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A review by leonwheeler
The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
This was a notable improvement on ‘The Poppy War’ - whereas it felt that the latter half of that book relied massively on shock and violence to keep the reader present, here the second half of the plot was just well written and compelling enough on its own.
The developments made with regards to Nezha’s character were in my opinion good and welcome. The gradual development of the western Hesperian as the ‘true’ villains (colonialism guys) was well done and helps to set the grounding for why Rin’s opposition to them in the third book is necessary. (I’ve seen some criticise the ending as they argue that Rin is only starting a third war out of personal anger against Nezha and although this is true, it doesn’t mean that this final war/revolution isn’t necessary from a larger viewpoint as well).
Another improvement over “the Poppy War” was that there were less speaking/named characters. In That Book the many school mates and members of the Cike became too many to keep track of and therefore scenes with some of them in were difficult to get through as I’d forgotten aspects of some of their characters. Here this is much better with only a few old school mates from Sinegaard showing up and most of the Cike quickly either dead or just out of the picture. Additionally, the fight scenes were much better written than in the first book in this trilogy.
However, there were some issues. Mainly, Rin is ultimately unlikeable because she’s a terrible person. At the start she is suffering massively from the guilt of the genocide she’s committed - as she should be - but by the end of the book that guilt has left her and she’s now of the opinion that given the chance she would commit the genocide again. Crazy stance to take made especially hypocritical when Rin is aware that a key reason for fighting Hesperian involvement in Nikan is that they view the world along racial lines and so see her and the Nikanese as lesser.
A second issue is that Rin seems to kick her massive opium addiction way too easily. It takes one bout of going cold turkey and then she’s somehow fine. Despite later incidences where she’s exposed to it she somehow never falls into fully fledged addiction again. Bizarre.
Overall though, The Dragon Republic was a very Good Book, and an improvement in the trilogy - which normally doesn’t happen.
The developments made with regards to Nezha’s character were in my opinion good and welcome. The gradual development of the western Hesperian as the ‘true’ villains (colonialism guys) was well done and helps to set the grounding for why Rin’s opposition to them in the third book is necessary. (I’ve seen some criticise the ending as they argue that Rin is only starting a third war out of personal anger against Nezha and although this is true, it doesn’t mean that this final war/revolution isn’t necessary from a larger viewpoint as well).
Another improvement over “the Poppy War” was that there were less speaking/named characters. In That Book the many school mates and members of the Cike became too many to keep track of and therefore scenes with some of them in were difficult to get through as I’d forgotten aspects of some of their characters. Here this is much better with only a few old school mates from Sinegaard showing up and most of the Cike quickly either dead or just out of the picture. Additionally, the fight scenes were much better written than in the first book in this trilogy.
However, there were some issues. Mainly, Rin is ultimately unlikeable because she’s a terrible person. At the start she is suffering massively from the guilt of the genocide she’s committed - as she should be - but by the end of the book that guilt has left her and she’s now of the opinion that given the chance she would commit the genocide again. Crazy stance to take made especially hypocritical when Rin is aware that a key reason for fighting Hesperian involvement in Nikan is that they view the world along racial lines and so see her and the Nikanese as lesser.
A second issue is that Rin seems to kick her massive opium addiction way too easily. It takes one bout of going cold turkey and then she’s somehow fine. Despite later incidences where she’s exposed to it she somehow never falls into fully fledged addiction again. Bizarre.
Overall though, The Dragon Republic was a very Good Book, and an improvement in the trilogy - which normally doesn’t happen.