The Dragon Republic
Ratings386
Average rating4.1
All of this FOR WHATTTTTT??? SHE'S RIGHT BACK WHERE SHE STARTED BUT NOW WITH MOST OF HER FRIENDS DEAD!!!! but fr this book was so well written I LOVED reading about Kitay's and Rin's friendship and how they were not only able to mend what was broken but also become bonded??? tears in my friendship loving eyes I love that they were only thinking of each other in the moment that they each said yes and no. FUCK NEZHAAAAAA literally fuck that guy i KNEW he was evil but like frrrr??? I hope to soon watch his mother get tortured in front of him or something like literally the white people gotta goooooo. anyways I was shocked by every plot twist and every new character added as well as every old character that passed (jaw on the floor at poor little Ramsa may he rest in peace) ALSO my fav Venka being the absolute BADASS that she is I literally love her sm she's such good rep for women who have been thru enough shit to not give a single fuck anymore and I just love her for it. Finally it wouldn't be a review if I didn't talk about the main character a bit.... girl. Like I'm so sorry Rin but it's one thing to get bamboozled once but AGAIN??? She seriously needs to figure out her need to please the authority in her life bc bruhhhh she was pissing me off only listening to the closest man in her vicinity and having absolutely no backbone of her own like i get being a 20 year old woman feeling like a lost little girl and needing guidance but she had so many people around her that were willing and able to give her actually good advice and not just telling her to fight to her death all the time. I think she's learned her lesson by now but she was really getting on my nerves before lol. Overall this was such a good book with all of the character flaws and development and twists and turns it really made me feel all the emotions which I always count as a win.
An excellent follow up to The Poppy War. I will leave out a synopsis of the story as it might spoil the first one. Kuang gave more detail to the characters from the original as well as introducing a whole new set of people that were a nice metaphor towards the real world. I know she mirrored The Poppy War to China during WWII and after realizing that it enhanced this series quite a bit. I can't wait to read the final installment. I would highly recommend this series and R.F. Kuang as an author to anyone!
So I am a bit conflicted about this second book of Rin's journey in not only discovering herself, but seeing how the world deals with outcasts. The sequel begins in the same manner as the first book left off. quick pacing which helps with drawing you in effortlessly. Here is where i have an issue; it flounders for a brief moment near the middle as it provides you an overview of the developing government system being put in place. While I enjoy the depth of information your given to help you understand the characters and their mindsets, I just felt this portion dragged on far too long and kept this from being a 5 star read for me. It truly is a shame as the remainder of the book takes you back to the swift pacing that I grew to enjoy from the first book. I will have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the story development with its twists. it gave me an appreciation for Rin as she starts to see that she truly is a pawn in this story. The friends to enemies and enemies to friends twists were very enjoyable, and honestly a surprise when they occurred as I had not expected them. Overall this was a solid read, and I cannot wait to continue on with the finale.
Wow 😮. This book will have your emotions all over the place. It was crazy from the beginning and only got worse. Book two is clearly a masterpiece. I felt like I was lost in this world and I don’t trust anyone. Betrayal is heavy. Rin is the strongest character I’ve ever read and I would like to be part of The Cike. I enjoyed The Poppy War, but this book was better. I’m giving it 4.5 stars. Chen Kitay is my favorite character and I hate Kezha, That is all 🤣.
R. F. Kuang, man....as soon as you start to get a little comfortable she pulls out the rug from under you and sucker punches you in the gut. Riveting
Depressing depiction of war for the sake of war
This is not a book to read when you want cozy happiness. It's brutal, it's depressing, it hits you with everything thinkable.
Our heroes are actually sad excuses for heroism, they are traumatised, have unhealthy coping mechanisms (violence, self-harm, addiction) and cannot seem to get a lucky break. While in a lot of other stories, the heroes (or at least most of them) manage to turn the tide with some clever master plan when faced with unwinnable situations, they... do not. While all this might seem like I think it's a bad book, that's not quite true: it is very raw, frankly disturbing and yet so powerful and important for all the ugly aspects of war.
Esse livro foi sensacional, uma ótima sequência para a Guerra da Papoula, mais político e mais denso, nos apresenta o mundo que Kuang criou se solidificando e se complexando. Estou adorando essa versão fantasiosa das guerras do ópio e mal posso esperar para ler a grande finalização da trilogia.
