Genre: Historical Fantasy
Page Count: 622
Rating: 5/5
The south rises as The Dragon Republic invites a deadly enemy into the country in its bid for control of the Empire. Rin is once again betrayed and seeks her vengeance by becoming a figurehead of an army fuelled by the common people.
Where to even start with this absolute massacre to the emotions. We’re picking up right where we left off after the devastating events of The Dragon Republic and the story hits the ground running from there as allegiances have change and new contenders come into play in the battle for the Nikaran empire. War rages on and Rin is once again fuelled by anger and vengeance and is fighting for her place at the head of an army in order to enact her retribution.
As this book goes on we are once again at the mercy of Kuang’s whims. Nothing and nobody is safe and trust is a thing that doesn’t exist. I was on the edge of my seat for a lot of this book and found myself sharing Rin’s growing suspicions as I wondered when the next shock was going to occur (the entire way through the book I had a theory and it kills me that it was acknowledged but never properly confirmed!).
We have more blood-soaked battles, skirmishes and an abundance of war tactics (which I absolutely loved) as we follow Rin on her mission for revenge and ultimate control. Some parts of the story did seem a little repetitive and some plot lines petered out with little to no effect except for dashing hopes of an easy solution but the whole thing builds towards showing us the scope of the devastation that endless war has wreaked on Nikara. Slowly the focus begins to shift from Rin’s sole agenda to the survival of the common people and the country as the bleak reality sets in.
As battles and betrayals pile up we start to see evidence of Rin’s spiral into madness. The changes are subtle at first as certain things happen and I found myself thinking holy hell girl, you aren’t taking any prisoners. Then as the story progresses the severity of the problem and subsequent horror begins to set it. From there it’s pretty much the equivalent of watching a wreck. Rin becomes ruthless, blood thirsty and desperate as paranoia sets and she begins to distrust everyone around her.
I thought her whole story arc was superbly done. Yes, she may be able to channel a god and spit fire but at the end of the day Rin is a young woman subjected to immense pressure and Kuang isn’t afraid to highlight the affects this would have. She pours so much into her character development without loosing the story and I happily maintain that Rin is one of the most intricate and humane characters I’ve read. There was also a wonderfully crafted main antagonist who was very possibly my favourite character in the end.
Speaking of the end… wow. What an ending. Very often in fantasy books the endings are lacklustre and serve only to tie up loose ends. Not this one, it was perfect. Concise, dramatic and heart breaking and exactly what the story called for.
This series really raised the bar for historical fantasy and is hands down my favourite work by Kuang. It was brutal and ferociously bloodthirsty and has cemented her as an all time favourite author. I’ve now read all of her published works to date have walked away from each one with my thoughts and emotions wonderfully trampled.
Have you read this? Let me know your thoughts and feels!
See you in the next one friends,
Jen x
Book/Brew/Blanket 