The Burning God
Ratings295
Average rating4.2
Very earned ending even if a rough ending to a unique trilogy. I want to know what happens next!
What a fitting, hard to read, grim, sad, glorious, devastating, spectacular, moving, cruel, perfect ending for a great series.
There are a few issues with the book like unresolved storylines, rambling, repetitiveness, meandering and about 200 unneeded pages too much. For example, the whole trifecta storyline was pointless and just dragged book 3 out without any meaningful closure or impact on the plot.
Overall it was a fantastic, gripping book that conveyed hopelessness, despair and the horrors of war very vividly, so I am not sure if I can stomach reading any further R.F. Klang books tbh, glad I read this series though.
I am conflicted, just like Rin.
R. F. Kuang has been given all the talents and chooses to use them to inflict misery
to be honest, this one dimmed my love and excitement for this series because how much it dragged on. how i had to read 800? pages just to get that ending. i understand it, i get why rin did it, but i think it wasnt fair. it wasnt fair to kitay, it wasnt fair to herself.
there was so little nezha, unlike in the first two books, and the yearning we were given. i understand that this series is basically about war, but i also wanted to read about war more from nezha's side and him being around rin more?
also, the hype surrounding the trifecta and suddenly they just die? like that? there is no fight? riga is supposed to be this big bad wold and rin just kills him? what the fuck was all that for?
i did love the moments when venka, rin and kitay plotted together. i loved their friendship. even in the second book, with nezha around.
for some reason, i was heavily attracted to jiang in this one. him using words of endearment like darling and dear for daji made me quiver and melt?!?! idk why the fuck was that happening
when jiang and rin meet each other for the first time since he locked himseld up
when he comes between riga and rin to prevent riga from killing rin
when she builds a grave-like stone whatever in memory of jiang but also calls him a coward
when nezha tells kitay that he knows rin is not dead...
i didnt tear up like i thought i would, but thats fine. reading jade legacy after this did it for me
3.75
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH THAT HURT SO FUCKING MUCH OH MY GODS!!!!!!!!!! This was BEAUTIFULLY written first of all!!!!!!! This entire series after the first book reads like a tragedy, because it's so obvious that the series couldn't end without Rin's death, but it's written in such a way that even knowing how it was going to end, it was still DEVASTATING!!!!!!!!! The BETRAYALS, the PARANOIA, the fact that Rin basically FORCED Nezha to kill her!!!!!!!!!!! I am not going to be ok I am going to be thinking about this for a VERY long time!!!!!!!!!! HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend just be prepared to be ruined!!!!!!!!!!!
CAWPILE SCORE
C-8
A-9
W-9
P-8
I-6
L-7
E-6
TOTAL-7.57/10
A Story about War and its many consequences
CAWPILECharacters.Rin, what to say about Rin, makes some of the worst decisions because she is so focused on being “free” and that she has to keep raging against everyone and everything. I was glad that she was able to stop herself from blowing up the Hesperians in the end, because that would have been the end of the world for sure. Whiplash from dealing with Rin's changing relationship to everyone all the timeNezha, what a change in this book from the last one. Not sure how I feel about his basically complete control over his ability with no Anchor and basically 0 time for training especially with all the experiments going on. He always felt like he vacillated between Nikara and Hesperian. Kitay, still as smart as ever, but I'm glad he finally showed a backbone and stopped Rin at least once. Definitely reads as an autistic person to me, and I loved that. Trifecta: wow, just seeing Jiang come up from his seal and regaining his power. How scared everyone is of Riga. How powerful Riga is, but then the betrayal from Rin using the Hesperians Bombs to kill them all. Felt like a huge waste to me. Instead of using him to push them away, then rebelling or something. Hesperians: diligent and scientific as always. If only they didn't have 0 morals and actually believed people were people and weren't racists. Then I could root for them more, with their more scientific approach and advanced Tech. the end of Inspector Petra was very fitting.AtmosphereWar is War and this book definitely makes you feel the realities of war. Death being a factor but a smaller factor, famine, Lack of supplies, travel, all these things made the atmosphere feel real almost feeling the despair and likewise highs.WritingNothing to criticize in her writing, again with the themes of Betrayal but this time at least Rin gets 1 betrayal in or maybe 2 if you count betraying herself to stay true to herself.PlotThe Plot for me was all over the place. Go here try this, it fails or I mess it up, go here do this fail again, try this betray that. Everything was just crazier than the last. Still believable for the most part.InvestmentMedium investment for me to see the ending for Rin and what would actually happen to the world.LogicA couple of times it felt like Rin forgot her anchor bond with Kitay unless it was to pass a message. Or that if he dies she dies.EnjoymentUp and down for the enjoyment for me.MiscThere is no way the Nikaran people are ever going to recover from this invasion then civil war, then invasion and civil war at the same time. Unless the Hesperians have insane amounts of food, but realistically I think they should all die.
I will be talking about it on Libromancy https://libromancy.podbean.com/
3.5/5 but a rare case when I'm going to round down, because having this as a 4 star doesn't feel right.
This not the book I wanted or had much interest in getting. Kuang made a lot of choices that made me roll my eyes - Rin gets dumber than a block of cheese for half this book, plotlines are dropped entirely, characters are killed off-screen because she didn't have a use for them anymore, the villains having a seeming huge shift in motivation that is never made much clearer than “because they're bad now”, not enough time spent on characters that are not Rin, depicting a war with the most bare bones details possible, etc.
