He Who Drowned the World (Radiant Emperor #2)

He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan is the stunning conclusion to her Radiant Emperor series, an alternate history to the end of the Great Yuan and the founding of the Ming Dynasty. 

Zhu Yuanzhang, formerly Zhu Chongba, has crowned themself king of a large part of southern China, land taken back from the Mongol Yuan dynasty.

General Ouyang, who fought against Zhu, will form an uneasy alliance with Zhu to continue the destruction of the Yuan. Someone else is also pulling strings to gain the throne himself. So far, Zhu cannot figure out who that could be.

In this heart-wrenching conclusion, Parker-Chan closes this brilliantly written alternate history, queer retelling of a pivotal time in Chinese and world history. If you are a fan of history or great writing read this series. It is a feat of literature. 

Parker-Chan, Shelley. (2023). He Who Drowned the World. New York: Tor.