The Dragon Republic is the second novel in the Poppy War trilogy by R.F. Kuang.
Finished on: 9.12.2023
[Here’s my review of Poppy War.]

Content Note: rape, genocide, addiction, abuse (and pretty much everything else)

Plot:
After everything that happened, Rin, now commander of the Cike, has one goal: Kill the Empress. But that is not easily achieved, especially not since Rin has been captured by Yin Vaisra, Nezha’s father. But that might be her chance to ally herself with him: Vaisra wants to dethrone the Empress himself, to create a republic in the monarchy’s stead.

The Dragon Republic doesn’t go in the direction I was hoping after Poppy War, but it is an interesting continuation of the series. It makes me curious about but not particularly excited for the last part of the trilogy.

As I was reading Poppy War, I was considering whether I was actually reading a villain origin story, especially given Rin’s choices in the end. I did think it was unlikely, but what a twist that would have been! The Dragon Republic definitely doesn’t pretend that Rin’s choices weren’t absolutely fucking horrible, but it also doesn’t paint her as a villain, not even an anti-hero. I was actually a little surprised by how rarely the massive evil she perpetrated at the end of Poppy War comes up here.

Rin herself is a bit of a mystery to me. I basically always need explanations of her motives. I can understand her then but I can rarely intuit why she does the things she does or feels the way she feels. I have an easier time with both of the important men/boys in her life, Nezha and Kitay (sidenote: that Rin is almost the only female character surrounded by men all the time was a little annoying). I really liked how Kuang handled her relationship with Nezha, but I just love Kitay as a person. The magical bond that is introduced here and that Rin then shares with Kitay was a little too tropey for me and I found it rather weak as an idea in an otherwise strong world.

The pacing was off, too. There were some parts of the book that were way too long and boring (all those warships made me want to snooze), and some important characters were offed in a hurried manner that suggested to me that Kuang wanted to get rid of them for the last part of the narrative. They would have deserved more time and grief.

Overall, I have to say that while this trilogy won’t become one of my favorites, I’m pretty sure, I am still invested enough to read the last book and find out how everything ends. I do want to know that.

Summarizing: about as good as Poppy War, I’d say.