Review of The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang

The Poppy War left me more, and fortunately my library was able to deliver (well, I went and picked it up, but you know what I mean). The Dragon Republic is the continuation of R.F. Kuang’s fantasy reimagining of twentieth-century Chinese history, mixed in with meditations on magic, gods, and monsters.

Spoilers for the first book but not for this one.

Rin is now the effective commander of the Cike following her genocidal actions at the end of the first book. Sworn to depose the Empress of Nikara, Rin and her ragtag band of god-empowered misfits at first align themselves with a pirate queen. When that backfires, she finds herself meeting up with an unlikely frenemy from her past, whose father has plans to take down the empress for his own reasons. You know what they say: the enemy of my enemy….

The same character flaws that made Rin such a nuanced protagonist in The Poppy War come roaring back in this book. They are complicated by Rin’s newfound impotence: pretty early in the story, a confrontation with the empress leaves her without access to her god, the Phoenix, and the fiery power it grants her. This doesn’t alter Rin’s overall goals, however, just stokes the fires of her desire for revenge even more. However, as with her time as a student at Sinegard, Rin once again finds herself in a position of relative powerlessness. Despite her ostensible value as an avatar of the Phoenix, Rin is shut down and shut out—relegated to being experimental fodder for the fundamentalist, monotheistic Hesperians and cannon fodder in the Dragon Warlord’s army.

Several things save this from being a recapitulation of the first book, however. First, Kuang continues to flesh out the series’ mythology. We get to meet the Hesperians. We learn more about the Hinterlanders/Ketreyids and their connection to the god-powers Rin and the other Cike have, along with their role in the empress's rise to power. Most importantly, Rin reconnects with old friends and rivals (not saying who, but I loved it), and for once we see her recognizing that she might actually need (shock, gasp) help to achieve her goals. Rin changes, albeit frustratingly slowly.

It’s been a few weeks since I read the book, however, and other particulars have evaporated. I enjoyed it, especially the way it builds on the mythology, but it didn’t feel as revelatory as The Poppy War. Maybe that’s to be expected with the second book in a trilogy. Maybe I’ll feel differently when I get to the third book. As it is, I still recommend The Dragon Republic. As long as you’re OK with continuing to watch Rin laid low by pretty much everyone she meets with an iota of ill will towards her, you’ll be fine.