The Dragon Republic- Book Review
ARC provided by the publisher — Harper Voyager — in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Author: R. F. Kuang
Series: Book 2 of The Poppy War
“It was a world of gods, a time of great powers. It was the era of divinity walking in man, of wind and water and fire.”
To be honest, going into this I had extremely high expectations as the first book was my top Fantasy read of 2018 (review here) and I can officially say R.F. Kuang did not let me down!
This book was just as stunning, shocking, and oh so wonderfully dark as the first.
Perhaps my favorite aspect of this series is it a Fantasy series that does not rely on Medieval Western history for inspiration — which is not to say I don’t love that element in fantasy… but it is so unbelievably fascinating to read a Fantasy series so steeped in Eastern culture, history, and political systems.
Book 1 of The Poppy War is heavily inspired by the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Raping of Nanking (totally give this a quick google search as it adds another wonderful element of depth to the series) and Book 2 continues this amazing combination of 20th-century Chinese history, amazing magic and utterly fucked up deities.
The Poppy War series itself can probably be best described as a portrait on war. How war is inevitable, that it is destroying, and with war there is no true victor and no true villain. It is quite simply humans struggling with their very worst and best natures. This isn’t a series made to make you smile (although the side-characters do add some hilarious moments of comedic reprieve), it is a series like Game of Thrones that will make you question morality and will equal parts horrify you and keep you glued to your seat.
The Dragon Republic continues right after the events of the first book and like the first book has absurdly good pacing. It is fast, to the point and doesn’t linger unnecessarily on plot elements and unlike the first installment where it is coming-of-age battle school fantasy for the first half and a grim military fantasy for the second half, The Dragon Republic is more of a look at the effects on war.
The world of Poppy War is also expanded in this installment and we get to see some of the other cultures (Hesperians and Hinterlanders) as well as more modern weapons. The addition of other culture’s religions and politics and their subsequent view of Nikara citizens was probably my favorite aspect of this book.
You can really tell that R.F. Kuang grows as an author and this shows for me in her prose. The Dragon Republic reads much more like a Brandon Sanderson novel — a combination of flawless storytelling, amazingly dynamic and intricate characters, and a superb and introspective examination of religion and politics.
The narrative — like the first — was told exclusively through Rin’s perspective. Which if I am to be honest, is quite difficult at times as Rin is always unapologetically herself. Rin is irrefutably the human manifestation and conduit of the Phoenix- she is vengeful, unforgiving, angry, and cruel. But Kuang balances these aspects of Rin’s character with her fragility and insecurity which provide that layer of humanity and reliability. Despite the moments of wanting to shake Rin and yell “WTF!!!” she undergoes a massive amount self-discovery, healing, and change making her character arc incredibly layered and an absolute joy to read.
I could go on, and on and on and on….about how much I love this series and the different aspects that make this sequel amazing but to save you from my raving (which I’m pretty sure I could do all do) I will simply put that I love this series and highly encourage you to give it a read!
The quote in this review was taken from an ARC and is subject to change upon publication.
Find what I’m currently reading and other book recommendations here.
