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A review by liashinigami
The Burning God by R.F. Kuang
challenging
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Even if this series is far from perfectly refined, this third book is truly the most fitting end to Rin's story.
The absolutely in-your-face paralells to real life history, the suffering and persevierence of a country torn apart by war and famine, hit you so hard if you have studied any kind of East Asian history in depth. The specific despair of countries that had their entire existence threatened not only through a newly risen power in their own realm (Japan), but also through the looming outside threat of The West™ and the steamrolling force of industrialization, capital and the western war machine, cannot be properly conveyed unless you have either a direct link to these events or have studied them extensively (and it really shows that R. F. Kuang has both).
While the second book already started to touch on the horrors of civil war, the hopelessness comes to it's peak throughout this last stretch.
Rin is such a unique protagonist in that she is driven by vengance until her last breath. She develops into this symbol of the resistance, first against Daji, then against Vaisra, and finally against the Hesperians, but ultimately fails to rally people behind her because she is so blinded by her own vengance that she cannot see the suffering of the common people. She cannot be their salvation, because vengance cannot keep people alive.
Just as the conclusion of the book states: Do what it takes to survive. Persevere and protect your people, because people are culture and culture is identity. Hold on until the time is right to stand on your own feet again, until you can crawl out of the shadow of the oppressors and your people can reclaim their freedom and identity. This is how so many colonized and occupied cultures have survived. And it is heartbreaking and refreshing in one so see such a conclusion portrayed in a major book series, which deserved all the praises it got.b
The absolutely in-your-face paralells to real life history, the suffering and persevierence of a country torn apart by war and famine, hit you so hard if you have studied any kind of East Asian history in depth. The specific despair of countries that had their entire existence threatened not only through a newly risen power in their own realm (Japan), but also through the looming outside threat of The West™ and the steamrolling force of industrialization, capital and the western war machine, cannot be properly conveyed unless you have either a direct link to these events or have studied them extensively (and it really shows that R. F. Kuang has both).
Rin is such a unique protagonist in that she is driven by vengance until her last breath. She develops into this symbol of the resistance, first against Daji, then against Vaisra, and finally against the Hesperians, but ultimately fails to rally people behind her because she is so blinded by her own vengance that she cannot see the suffering of the common people. She cannot be their salvation, because vengance cannot keep people alive.
Just as the conclusion of the book states: Do what it takes to survive. Persevere and protect your people, because people are culture and culture is identity. Hold on until the time is right to stand on your own feet again, until you can crawl out of the shadow of the oppressors and your people can reclaim their freedom and identity. This is how so many colonized and occupied cultures have survived. And it is heartbreaking and refreshing in one so see such a conclusion portrayed in a major book series, which deserved all the praises it got.b