The Dragon Republic is R.F. Kuang’s second installation to The Poppy War series, and a hard-hitting punch that fantasy needed so badly. This book has been so unpredictable, so action-packed throughout. It is, undeniably, a striking display from an enormously talented writer—600 pages of pure, readable goodness, chock full of ferocious rage and anger.
The second installment to The Poppy War series begins with Rin and her Cike companions plunging into a brand new war. Factions are introduced, and the House of Yin’s dragon republic is in this book’s spotlight. From thereon, the story becomes increasingly divergent. In this book, we see more of its characters become fleshed out; I was especially excited to see Kitay change from the scholarly, bookish boy from the first book to his more war-hardened self.
Of course, this could also be due to the focus on trauma within this book. If there’s anything R.F. Kuang succeeded in, it’s her emulation of the toll of trauma on her characters. We see Rin and Kitay come alive. Venka begins to make a greater appearance within the story. Others, unfortunately, not so much.
Kuang took the chance to truly flesh out her characters. Rin is extremely complex, but what frustrated me was her questionable moral standing. She makes similar mistakes and her decisions are sometimes made on different moral grounds entirely. This, combined with the extremely diverged plotline, made the book hard to follow at times. Having read other books, I can’t help but think that the story could’ve been displayed more comprehensively while still having the same hard-hitting effect.
Another thing about this book is that it’s heavily based on real history, almost too much so to break the immersion, at least for me.
Nonetheless, this book delivered. I will remember it for a while.
~ 4 stars
