The Burning God
Ratings235
Average rating4.2
It's more of a 4.5 this time but I'm obviously rounding up.
CW: depictions of war, violence, gore, burning, talk of past rape, cannibalism, famine
Finally, this brilliant trilogy comes to an end. I was absolutely stunned when I received the ARC for this finale, because despite reading both the previous books only last year, it was one of my most anticipated books of 2020 and I was quite dreading how it would end. And it was everything I expected it could be.
Kuang is a masterful writer and we as readers can feel the growth in her craft and skill in each subsequent book in this series. I was gripped from page one, and despite being more than 600 pages long, I really read it end to end in one go because I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep if I didn't know how it ended. The story is engaging, brutal and intense, surprising me at many turns and also making me paranoid about what horrors lay in the upcoming chapters. The author also does an excellent job at creating a bleak atmosphere, a country ravaged by war, and a people who have very few options left for survival. It's utterly heartbreaking to read at times, but that's always been the strength of this trilogy. And the less I talk about the military strategies and battle sequences in the book, the better - because they are exquisitely crafted and I can say that this is definitely where the author shines the most.
Rin is the most frustrating character I must have read in the past couple of years, and I still couldn't help but hope that there was a light at the end of the tunnel for her. She is fierce and brave but also ruthlessly pragmatic, who knows the consequences of having her power but still revels in exercising it, who's thoughts and ideas are so off putting sometimes that we forget why she is the way she is and how much trauma she has gone through to be in this situation. She really is the perfect anti heroine and I have such a love-hate relationship with her, that she is gonna be very memorable to me for a long time to come.
What keeps us reminded of Rin's humanity are the side characters - Kitay remains the moral center of the story, with his conviction to try and do the best thing possible in every circumstance and not indulge in unnecessary violence; and his relationship with Rin is probably gonna be my all time favorite friendship depiction for a long time to come. The absolute trust and belief they share in each other is amazing to read about and I'm gonna miss it now that the trilogy is over. We also get more of Venka in this finale and I thought that was a brilliant choice - she provides kind of a counter to Rin's personality and despite being abrasive herself, the moments they share have some tenderness and it made for some quite reflective breaks in between intense situations.
We also get to know more about the history about the trifecta, especially Daji and Jiang but it still felt a little incomplete to me and I wanted to know about how they came to be and their falling out. We also get to know Nezha better and while it made me understand some of his decisions as well as his helplessness in certain circumstances, I still can't like him. And I maybe can feel why Rin has such conflicting emotions about him and doesn't always make rational decisions in confrontations with him, but I still hate the guy. There are also many other new characters introduced who had significant impacts on the story, and I was in awe of the author's ability to be able to do that in the finale of a series.
All the themes and the history that the author brings to light through this fantasy world has always been the major highlight of this series for me. While TPW was a parallel to the second Sino-Japanese war and TDR was the beginning of the Chinese civil war, in this finale we see more of the parallels to the peasant revolution, rise of Mao Zedong, the Long March, and some indications of the devastation caused by the Great Famine. They all make for a difficult reading experience even when reading in a fictional world, so I can't even imagine how brutal the actual events must have been in early and mid 20th century China.
Kuang never romanticizes the effects of war and this book shows more of it, without ever feeling gratuitous. The bigger picture of a war maybe for higher ideals like freedom and independence, but the devastation it causes in terms of unimaginable violence, deaths, food scarcity, homelessness and just overall trauma is very realistically depicted, and it creates very vivid pictures in our head which are hard to forget.
But just like in TDR, the thing that made me most angry was the depiction of western colonization through the Hesperians - how the west's belief in their moral superiority and Christianity's unending efforts to convert have decimated age old local traditions and cultures, robbing them of their uniqueness and making them all homogenized and in an image of the west, but also never equal to them.
In conclusion, this was a near perfect finale with intricate amalgamation of history and fantasy, spectacular military strategy and action sequences on both material and spiritual planes, and a host of amazing characters who make the most brutal choices imaginable in a merciless war. I really had no predictions about how it would end but when it all concluded the way it did, it made the perfect sense in my head and there can't be anything more satisfying in the conclusion of a beloved series. If you are a fan of the previous two books, I obviously don't need to convince you to read this one. But if you are someone who loves grimdark/military fantasy novels with very realistic depictions of war, then you should totally checkout this trilogy. I would also definitely recommend reading a bit about the history involved in creating this fantasy world, or checkout this brilliantly researched post by Tiffany - just so you can better appreciate the depth behind the storytelling and the unusual choices the author makes to bring this story to life.
The conclusion to the Poppy War Trilogy does not disappoint. RF Kuang has used the modern history of China to inform a fascinating and powerful fantasy. Whilst the events in the novel bear links to real historical events, the depth of the world building is still impressive and the use of these parallels grants a good range of realism to a hugely fantastic world. Taking on Asian history, as opposed to the usual Euro-centric approach has opened up some really intriguing ideas as well.
