Book Review: ‘The Dragon Republic’ brings the grimness

Every major fantasy title these days probably gets compared to Game of Thrones in one way or another, but RF Kuang’s The Dragon Republic (and its predecessor, The Poppy War, which I also mentioned might be good for fans when I reviewed it) actually earns the comparison in a lot of ways. No, not because it’s told from multiple perspectives — we stay with Fang Runin the whole time — but because it’s based on actual historical events, just with a lot more magic involved.

In this case, we’re talking about relatively modern Chinese history, past the collapse of the empire and moving into the republic era … sort of. But enough of the Game of Thrones comparisons. The Dragon Republic stands on its own as a worthy sequel to the original, pulling back the curtain further on the nature of the gods, the world where Rin and her compatriots live and more, all while bringing the hardcore warfare that made The Poppy War an occasionally brutal read.

As the book tells and shows us, Rin is a very, very good soldier. The war at issue here is a civil war, as Nikara is torn apart by an attempt to replace Empress Su Daji with a Republic led by the Dragon Warlord Yin Vaisra.

But Rin has her own demons to face, internal and external alike. She has to come to terms with what she can and cannot do as one person — as the Speerly, the last known member of her kind, and shaman of the Phoenix. Even though she’s alone in some ways, she isn’t in others, with characters like Kitay, Nezha, Ramsa and more all coming back for their own second outings and getting moments of development that help flesh out this wonderful world.

In some ways, Dragon Republic loses some of the dreaminess of Poppy War‘s mythical sections, but promptly replaces it with more nightmares as Daji seeks to neutralize Rin and the Phoenix in new ways, all as the war turns more bloody and lasts longer than anyone imagined it would. The book asks you to look with Rin on what the world is capable of doing to itself, and what lengths people will go to for causes they believe in. It asks you not to look away, either.

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Last year, when I reviewed Poppy War, I mentioned that some of the writing didn’t flow particularly well. That’s smoothing itself out in Dragon Republic, and readers might find themselves spending long stretches with this book, unable to put it down because of the next terrifying thing around the bend.

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