He Who Drowned the World
core novel 2023 The Radiant Emperor Duology
Record
| First published | 2023 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.19 (17,257 ratings, collected 2026-09-14) |
| First-edition ISBN | 9781250907011 |
Synopsis
Now crowned the Radiant King, Zhu Yuanzhang pursues her ultimate ambition of becoming emperor of a reunified China, pressing her rebel-born rule toward the wider conquest that still lies before her. Her path to power faces obstacles from multiple directions at once: a cunning courtesan navigating the court's hidden currents, a vengeful eunuch general serving the crumbling Yuan dynasty, and a scholar-strategist working to destabilize the rival warlord she must eventually confront. As these factions clash over territory, legitimacy, and the changing meaning of gender and identity within a world still reeling from famine and civil war, Zhu must decide how far she is willing to go, and how much of herself she is willing to hide, to finish what she started.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Radiant Emperor Duology
- Series: The Radiant Emperor Duology core; position 2 of 2 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Shelley Parker-Chan
Notes
- From the series record (The Radiant Emperor Duology): A completed duology reimagining the rise of the founder of China's Ming dynasty through a gender-bent, queer lens. She Who Became the Sun won the 2022 British Fantasy Award's Robert Holdstock Award for Best Fantasy Novel AND its Sydney J. Bounds Award for Best Newcomer, plus the 2022 Astounding Award for Best New Writer, and was a 2022 Hugo Award for Best Novel finalist and 2nd place in the 2022 Locus first-novel poll -- all independently corroborated via sfadb.com. He Who Drowned the World won the 2025 Aurealis Award's Sarah Douglass Book Series award and was a 2024 Dragon Award finalist, placing 4th in the 2024 Locus fantasy-novel poll.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings and are never conflated: a book's place in one says nothing about its place in the other.
- Publication order, within the series The Radiant Emperor Duology: position 2 of 2: previous She Who Became the Sun (2021)
Sources
- Wikipedia: She Who Became the Sun
- sfadb: Shelley Parker-Chan Awards
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/He_Who_Drowned_the_World
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