Book Title: The Burning God
Author: R.F. Kuang
Series: The Poppy War #3
Date Started: September 3rd 2020
Date Completed: September 14th 2020
Genres: Fantasy, Historical, Adventure
Quality Rating: Four Stars
Enjoyment Rating: Four Star
Final Rating: Four Stars
Review:
◆ Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for this eBook copy for review ◆
The Burning God is a fitting conclusion to The Poppy War trilogy - and, even though it's painful, it always had to end this way. That being said, this still wasn't what I expected from the third book, but that's been true for each instalment and it's never been a bad thing.
The first thing I want to point out about this whole series is the execution of its inspiration drawn from Chinese history and mythology. I read and watch a fair amount of South-East Asian stories, but that in no way means I'm an expert on it - but you can go into these books with next to no knowledge of the context and be wholly transported there because Kuang does such a good job of immersing the reader in Nikara and explaining the context as the story moves along (obviously, a fantastical adaptation of its real-life inspiration, but the point stands). Moreover, the magic and politics and relationships are all so sophisticated in their own rights. They have depth, are believable, and we feel the stakes they each have in Rin's predicament - and still, all three of them have equal weight in the story. That's such a hard balance to strike, and Kaung seems to do it effortlessly.
I've said it in my previous reviews of this series, but The Poppy War deals with all the aspects of (realistic) warfare and its horror with such maturity. If you want to hear more of my thoughts on it, go look at my review of The Dragon Republic. The one thing I would say about The Burning God specifically was that it has a lot fewer glimpses of humour and hope that balanced out the horror in the previous books. It's totally fitting for the story being told, but I missed it a lot and it really highlighted how much effect those small moments had had on the previous books for me.
I, of course, have to once again praise Rin, especially at the end of the series. She is, without a doubt, what sets this series apart from other high fantasy war epics. We as the reader know, wholeheartedly, that Rin is making bad decisions a lot of the time. She is terrifying, totally messed up, and there are so things that I absolutely relate to personally (and get a little scared of how familiar the temptation feels) and I doubt I'm the only one. You don't get to see heroes being wrong in a lot of fantasy - questionable, sure. Almost every protagonist is a thief or an assassin or some indebted criminal. But straight-out wrong, and not even really realising it, is a rarity. And yet, we still root for Rin because she is so painfully human and that's exactly the point.
It's been great reading this series. Those of you that know my reading style know that I usually pace out trilogies over a couple years honestly, but I read The Poppy War last month and now the whole trilogy's over. It's been a breath of fresh air in a lot of ways, has really ignited my interest in South-East Asian history, and I can't wait to see what Kuang comes up with next.
