She Who Became the Sun
- 282
- Pages
- about 5 h
- Reading time
- Sydney J. Bounds Award For Best Newcomer
- Robert Holdstock Award for Best Fantasy Novel
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About the book
She Who Became the Sun is a 2021 historical fantasy novel by Shelley Parker-Chan. Parker-Chan's debut novel, the work is a re-imagining of the rise to power of the Hongwu Emperor in the 14th century. A sequel, He Who Drowned the World, was published in 2023; the two books form The Radiant Emperor Duology.
Reading order · The Radiant Emperor
- She Who Became the SunThis book
7.77.7 / 10 - He Who Drowned the WorldHe Who Drowned the World8.28.2 / 10
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.5 across 381 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 67% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Rankings average of 7.8. That is how 7.7 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.4 | 5 | 1% |
| Hardcover | 7.5 | 376 | 99% |
Reader voices
The most-liked reviews on Hardcover (credited to their authors).
“The Mongolians are written in this book in a way that feels like it's consistent with the Wuxia novels that inspired the author, but also in ways that feels like they are ignoring internalized prejudices from those novels - the writers of those works had their own biases, possibly unexamined, about Mongolians as a people, or at least the history of those people, that put them into some of the same archetypes that white fantasy and science fiction writers are (justifiably) criticized for using when writing “Proud Warrior Race” characters and cultures. It feels like the the author is reproducin…”
“the first three chapters were really interesting but honestly i was bored the rest of the time”
“Didn't really do much for me. Zhu was incredibly boring to me. I wish she had more interests outside of “become great.” Ouyang was so interesting and I would have preferred his story to take more precedence. No clue if I'll be reading the sequel. I really loved the Author's prose and some of the Gender Things, but I'm not sure if I want to invest the time into reading. We will seeee”
Frequently asked
What is She Who Became the Sun rated?
7.7 out of 10, from 381 reader ratings across 2 independent sources.
Is She Who Became the Sun worth reading?
Readers give it 7.7/10 from 381 ratings in open sources.
How long does it take to read She Who Became the Sun?
About 5 hours at an average reading pace — 282 pages.
Which volume of the series is She Who Became the Sun?
Volume 1 of 2 in The Radiant Emperor. The full reading order is one tap away above.