Shelley Parker-Chan is an Asian Australian former international development adviser, who worked on human rights, gender equality and LGBTQ rights in Southeast Asia. Their debut novel She Who Became the Sun was a No. 1 Sunday Times bestseller and has now been translated into thirteen languages. Parker-Chan has previously won the Astounding Award and British Fantasy Awards for Best Fantasy Novel and Best Newcomer. They have also been a finalist for the Lambda, Locus, Aurealis, Ditmar, and British Book Awards. Parker-Chan lives in Melbourne, Australia.
He Who Drowned the World blew me out of the water. Deep, dark and peopled with deliciously complex characters, this book will draw you irresistibly into a world of tragedy and triumph. Shelley Parker-Chan is a genius -- Jen Williams, author of <i>Talonsister</i> 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 -- <i>Library Journal</i>, 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 -- <i>Booklist</i>, starred review 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 -- <i>The Washington Post </i> 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, author of <i>Sorcerer to the Crown</i> on <i>She Who Became the Sun</i> Epic, tragic and gorgeous. It will wreck you, and you will be grateful -- Alix E. Harrow, author of <i>Starling House</i> on <i>She Who Became the Sun</i> Magnificent in every way -- Samantha Shannon, author of <i>The Bone Season</i> on <i>She Who Became the Sun</i>