Ultimately it is the tragic characters that Rebecca has brought to life though which drive this story. This is richly realised, beautiful and poignant character studies in a world at war. The stories here capture the real brutality of such events, not the sanitized versions often seen. This is gritty, brutal and powerful.
A fitting conclusion to a brilliant trilogy!
CAWPILE SCORE
C-8
A-9
W-9
P-8
I-6
L-7
E-6
TOTAL-7.57/10
A Story about War and its many consequences
CAWPILECharacters.Rin, what to say about Rin, makes some of the worst decisions because she is so focused on being “free” and that she has to keep raging against everyone and everything. I was glad that she was able to stop herself from blowing up the Hesperians in the end, because that would have been the end of the world for sure. Whiplash from dealing with Rin's changing relationship to everyone all the timeNezha, what a change in this book from the last one. Not sure how I feel about his basically complete control over his ability with no Anchor and basically 0 time for training especially with all the experiments going on. He always felt like he vacillated between Nikara and Hesperian. Kitay, still as smart as ever, but I'm glad he finally showed a backbone and stopped Rin at least once. Definitely reads as an autistic person to me, and I loved that. Trifecta: wow, just seeing Jiang come up from his seal and regaining his power. How scared everyone is of Riga. How powerful Riga is, but then the betrayal from Rin using the Hesperians Bombs to kill them all. Felt like a huge waste to me. Instead of using him to push them away, then rebelling or something. Hesperians: diligent and scientific as always. If only they didn't have 0 morals and actually believed people were people and weren't racists. Then I could root for them more, with their more scientific approach and advanced Tech. the end of Inspector Petra was very fitting.AtmosphereWar is War and this book definitely makes you feel the realities of war. Death being a factor but a smaller factor, famine, Lack of supplies, travel, all these things made the atmosphere feel real almost feeling the despair and likewise highs.WritingNothing to criticize in her writing, again with the themes of Betrayal but this time at least Rin gets 1 betrayal in or maybe 2 if you count betraying herself to stay true to herself.PlotThe Plot for me was all over the place. Go here try this, it fails or I mess it up, go here do this fail again, try this betray that. Everything was just crazier than the last. Still believable for the most part.InvestmentMedium investment for me to see the ending for Rin and what would actually happen to the world.LogicA couple of times it felt like Rin forgot her anchor bond with Kitay unless it was to pass a message. Or that if he dies she dies.EnjoymentUp and down for the enjoyment for me.MiscThere is no way the Nikaran people are ever going to recover from this invasion then civil war, then invasion and civil war at the same time. Unless the Hesperians have insane amounts of food, but realistically I think they should all die.
I will be talking about it on Libromancy https://libromancy.podbean.com/
This conclusion to R.F. Kuang's Poppy War trilogy is as brilliant as it is crushing. As with all my reviews for final books in a series, I'll start by talking about the book itself before talking about the trilogy as a whole but I just wanted to start out by saying that. The Burning God is a book that does not shy away from the brutality of war and its effects on people. Everyone is a villain here. Everyone commits horrible acts. Nobody leaves unscathed. I have yet to read a fantasy book quite like this where war is so agonizingly dissected. Even the victories feel like defeats and the defeats feel soul-crushing. It is a true testament to Kuang's writing that I, someone with exactly zero experience with anything like war, was able to feel every single emotion that Rin and co felt throughout this book. This is done mostly through expert character-work. Kuang takes full advantage of the two books prior to this and paints the relationships between allies, adversaries and everything in between in excruciating detail. With the way I'm writing it may sound like I didn't like reading this book but I really did. It is far from an easy read but the writing quality is so high that I couldn't put it down. It's a perfectly fitting conclusion for this trilogy and definitely the best book Kuang had written up to this point. Overall I would consider The Poppy War trilogy one of the best fantasy trilogies I've ever read. It is just about perfect in every way. Just about everything you could want in a fantasy series is here, from strong world-building to complex characters to fully realized magic systems etc. Kuang combines her obvious intelligence and background with WWII China with some visceral writing to make this series explode off the page. This is the fourth book by Kuang that I've read in the past few months and I cannot get enough of her writing. She is an undeniable talent and this series is a masterpiece because of that. I seriously can't say enough good things about this trilogy. I'm in awe of it and I feel genuinely privileged that I got to read it.
“Take what you want. I'll hate you for it. But I'll love you forever. I can't help but love you.”
I am writing this review devastated because this truly is a series that I never wanted to finish, with characters that I didn't want to say goodbye to.
It's not often that you read something that makes you want to put off reading because you don't want it to end. Often with a series, each book is found lacking after the first but with the Poppy War trilogy, each book got better.