But what I think her goal is in this novel, and series in general, is still impressive. I read most of this book in a day even though those elements bothered me because I was still engaged. I thought the second half especially was very good. This series is just...not what I wanted it to be based off the first two books, and Kuang has different interests than I do. Her characters became obvious stand-ins for the themes she wanted to explore and because of that, I don't think their actions always made a lot of sense, and we are pretty reliant on just accepting how we are told these characters feel about each other and not given a lot of evidence for why they would feel that way.
So, I'm vaguely disappointed, but it still made me think. It still made me appreciate what Kuang was going for; exploring the trauma of war, of colonialism, of genocide. There were still badass moments, and great fight scenes. So all in all...still a good book.
Whew!! Now that's a way to wrap up a series. This entire series has been absolutely amazeballs. Seriously...just wow. This is an adult fantasy, which is a genre I haven't read much of. The writing and world building is fascinating and the characters are well done.
All three of these books are chunkers, but you don't feel overwhelmed while reading. I was so wrapped up in the story I didn't pay attention to length which says a lot because I can get easily distracted with huge books. I can't recommend this series enough.
I made it. I'm not sure I picked the best time in my life to finish this series, but I made it through. Essentially, my review is that if you liked the first two, you'll need to read this one, and if you didn't like the first two, don't expect it to change. Kuang concludes her historically grounded, raw and unfiltered look at war and the corruption of power without any concessions to the reader's love or dislike of any given character. Punches are not only pulled but given brass knuckles and a couple of keys between fingers. Rin is particularly stressful as she spirals out making even a reader who has been sympathetic to her up until now want to shake her. It's an ugly, heart-breaking, mesmerizing book, and while I doubt I will ever have the oomph to read it again, I'm glad that I did. My advice before you start this last chapter is to make sure you're emotionally balanced enough for the ride.
The Burning God is the perfect conclusion for this series. Brutally true to the horrors of war and a broken country, super interesting conversations about power and the quarrels of having to much or too little of it, and a serious dive into how stories are always written by the winning side, erasing from history those who were against the and vanishing any trace of their relevance.
I'm looking forward to read anything R.F. Kuang puts out. She's now one of my favourite writers. I cannot recommend this enough.
The conclusion to the Poppy War Trilogy does not disappoint. RF Kuang has used the modern history of China to inform a fascinating and powerful fantasy. Whilst the events in the novel bear links to real historical events, the depth of the world building is still impressive and the use of these parallels grants a good range of realism to a hugely fantastic world. Taking on Asian history, as opposed to the usual Euro-centric approach has opened up some really intriguing ideas as well.
Ultimately it is the tragic characters that Rebecca has brought to life though which drive this story. This is richly realised, beautiful and poignant character studies in a world at war. The stories here capture the real brutality of such events, not the sanitized versions often seen. This is gritty, brutal and powerful.
A fitting conclusion to a brilliant trilogy!
A page turn of events that have me in the edge of my seat.
So much happened in this book.
From highs to low Kuang doesn't pull her punches.
Rin progresses further down a mental struggle, fighting battles as numerous people seek to use or kill her. Gods and shamans, the turn of an age, dream are made and sacrifices.
The characters continue to grow and I fell in love with them all over again. Even the bad ones.
This book will leave you utterly horrified, hopeful, and in floods of tears.
Such an amazing end to a brilliant series.
Did I finish this trilogy in 4 days? Yes.
Do I have any regrets? Many. I hate R.F Kuang. I'm also definitely preordering her next book.
Boek één liep slecht af, boek twee liep zo mogelijk nóg slechter af.
In het begin van boek drie is Rin door zowat iedereen die ze ooit tegengekomen is verraden. En is het land zowat compleet om zeep.
Ik dacht dat als de eerste twee boeken het over Tweede Chinees-Japanse oorlog hebben (met niet één maar talloze bloedbaden van Nanking), dat het derde boek het over iets Communistisch-achtig zou hebben, en inderdaad: Rin beslist dat het niet van de adel en de krijgsheren zal komen, maar dat het van de grote massa van het volk zal moeten afhangen. Er zit zelfs een letterlijke Lange Mars in en ja, ik weet dat die in het echt chronologisch vóór de Chinees-Japanse Oorlog kwam.
Rin is een onsympathiek hoofdpersonage. We begrijpen waar ze vandaan komt en waarom ze haar keuzes maakt, maar 't is bij momenten serieus érg, wat ze doet. Mao was ook geen sympathieke mens, en daar is ze duidelijk op geïnspireerd.
Diepgang, ontroering, spanning, een fantastische combinatie van psychologische en andere oorlogvoering die in het echt ook had kunnen gebeuren met fantasy en goden en zowaar zelfs draken: een uitstekende trilogie.
En dan zag ik de achterflap van het laatste boek en las ik dat de auteur dit schreef tussen haar 19 en 23 jaar, en ben ik immens benieuwd naar wat ze nog zal schrijven in de toekomst. Bijzonder indrukwekkend.
Unbelievable. This is almost a pure re-telling of history and I realised it in this last book. So powerful. 10/10
Devastating and brilliant. Absolutely soul-crushing. The literary equivalent to watching a supernova go off. I'm in awe, I feel empty, and I am forever grateful that this series came into my life. Thank you, [a:R.F. Kuang 16820001 R.F. Kuang https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1563395354p2/16820001.jpg], I really don't have the words.