --Zen Cho, award-winning author of The True Queen
"An exhilarating rise to power . . . in a world that is stunningly alive. Parker-Chan's exquisitely wrought prose brings light and nuance to the novel's immense themes of gender, power and fate. An instant classic."--C.S. Pacat, USA Today bestselling author of the CAPTIVE PRINCE TRILOGY
"An absolute stunner... The story, much like the characters, is ambitious and clever and the depth of emotion Parker-Chan is able to tap into without ever becoming maudlin is astounding." --Rebecca Roanhorse, Hugo and Nebula-award winning author of Black Sun
"Stunning, powerful and complex, there are no heroes in this tale, and people knowingly do terrible things. And you'll love them for it."--Anna Stephens, author of the GODBLIND TRILOGY
"Zhu is a hero unlike any other - her propulsive desire to survive at any cost powers a glorious novel that encompasses grand betrayal, love, loss and triumph . . . . Tender characterisation, assured pacing and dry wit makes this . . . unforgettable." --A. K. Larkwood, author of The Unspoken Name
"Shelley Parker-Chan's debut novel is a sweeping epic rendered in elegant prose. Arresting, beautiful, grand in scope and yet intimately poignant, readers will be drawn into this deftly written fantasy."-- Rowenna Miller, author of Torn
"[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."--USA Today
"Parker-Chan's debut is forceful, immersive, and unforgettable."--Library Journal, starred review