4.75
I wish Kuang would tone down on the violence. One of the very few instances where I liked the second book in the trilogy a lot more than the first
This book and series has been one of my favorite series of all time, across all media platforms. These characters are so special, complicated, and I feel so heavily for them. I hope the final book in this series is just as phenomenal as the first two.
Okay, I'm sorry Miss Rebecca that I ever doubted you! The fact that you have made me hate, tolerate, like, love and then absolutely despise a a primary character in this series shows how incredibly well written these books are. Unfortunately, from pages 200-400 I felt a real lull in the pacing and not a whole lot of things were happening; however, now finishing the book I understand why these scenes were important for the conclusion of this book. I have taken off a star though because I do feel like the middle of the book could have been more condensed to reduce the overall length of the book or even if more storyline peaks were included to juxtapose the troughs of important information. Overall, that ending had me gagged and I'm jumping straight into the third and final book.
had no idea i could enjoy a grim, central military story this much... had equally no idea i'd enjoy the character relationships and the world-building this much...
The good, almost: this book is slightly better written on a sentence level than the first. It's not prose to write home about, but it's not as jarring. The telling-instead-of-showing is less constant, though still prominent, with a heavy reliance on “Rin thought X” and “Rin felt Y”. “Lackadaisical” and “ensconced” only clock in at two or three uses each this time, though there are eleven instances of lips curling, so maybe it's not that much better written. (Yes, I counted, and yes, I'm picky.)
The bad and the ugly: Rin sucks. A dislikeable main character still needs to be interesting and show development that makes it worth spending 650+ pages in their company. In the first book, whether likeable or not, Rin had a clear arc with momentum, driven by her own wit and tenacity. The Dragon Republic sees her wallow around being a gullible, myopic, charisma-free bonehead with no drive, initiative or tactical strengths other than being a magical Chosen One. James Thayer gave good advice when he said a main character should not be a fool, because a reader won't want to follow a character they don't respect. A few mistakes are fine, often important setup for plot and growth, but the protagonist shouldn't persistently be a fool. Rin is a fool and always the last person to know it. She's also a repellent combination of hateful and wishy-washy that is no fun whatsoever to read.
Even a warlike villain should have a moral compass and guiding logic in their own mind. Instead, Rin flip-flops between gleeful cruelty and moping about the tragedy of war; between being a hot-headed renegade and a passive sadsack with no agency. She snarks at everyone in sight but crumbles as soon as a male authority figure gives her a stern look. She's hostile and suspicious yet still a credulous moron. She has no philosophy, politics, or principles; her whole personality constantly turns on a dime. While some of her erratic behaviour could be attributed to grief, PTSD or addiction, none of those subjects are explored with any weight. The other characters don't inspire confidence that all Rin's flaws are by design, because almost nobody behaves or speaks like a fleshed-out, distinct human being.
Kuang pulled a couple of audacious moves in the first book, but this sequel lacks the emotional depth needed to address the aftermath in a meaningful way. The fate of not-Nanjing seems to have made less impression on Rin than the fate of Altan, who was at worst a cardboard cutout and at best an asshole she hardly knew, which is... something. It just begs why such horrors were invoked at all, because their impact is nothing compared to this guy's! Nobody can convince me that Altan had enough substance to loom so large over this story, and the author's pushing of that retcon left me baffled and annoyed.
Worst of all, this book is boring. I hardly liked The Poppy War at all, but it had more going for it than this. Any progression in Kuang's craft is set back by tepid pacing and one of the worst-written main characters I've read. No plot or character events feel truly significant until around the two-thirds mark, and the climax doesn't feel worth the wait. I might pick up the last book to see where this flaming wreck goes, but it would be a fully fledged hate-read and I'm trying to avoid that.
The only reason I am not giving 5 stars is because from 20 to 60% of the book it was sooooo slow, too much details about sword fights, military strategies, extensive descriptions, which must be great for those that understand it and are into it, but for me it was boring, it was like the story was stuck. The whole thing happened in less than a year for the characters but for me it was like an eternity. In spite of that, the whole book is amazing. At two different moments I had to hold my tears, I have ene highlighted the passages. They were:
62%: “Rin... what am I going to do?”
88%: I heard what you did to that Hesperian soldier.
I greatly enjoyed The Poppy War and I legitimately thought this series had the potential to go down as one of my all time favourites. It still may, but after reading the second entry I'm not quite so convinced anymore.
