The Dragon Republic: The award-winning epic fantasy trilogy that combines the history of China with a gripping world of gods and monsters: Book 2 (The Poppy War)

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As Tiffany points out (seriously, go read her post – it’s wonderful) there are two ways to read this trilogy. The first is as any other work of fantasy, and the second is through a lens of awareness of Chinese history. Obviously, you can go ahead and read these books the first way, but in my opinion, you’d be missing out a lot on the nuance, significance, and deeper meaning of a lot of the events and characterizations that happen in The Poppy War, and even the sequels The Dragon Republic and The Burning God, if you don’t make yourself aware of the history and culture behind the story.

Kuang wrote The Poppy War while teaching debate in China and graduated with a degree in Chinese History from Georgetown University a few days after its release. [1] Her studies in Chinese military strategy and collective trauma inspired her to write the novel. [7] [8] She said, "I chose to write a fantasy reinterpretation of China's twentieth century, because that was the kind of story I wasn't finding on bookshelves". [7] Kuang said Rin's life is meant to parallel the trajectory of Mao Zedong. [9] Grounded in the real-world history of Chinese wars and adding a fantasy drug element inspired by the Opium Wars, [4] The Poppy War is a dark and fatalistic tale of warfare. [10] Rin must decide whether to make a deal with the gods to unleash her shamanic powers. Her decision may change the war but result in the loss of her humanity. The war between Rin's country of Nikan and Mugen mirrors the Second Sino-Japanese War with its horrors at the Nanjing Massacre. [6] Reception [ edit ] Rin and her crew are trying to take down the evil Empress but they are getting swindled left and right. They end up with the Dragon Warlord trying to fight against others. People are killed, used, abused. Rin is lied to and watches innocent people die; watches people that she knows die. It seems like nothing is ever going to get better. BUT. There just might be a spark of hope in people she didn't even consider. There are things brewing. Will Rin and her people be able to bring the world down around the evilness. Wait and see.

The waters were quiet. Nezha stumbled to his knees and retched. Vomit mixed into bloodstained water. Then he saw a dark shape rising before the grottoes, and heard a voice that came from nowhere and vibrated his very bones.

It's not about who you are, it's about how they see you. And once you're mud in this country, you're always mud.” Rin is chained up by Vaisra and the Hesperians. They plan to take Rin with them when they leave. Nezha’s mother is convinced that the Hesperians will fix Nezha and stop the dragon powers from manifesting. Rin tells the Hesperians about Nezha but they don’t seem to listen.Daisy Ridley To Star In Survival Thriller From Zak Hilditch, The Penguin Empire and Campfire Studios; Neon & UTA To Shop At AFM

I just want to see the entrance.” Mingzha beamed hopefully at him. “We don’t have to go in. Please?” Kesegi, Rin’s step brother, brings Rin to the Warlords. They want her to join them as they flee. They don’t trust Vaisra’s campaign any more. Rin refuses. As she’s leaving, she spots a Hesperian soldier raping a young girl. She kills the soldier and throws his body in the canal. The Empire poisons the water. This is bad, since the Dragon Republic’s army is situated on canals. Fish and people start dying. The rice paddies are obviously also at risk.She wondered if he was going to kiss her now. She didn't know much about being kissed, but if the old stories were anything to judge by, now seemed like a good time. The hero always took his maiden somewhere beautiful and declared his love under the stars. War on this scale was a number’s game, and she had lives to spare”. I mean that’s just pure Mao coming through. the writing is a delight, as well. it feels so fresh, which should be impossible given the subject material. but the writing takes a historical influence and makes it feel modern.

The Dragon Republic starts out with a bang; right out of the gates as I like to say. Rin is messed the hell up! She's fighting Opium addiction and trying to control her power. I had so many moments that I felt for her, so many moments I wanted to strangle her for being so stupid and childish. But most of all, I loved watching her grow in this book. Rin went through some sh•t people. Not just Rin but her whole crew; whom I adored. New Books Out In August 2019 To Add To Your End-Of-Summer Reading List". Bustle. Archived from the original on 2022-04-14 . Retrieved 2022-04-14. Rin, Rin, Mao… I mean Rin! I feel like she may just take the cake as the most insufferable, piece of shit protagonist I’ve ever read. I defended her character in the first book, claiming that she was morally grey and largely unlikeable but well written. Well, I can’t stand by that anymore. She is written inconsistently and despite efforts by Kuang to demonstrate or, on occasion, even justify the way she thinks or acts, it is impossible for me to empathise with somebody who is completely apathetic to others. If I wanted to know how Mao Zedong, a man responsible for the deaths of anywhere between 20-50 million people, became the monster that he was, I’d go read a biography. I don’t want him as the main protagonist in a “Fantasy” book! Kidd, James (2018-07-25). "China's bloody history and Game of Thrones-style fantasy unite in author R.F. Kuang's debut novel". South China Morning Post. They believe in a singular and all-powerful deity, which means they cannot accept the truth of other gods. And when nations start to believe that other beliefs lead to damnation, violence becomes inevitable.”Jinzha leads a northern campaign. He wants to find the source of the poison. They run into Niang, who they went to school with. She has been putting Federation poison into pig bladders and sending them downstream. She’s angry. Kitay shoots her with a crossbow. Mason, Everdeen (2018-05-02). "Best science fiction and fantasy books out this month (brief book review)". Washington Post . Retrieved 2 September 2018. The Sorqan Sira says she can fix Rin and her fire powers. She performs a ritual, and Rin kills dream!Altan. He leaves a handprint on her abdomen. This ritual still hasn’t worked properly so Kitay becomes Rin’s anchor and they’re bound like the twins. If one of them dies, the other will die too, unless the bond is broken just before death. Between us, we have the fire and the water. I'm quite sure that together, we can take on the wind.”