I believe The Burning God was the best of the trilogy but I also said that about The Dragon Republic so I'm just going to settle on the fact that there is no bad book in this series.
The Burning God was a fantastic end to a fantastic series. I am fully convinced that R.F. Kuang is a criminal mastermind for writing something that impacted me the way that this series has. I laughed, I cried, I mourned. This was everything I wanted from a series like this and more.
The characters' progression was something that I loved the most about this book. Rin has always been a fierce and strong-willed character but in The Burning God, we got to see more of Rin's vulnerable side. It was easy to forget that underneath the all-powerful Speerly that she is, Rin is just a scared, young girl who was fighting for survival.
I could go on about this book and the entire series for hours but I think the best way to end this review is to encourage whoever I can to pick this series up. I don't think I'll ever be able to get it out of my head. This truly is special.
DNF, but I skipped to the end and I liked it so it gets an extra star for that. Made me like it enough that I flipped through random chapters, and I kinda liked the snippets that I read, but after being burned by the two previous books, I didn't have the patience to read the entire thing. It's meh, honestly, but only because the setting is somewhat unique in fantasy.
I made it. I'm not sure I picked the best time in my life to finish this series, but I made it through. Essentially, my review is that if you liked the first two, you'll need to read this one, and if you didn't like the first two, don't expect it to change. Kuang concludes her historically grounded, raw and unfiltered look at war and the corruption of power without any concessions to the reader's love or dislike of any given character. Punches are not only pulled but given brass knuckles and a couple of keys between fingers. Rin is particularly stressful as she spirals out making even a reader who has been sympathetic to her up until now want to shake her. It's an ugly, heart-breaking, mesmerizing book, and while I doubt I will ever have the oomph to read it again, I'm glad that I did. My advice before you start this last chapter is to make sure you're emotionally balanced enough for the ride.
Did I finish this trilogy in 4 days? Yes.
Do I have any regrets? Many. I hate R.F Kuang. I'm also definitely preordering her next book.
A page turn of events that have me in the edge of my seat.
So much happened in this book.
From highs to low Kuang doesn't pull her punches.
Rin progresses further down a mental struggle, fighting battles as numerous people seek to use or kill her. Gods and shamans, the turn of an age, dream are made and sacrifices.
The characters continue to grow and I fell in love with them all over again. Even the bad ones.
This book will leave you utterly horrified, hopeful, and in floods of tears.
Such an amazing end to a brilliant series.
Boek één liep slecht af, boek twee liep zo mogelijk nóg slechter af.
In het begin van boek drie is Rin door zowat iedereen die ze ooit tegengekomen is verraden. En is het land zowat compleet om zeep.
Ik dacht dat als de eerste twee boeken het over Tweede Chinees-Japanse oorlog hebben (met niet één maar talloze bloedbaden van Nanking), dat het derde boek het over iets Communistisch-achtig zou hebben, en inderdaad: Rin beslist dat het niet van de adel en de krijgsheren zal komen, maar dat het van de grote massa van het volk zal moeten afhangen. Er zit zelfs een letterlijke Lange Mars in en ja, ik weet dat die in het echt chronologisch vóór de Chinees-Japanse Oorlog kwam.
Rin is een onsympathiek hoofdpersonage. We begrijpen waar ze vandaan komt en waarom ze haar keuzes maakt, maar 't is bij momenten serieus érg, wat ze doet. Mao was ook geen sympathieke mens, en daar is ze duidelijk op geïnspireerd.
Diepgang, ontroering, spanning, een fantastische combinatie van psychologische en andere oorlogvoering die in het echt ook had kunnen gebeuren met fantasy en goden en zowaar zelfs draken: een uitstekende trilogie.
En dan zag ik de achterflap van het laatste boek en las ik dat de auteur dit schreef tussen haar 19 en 23 jaar, en ben ik immens benieuwd naar wat ze nog zal schrijven in de toekomst. Bijzonder indrukwekkend.
3,5/5 ⭐️
Ik vind dit deel echt het slechtste van de triologie. Ik moet eerlijk toegeven dat ik er niet zo veel aan vond. Ook een bepaald punt vond ik Rin ook gewoon vervelend. Ze bleef mensen maar wantrouwen, terwijl dat compleet onterecht was en op niks gebaseerd was.
Het einde was echt heartbreaking en nu kan ik de tiologie mooi afsluiten. Ik ben heel erg blij dat ik deze heftige boeken heb kunnen lezen!
