A Quick Note On This Review: This article includes affiliate links to Bookshop.org as a way of supporting both local bookshops and my own ability to write.
With the destruction of Mugen and the end of the Third Poppy War, Rin finds herself in charge of the Cike and in service to the Pirate Queen Mooag. Rin is seeking revenge against the Empress Su Da Ji for her actions during the Poppy War, but is struggling to contain the power of the Phoenix and spends most of her time high in an attempt to control it. However, when sailing from Mooag on an opium skimmer, Rin and the Cike get captured by her old classmate and rival Nezha, entangling them in a plot by Nezha’s father Yin Vaisra, the Dragon Warlord, to overthrow the Empress and start a new republic. Rin, believing she’s only good as a soldier, sobers up and entangles the Cike in the Dragon Lord’s plans with the hope of one day getting her revenge. During a mission, she’s attacked by the Empress and cut off from the Phoenix, leading Rin to slowly lose her sense of self and memories. Eventually, she goes on a journey with Chagon to find a cure, but soon realizes that her desire for revenge blinds her to the threats lurking in her own backyard.
The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang is the second installment of The Poppy Wars Trilogy and serves as a solid continuation of Rin’s story. As an early work of Kuang’s, The Dragon Republic shows the same level of skill she showed in The Poppy War with regards to plot and characterization, which made it a pleasure to read, even as the story takes the reader down different dark paths through the human experience. Rin grapples with addiction in her efforts to ignore her grief and PTSD to fulfill her role as the leader of the Cike, but instead of showing the ways one can overcome adversity, it highlights the ways that pushing down pain and suffering in order to conform to a soldierly ideal inhibits the ability to become stronger. While The Poppy War took a more nuanced depiction of Rin’s behavior as a bad soldier, Kuang puts it on full display as Rin disobeys instructions from commanders, puts ego above the mission, and prioritizes her own power and pain over the wellbeing of those beneath her.
If I had to characterize the novel as a whole, it would be a study in how leadership is often given to those with the most power, not those with the best intentions. Though there are some leaders with high-minded ideals, Vaisra, Nezha, Rin, and other characters ultimately focus on their own ambitions and objectives rather than thinking about the people they claim to be serving. Kuang’s omission of details about the soldiers that comprise the armies under their command highlight the fact that glory in battle is the highest objective of any one leader rather than the goal of making the Dragon Republic a reality.
We also get more details about Su Da Ji in The Dragon Republic, and though it’s hard to sympathize with her while actively reading the novel due to the barbaric tactics she employs in her defense of Nikan, it’s easier to see her as the lesser evil once you’re finished and reflecting on the text. It’s not that her character is a good person, but Su Da Ji does show greater foresight than Rin or the other commanders when it comes to orchestrating a defense in service to something higher than herself, which is admirable, if not something to be entirely condoned.
Ultimately, there are no real winners in The Dragon Republic, and Kuang likely intended it that way. There are no winners in war, and though many adventure stories glorify it, Kuang has been able to subvert the traditional depictions of glorified war stories by bringing the reader face-to-face with the consequences that every soldier faces when the fighting is done.
For general readers who are interested in novels that are heavy on action or use a war to drive the plot forward, The Dragon Republic would be an interesting addition if they’ve already read The Poppy War; while it’s a story that could stand on its own, the reading would be a lot more enjoyable if they had the additional context. Additionally, if someone is interested in reading a story with detailed world-building and nuanced political strategy alongside the action, then they would enjoy Kuang’s work in The Dragon Republic.
For writers, the novel presents an interesting case study in how to weave a story that invites the reader into itself with familiar tropes – a strong, warlike protagonist who can dominate the battlefield in a search for revenge – and turn it on its head by juxtaposing their actions with the consequences other adventure and war stories tend to gloss over or else minimize. Kuang’s abilities to manage these details without skimping on world building, characterization, and description are worthy of emulation by any writer, even if war and conquest aren’t primary interests in their own writing because it offers a way for stories to differentiate themselves in the mind of the reader.
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What’s Next?
I am an avid reader and have quite a few thoughts on how some books could benefit both people that want to be entertained and those looking to sharpen their literary skills.
If you’re interested in finding out more about what I’ve been reading – and how it could benefit you – I will be publishing those thoughts on Fridays on a weekly basis. Check back next week for a discussion of Blake Crouch’s Dark Matter!
The Writerly Review 