The searing follow-up to 2018’s most celebrated fantasy debut – THE POPPY WAR.
In the aftermath of the Third Poppy War, shaman and warrior Rin is on the run: haunted by the atrocity she committed to end the war, addicted to opium, and hiding from the murderous commands of her vengeful god, the fiery Phoenix. Her only reason for living is to get revenge on the traitorous Empress who sold out Nikan to their enemies.
With no other options, Rin joins forces with the powerful Dragon Warlord, who has a plan to conquer Nikan, unseat the Empress, and create a new Republic. Rin throws herself into his war. After all, making war is all she knows how to do.
But the Empress is a more powerful foe than she appears, and the Dragon Warlord’s motivations are not as democratic as they seem. The more Rin learns, the more she fears her love for Nikan will drive her away from every ally and lead her to rely more and more on the Phoenix’s deadly power. Because there is nothing she won’t sacrifice for her country and her vengeance.
The sequel to R.F. Kuang’s acclaimed debut THE POPPY WAR, THE DRAGON REPUBLIC combines the history of 20th-century China with a gripping world of gods and monsters, to devastating effect.

So, I read this book a while ago but it took me pretty damn long to sort out my thoughts and impressions about it. Why? I don’t know exactly. It’s probably because I fell in love with the first book and desperately wanted to feel the same about this one, but something was just missing. Sometimes it didn’t give out the same vibe and feeling of empowerment as the first one, and the other times it reminded me precisely why did I like The Poppy War so much in the first place. I guess right now you can say I’m split down the middle, but my opinion of this book has changed so much during the past few weeks that this is going to be a chaotic mess of my broken heart.


The Third Poppy War is over, and the Empire is victorious- but only because of Runin Fang, who burned the entire Mugenese island with the power of her fury after Altan’s death. She finally gave in and let the Phoenix give her power, leaving a trail of ashes and dead bodies in her wake. After she was named the Commander of the Cike, she swears to avenge Altan by killing the Empress of Nikara, Su Daji, also known as the Vipress. After the failed attempt at the Empress, cause by Rin’s mental instability and inability to cope with her demons, the Cike is captured by Vaisra, the Dragon Warlord. He gives Rin a choice – fight for him and help him destroy the Empress, or let her and the Cike die. Rin, tempted by the idea of having something to fight for once again, an army to join and commander to serve, gives everything for the new war and the promise of the Dragon Republic.

For the most part, I blame the plot for my loss of interest in these series. The pacing was uneven and too slow, lingering on pointless travels and repetitive scenes such as trainings and councils. While I adored the dynamics and uncertainty of the way things could turn out at any moment, that was the exact thing that annoyed me the most in the events of the civil war. I felt like Rin’s loyalty has shifted a million times, she doesn’t even know what she’s doing and the author was just lashing out with political schemes for the sake of dynamics. Don’t get me wrong, the political intrigue and complicity of wars is amazingly written and still one of the best world buildings I have come across, but it vexed me that the main antagonist changed three times during the book, especially because in the end it seemed like the Cike was at the exact same place they were when the book began.


While The Poppy War was mainly about war and turning children into soldiers, this sequel was about Rin - her power, her loss and her pain - getting the hold of it and finding her mental footing. It is all about war, and Rin is a soldier, but she is far from being a stable one. Her power is devouring her and ruining her chance of ever having a normal relationship with any of the Cike if she keeps consuming opium and lashing out however she sees fit she’ll lose her mind before she wins any war.


A soldier needs to be led, needs to be told and have orders they can obey, because without the fight the sole purpose of their existence is nothing. Rin has been fighting from the first day of her life, whether for the place in Sinegard, against the Federation or for Altan – it’s always been fighting and burns and avenge. After so much pain the Vaisra’s *spoiler* betrayal was something that broke something in her and made her see that her fight is beside her friends and against those who have always wanted her down.

I really love these books and, while I had some reservations about the path this one took, I think I can see some epic battles and revelations in the finale. There is one big step ahead of Rin and the entire Empire and, while I loved seeing working them together, I also want to see Nezha and Rin as enemies together.

(if this ain’t them then I honestly don’t know what is)