A review by just_one_more_paige
The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

 
 
I LOVED The Poppy War. One of my favorite adult fantasies that I’ve read in a while. I couldn’t wait for the second book to come out so I could see where the story went. And then, of course, I got lost in my TBR and the pub date came and went for The Dragon Republic. And THEN, the pub date for the final book in the trilogy, The Burning God, was coming up and I realized how long it had been since I read The Poppy War and I realized I was being ridiculous and I needed to get my ish together and continue the series asap. So, finally, here we are. Almost 24 hours of (phenomenally narrated) audiobook later and I can finally say I’m 2/3 of the way through and still totally in love with Kuang’s writing. 
 
This novel picks up basically right at the end of The Poppy War. Altan is gone, Rin is reeling from the mental strain and guilt of the war-ending decision/destruction she made and trying to control (with opium) the Pheonix now living inside her. Rin is convinced to join, and bring the Cike along, the Dragon Emperor as he begins a civil war, taking over Nikan from Empress Su Daji and (he says) fighting to create a new Republic. Rin wants nothing more than to lose herself in being a soldier and throws herself into the fight. But as time passes, she realizes that perhaps she needs to take more responsibility for herself and her power, and what she can do for the good (or detriment) of her country. Fighting foes internal to herself, from various sides within her country, and many from outside her country, alliances are made and broken, lies and told and retold, and Rin will lose so much as she continues to rise into her full self/power and realizes who is truly “on her side” and who is not.   
 
PHEW. I have no idea if that overview of this novel made any sense because holy shit SO MUCH happens. I want to try and give this review in as spoiler-free a way as possible. Which, I can definitely assure for this book. But there may be a few times where I give things away from the first installation. If that does happen, I am truly sorry. Anyways, this second book pulls about as many punches as the first one, which is to say absolutely none of them. From essentially the very first page, the reader is hit with blow after blow of violence and emotion and turmoil and backstabbing and manipulation and secret powers and even though so much of it hurt to read, I also never wanted it to end! Some things that stood out to me in the first book that remain so central and impressive in this second one as well are mainly in regards to the way Kuang writes war and conflict. There is no romanticization, no mercy – it all hits fully and deeply, as it should. This includes not just the descriptions of battles, and the death there, but also the way the countryside and civilians are affected, the way allegiances are ever shifting in the face of changing information (and the way much of that happens not for the good of people/county, but for personal power gain, even if it means even worse conditions for people/country I the future). 
 
In addition, and very importantly as we get further into these character’s lives and stories, Kuang writes PTSD spectacularly. Rin’s internal struggle to accept what she’s done, the weight of her responsibility and guilt and anger, is displayed so thoroughly and horrifically. It makes her actions and reactions, many of which could easily make one annoyed or want to shake her into standing up for herself/the Cike more or seem impulsive and poorly considered, absolutely understandable. My heart ached for her and her incredibly grey and, sometimes, detached moral character and impulsivity and need for care/connection that led her to be, so often, manipulated. And then it’s further ingrained for her each time that led to more death on her conscious. It’s no wonder she got lost in that cycle and it’s such a real commentary on how, once you’ve seen war and done things like Rin has done, could you possibly ever come back from that? 
 
I also have to say that the expansion, in this novel, of the details inter and intra national nuances of racism was handled so well, along with deeper dives into the privileges of those born into power and money (and what they’ll do to keep it). We already saw some of the North/South split within Nikan in book one with the way Rin was treated at Sinegard. But here, we see even more of that, between the citizens of Nikan and the various tribes living in the Hinterlands, as well as the entire continent and the Hesperians. This was a particularly clear, at least for me, commentary on the real-life outlook of Western colonization, the religious and “scientific” excuses that were (and still are) used to justify overt racism and myriad microaggressions against non-Western civilizations. Which makes sense, since this entire saga is strongly based in Chinese history. There is also quite a bit of detail in the political intrigue, especially internal to Nikan, that develops throughout. And it is minute detail – machinations and manipulations that have so much depth and continue, page after page, to change and surprise me and I was on my toes the whole book not knowing who to trust ever! And I definitely loved that reading experience. 
 
That being said, let me also take a moment here to just touch on some of the characters. We don’t meet too many new ones (the Dragon Warlord and Nezha’s brother being two major ones, and the pirate queen Moag being one I am dying for more of), but we do get a little more from some characters (like the Empress, Chagan and his sister Qara, Ramsa, and Venka) which I loved, and we lose just as many in varied upsetting and heartbreaking ways. And Rin’s two major male colleagues from Sinegard and the last Poppy War, Kitay and Nezha, both play major roles here again. I really enjoyed the rocky terrain of all their relationships – realistically difficult under the harsh conditions, family/societal situations, and all the normal challenges on young adult relationships. I was in turns surprised and not by the turns some of their interactions took, but I can’t lie, the end and the split that comes with it, was one I definitely had not anticipated, though I maybe should have, and it hurt to read.   
 
The ride this book took me on was just as terrible and wonderful as the first. There was not a single time, despite it being over 600 pages, that I thought it dragged, and I could not be more impressed with the scope of Kuang’s work. It’s such a full world that she’s built, such authentic characters she’s created, and such a freaking dynamic story she’s unfolding. I cannot wait to dive into the final book and see what else she has in store for Rin and the power from her Pheonix god, Kitay and Venka, Nezha and the puppet Dragon Republic, (ex?) Empress Su Daji?, hopefully Moag, and what the ending looks like for the entirety of the Nikan Empire and its people. 
 
“She played with her guilt the way a child holds his palm to a candle flame, daring to venture just close enough to feel the stabbing licks of pain.” 
 
“It doesn’t matter what you want. […] When you have the power that you do, your life is not your own. […]  People will seek to use you or destroy you. If you want to live, you must pick a side. So do not shirk from war, child. Do not flinch from suffering. When you hear screaming, run toward it.” 
 
“It’s not about who you are, it’s about how they see you.” 
 
“And when nations start to believe that other beliefs lead to damnation, violence becomes inevitable.” 
 
“But we are the weaker party. We have no choice but to play their game. That’s how power works.” 
 
“If nothing lasted and the world did not exist, all that meant was that reality was not fixed. The illusion she lived in was fluid and mutable, and could be easily altered by someone willing to rewrite the script of reality.” 
 
“Fire and water looked so lovely together. It was a pity they destroyed each other by nature.” 
 
 
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