The Dragon Republic – R. F. Kuang (Paperback, Voyager)

The Dragon Republic, the intense second installment in R.F. Kuang’s The Poppy War trilogy, plunges readers deeper into the ravages of war, vengeance, and power. Haunted by morally fraught decisions made to save her people, Rin becomes an outlaw driven by a singular purpose: to exact retribution on the Empress who betrayed her homeland.

On the run, Rin strikes a fragile alliance with the feared Dragon Warlord. She wields extraordinary shamanic power granted by the Phoenix god—but with that power comes the heavy burden of destruction. As political alliances shift and military strategies unfold, Rin’s struggle becomes a visceral ride through betrayal, trauma, and the intoxicating pull of domination.

Kuang’s novel is gripping, unrelenting, and heartbreaking—but also unafraid to show the hope emerging from ruin. It reinforces her mastery of combining historical inspiration (echoes of mid-20th-century Chinese conflict) with high-stakes fantasy, complex characters, and haunting moral dilemmas.