You know you have read a really good book when all you can do when you sit down to write a review of it is stare at a blank document for hours, trying to remember how to make words and turn them into coherent sentences. The Burning God was one of those really good books. It shattered my heart into a million tiny pieces, and it was, without a doubt, the most fitting end a series like The Poppy War could have.
With the numerous themes wonderfully explored in the book, once I truly start talking about The Burning God, I risk writing a whole (very spoilery) thesis. I’ll try my best to be very brief, but here’s what this review basically says: The Poppy War is the most amazing book series ever written, and if you haven’t read it yet, you must drop everything and do so immediately! You can thank me later!
At the beginning of The Burning God, we find Nikan in the middle of a civil war, as Rin lets the Phoenix run rampant and leads the Southern Coalition into a rebellion against the Dragon Warlord Vaisra and his Republic. Rin has come such a long way from being the naive, vulnerable girl who was manipulated into being a weapon of mass destruction for influential men to use and then toss away; this time she has her own people to protect and an entire nation to take back. As Rin makes her way back home to Rooster province, she’s ready to do whatever it takes to bring down the Republican and Hesperian armies.
First and foremost a historical and political allegory, the Poppy War trilogy has always primarily been about the cycles of violence and trauma, and about the effects of colonialism and the erasure of entire cultures and identities. However, where the first two books were mostly cantered around the sheer chaos and devastation in a war-ravaged country, in The Burning God we also get to see the aftermath of a war. Kuang doesn’t flinch away from drawing real life parallels here once again as she portrays the deep trauma of being the survivor; how even as you try to move on with your life after a war is over, the past never really stops haunting you.
In The Burning God, Kuang also acutely discusses how violence has a way of recreating itself as long as dehumanising narratives are carried forward. The Nikara have always considered themselves better than Rin’s people – the Speerlies; in turn, the Hesperians have never thought of the Nikara as human.
“Who decided who counted as human? The enemy was not human— fine. But if they were animals, then they must be inferior… Maybe no one was truly a beast. Maybe that was just how murder became possible. You took away someone’s humanity, and then you killed them.”
To me, the absolute best thing about the whole Poppy War trilogy is Rin’s character arc. Her journey in The Burning God can be best described as horrifyingly fascinating. Witnessing her slowly spiral out of control and descend into paranoia is absolutely terrifying, because it’s shaping up to be a familiar narrative you have seen repeated many, many times over the course of history, and you know it never ends well. But it’s also undeniably cathartic to see Rin finally letting her rage and indignation turn her into the ruthless leader her people need to win their war for them. As Rin’s saga comes to an end, you are left questioning whether she is a monster or a goddess, and if, at the end, those two things really are that different, after all.
Kuang has always excelled at writing vividly rendered, immensely gripping battle scenes, but with The Burning God, she has genuinely outdone herself. The military strategies and tactics employed were once again compelling, and it never stops being amazing to me how Kuang manages to interweave the shamanic powers wielded by Rin and some others so realistically into the action sequences. One particular combat scene from chapter nine is quite possibly one of my top 5 favourite moments in this trilogy, and while I can’t really talk much about it, I will say this: be prepared to cry a lot. This scene is destructive in a gorgeous way, and it’s going to ruin you.
In conclusion, if there exists a perfect book series, The Poppy War might just be it, and I’ll be forever grateful to R. F. Kuang for creating this heartbreakingly beautiful masterpiece. If you haven’t read The Poppy War yet, you should definitely consider checking it out at once. I won’t say you’ll enjoy it, but it’s going to be an experience you truly don’t want to miss.
The Burning God is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
The exciting end to The Poppy War trilogy, R. F. Kuang’s acclaimed, award-winning epic fantasy that combines the history of twentieth-century China with a gripping world of gods and monsters, to devastating, enthralling effect.
After saving her nation of Nikan from foreign invaders and battling the evil Empress Su Daji in a brutal civil war, Fang Runin was betrayed by allies and left for dead.
Despite her losses, Rin hasn’t given up on those for whom she has sacrificed so much—the people of the southern provinces and especially Tikany, the village that is her home. Returning to her roots, Rin meets difficult challenges—and unexpected opportunities. While her new allies in the Southern Coalition leadership are sly and untrustworthy, Rin quickly realizes that the real power in Nikan lies with the millions of common people who thirst for vengeance and revere her as a goddess of salvation.
Backed by the masses and her Southern Army, Rin will use every weapon to defeat the Dragon Republic, the colonizing Hesperians, and all who threaten the shamanic arts and their practitioners. As her power and influence grows, though, will she be strong enough to resist the Phoenix’s intoxi