I read the first book in this trilogy for the hype and was disappointed by the uneven tone, pacing and the copy/paste feel of its historical inspirations. I liked the first half well enough to pick up the second book and was pleasantly surprised to find a more confident tone, better pacing and a story that started to really pull me in despite really disliking the MC. This book felt like the author lost interest in their own story halfway through. It dragged and felt rushed at the same time... so many themes and characters went unexplored, there was a ton of build up that led towards several deeply unsatisfying conclusions. For all its historical references and allegories it didn't seem to have much to say about any of it. The ending should have been devastating, but I felt so little for these characters I was just glad to be done. Rin's POV is exhausting in this book, and despite being basically a god she feels like both a spectator and a victim which made reading her feel like a chore.
If you've studied or read any of the history that these books are based on I honestly wouldn't bother reading them. Anything original, is ultimately insignificant to the larger plot. If you're unfamiliar with the history, I think these books could be engaging reads, big political twists, betrayals, heartbreaking atrocities... it's interesting because the history is interesting.
My biggest problem with this series as a whole, is that it's essentially just adding magic to history, but the magic adds nothing, changes nothing... We just swap technology for magic and away we go. There are a couple of notable exceptions to this but overall, the plot just follows Chinese history through the 20th century then ends. There was a point in this book where it felt like it was about to diverge... then it just didn't.
I know lots of people love this series, I wish I could. The second book almost got me there but with this as a conclusion I wouldn't recommend it either.
This book proved to be an amazing end to an amazing trilogy. This story will always have a special place in my heart and is a big part of why I enjoy reading so much.
Very earned ending even if a rough ending to a unique trilogy. I want to know what happens next!
3.5/5 but a rare case when I'm going to round down, because having this as a 4 star doesn't feel right.
This not the book I wanted or had much interest in getting. Kuang made a lot of choices that made me roll my eyes - Rin gets dumber than a block of cheese for half this book, plotlines are dropped entirely, characters are killed off-screen because she didn't have a use for them anymore, the villains having a seeming huge shift in motivation that is never made much clearer than “because they're bad now”, not enough time spent on characters that are not Rin, depicting a war with the most bare bones details possible, etc.
But what I think her goal is in this novel, and series in general, is still impressive. I read most of this book in a day even though those elements bothered me because I was still engaged. I thought the second half especially was very good. This series is just...not what I wanted it to be based off the first two books, and Kuang has different interests than I do. Her characters became obvious stand-ins for the themes she wanted to explore and because of that, I don't think their actions always made a lot of sense, and we are pretty reliant on just accepting how we are told these characters feel about each other and not given a lot of evidence for why they would feel that way.
So, I'm vaguely disappointed, but it still made me think. It still made me appreciate what Kuang was going for; exploring the trauma of war, of colonialism, of genocide. There were still badass moments, and great fight scenes. So all in all...still a good book.
Let me start by saying that what R.F. Kuang has accomplished with this series is phenomenal. Her use of real historical events to tell the story of Rin and her connection to the gods is a work of art. These books deserve to be celebrated, and I completely understand why they are so hyped.
However, I didn't have as strong of a reaction to this series, and specifically this book, as most people have. These books are focused on this war that is going on between these nations, and it gets very technical and very political, which just isn't my thing. (Please keep in mind, this is just a personal preference, not a knock on the writing itself.)
The pacing of this book felt too fast paced. There were some major events that took place that I didn't feel like we had any time to mourn because the other characters had already moved on. While I understand that this is war and it is actually a fast paced environment, I feel like the characters hardly thought twice about some pretty major deaths and events.
Being in Rin's head was not an enjoyable place to be. As she devolves into her powers and becomes constantly paranoid, I was constantly wanting a breather from her. This is the point of this story, and Kuang succeeded on this. I really felt so conflicted the entire story on almost every decision that Rin made. She was at times impossible to sympathize with. The downside to everything being from Rin's perspective is that it felt extremely hard to gain any sort of emotional attachment to everyone that wasn't Kitay. Whenever there were deaths or other awful events taking place, it was hard to feel upset about it because Rin was so distant from everyone. Again, I understand that this is intentional because she is slowly losing touch with reality, but it made the stakes not feel very high for most of the book.
My biggest gripe with the book is all of part 2. The entire goal throughout this part did not pay off for me. When I finished the last page of part 2, I was just like “that's it?” I felt like this entire section was a let down.
The ending was perfect. While I didn't cry like most people, I really felt like the ending was warranted and I walked away from the book feeling like that was the proper ending. I think I suspected that that was going to happen, but I think Kuang executed this perfectly. I felt like it tied everything up really nicely.
All in all, I highly recommend this series to anyone that like historical fantasy. It is dark and emotional. However, know that this book has major trigger and content warnings for Self-harm - Suicide - Violent rape - Sexual assault - Murder - Massacres - Brutalization - Mutilation - Torture - Substance abuse - Abuse - Emotional abuse - Physical abuse - Relationship abuse - Human experimentation - Chemical warfare - Genocide.