I did not greatly enjoy approximately the first two thirds of this book. It feels like the character's, Rin in particular, regressed in development. While this can make sense given her experiences and the circumstances her character goes through there's a balance to walk there between how long a character wallows and how much time it takes before them to start developing again. I don't think that line is walked particularly well here and part of this is imo because of the significantly slower pacing.
That being said the last third or so of the book is absolutely wonderful with a very satisfying concluding couple of chapters that completely changed my overall opinion of the novel. Given I'd lean towards 2 out of 5 for the first and second third and 5 out of 5 for the last third, 3 stars overall feels right.
I feel heavily destroyed rn, the ending has killed me.
4.5 stars! .5 for the ending I didn't expect, it brought me a lot of joy as it did pain.
Still a huge fan of this series, but I can just tell that Rin is not going to end up in a good place in the end.
I am just completely infatuated by R.F. Kuang's writing at this point. I really loved The Poppy War (this book's predecessor) as well as Babel (her standalone novel released earlier this year) so I had high expectations eading into this one. Even then I was totally blown away by The Dragon Republic. I've spoken before about how writing the second part of a trilogy can be tough because it lacks the excitement of a new beginning that the first part has while also missing the satisfaction of a conclusion that the third part has. I've seen authors try to tackle this conundrum in a few ways but Kuang has done it in the simplest way possible: by writing an undeniably intriguing story. The Dragon Republic expertly builds upon everything that was started in The Poppy War and expands it. The characters here are excellent. We have all of our old favorites in Rin, Kitay, the Cike etc while also adding the prominent figures behind each of Nikan's provinces. The main one we are introduced to is Vaisra, leader of the Dragon province and Nezha's father. He is just a blast to read here as this commanding, seductive figure. Kuang deserves a lot of credit for writing the scenes between him and Rin with underlying sexual tension that feels so wrong and yet so desirable. He's a big part of why this book is so good and I can't wait to see his role in the trilogy's conclusion. I also want to shout out Nezha, who was introduced in the last book but is explored with much more complexity here. He shines a lot in his role and elevates the book in a similar way to his dad. If I were to say one reason why this book is so good it's these two. I... honestly don't know what else to say at this point. This isn't my favorite Kuang book but I do think it's her best that I've read up to now. I'm sure she'll surpass herself with the conclusion to this trilogy.
That ending though! Let's go baybee I am pumped! That's the shit I'm takin bout. I realize part of my issue is that I'm too impatient to get through things as fast as possible even if they're very very long and dense and I really need a break, gotta power through. I do myself a real disservice with that. I was thinking throughout much of this that I'd need to take a break after this book, listen to some other stuff but now im antsy as ever.
The Third Poppy War may have ended, but the Dragon Warlord still seeks to conquer the land. Adrift and on the run with her Cike, Rin is swept up into the Warlord’s plan. Start a civil war and from the ashes create a new democratic Republic. But Empress Daji will never give up her hold. Honed for war, Rin jumps to the cause and with her Phoenix God aims to end Daji’s rule once and for all.
The Dragon Republic is a brutal tale of war and how it touches the lives of everyone forced to be a part of it. The devastation wrought by the character’s previous choices in The Poppy War will be exposed in this second novel. R.F. Kuang broadens the reader's awareness of the famine and destruction causing thousands to become refugees. And as the characters witness the results of their actions, the mental battle begins as they come to terms with what they have done. Or, some simply turn to addiction to seal away the emotions, refusing to confront what has occurred.
Throughout the novel, Rin is at war with herself. Torn between doing what she believes is her purpose, and dealing with the aftershocks. A snap decision on the field of battle may secure a victory, but what happens after the dust has settled and the bodies lay festering? The Dragon Republic shows how a girl raised to believe she is a tool to be used, can turn into one of the deadliest soldiers. And how the conflicting emotions of choices made in the heat of battle can haunt a person long after the battle has ended.
Rin is an unlikeable character. Oftentimes she is both selfish and self-destructive. Instead of facing her problems, she charges ahead, keeping her mind busy with war and who will be her next target. It is easier to be angry and strike out at those around her versus owning up to her past mistakes. But at the same time, R.F. Kuang uses Rin’s moments of weakness to show how she became such a detrimental character.
This grimdark military fantasy will spare no one. Be prepared to dive into the darkest depths of war, and all the chaotic and tangled relationships that come along with it. Choosing a side isn’t so easy when friends are on the opposite one. But war is war, and Rin will live up to her full potential as a deadly shaman no matter the costs.
Originally posted at www.behindthepages.org.
