The Burning God

It is hard to put my feelings about this book into words. This trilogy leapt out to me and caught hold of my imagination and my heart. I have not felt such enthusiasm for reading in a very long time. But the phenomenal writing of this series has made that feeling real for me once again. Here we have an author whose deep understanding of military strategy, politics, and history shines through in a setting and characters so fully realized that I cannot bear to see them gone. The saddest part of this story is that it is over. I long for more writings in this fantasy historical world of Kuang's creation. It is so much more than allegory, despite its numerous applications of historic references and events. They only serve to strengthen the text's believability. The book makes a fine allegory, but it does so much more than that. It created a world and compelled me to care about it. It birthed characters who still live on in my mind, and whose personalities, motives, and fates were so much more than allegorical tropes—they burned with unique life, and I learned to love and hate various characters, the latter of which not because they were poorly written, but because they were so real. They felt like real people, and I felt real emotions toward them. In short: this work is phenomenal. Brace yourself for an emotional journey, and then do yourself a favor and read The Poppy War trilogy.

PS: If you read the audio book, you're in for a treat. Emily Woo Zeller does an outstanding job bringing the words of this tale to life with flawless pronunciation and beautifully emotive narration. She is a genuinely talented narrator, and a true joy to listen to.

First book was good, but kept waiting to stop hating Rin, waiting for her to develop and learn her lesson. Good story, I enjoyed the rest of the characters.

In the first book I loved everything about Rin. By the middle of second book her flaws overshadowed everything I admired about her. But I still appreciated and liked her character overall.

Now in this last book Rin attitude and behavior is too much. She’s become too much like the ppl she hate. Willing to do anything to win even atrocities toward her own people. Rin has had no growth and continues to make the same mistakes by being stubborn. Any advice she doesn’t like or agree she disregards it. Don’t get me

It’s great to me she’s not like other heroines waxing poetic about honor and doing the right thing or take the high road. But at some point a line has to be drawn. Her lack of even a little empathy, disregard for civilians human value made her more like a monster than a damaged human.

I mean I could understand if it’s because of revenge and betrayal. Only that in this book she doesn’t seem motivated by these factors. Look at how she thought and acted to get revenge for Alton. This I felt and agreed with. Someone hurt you you hurt them twice as bad is my motto. Now Rin behavior feels hollow and immature. It’s as if what happened to her at the end of the last book didn’t bother her. Rin is no longer an antihero or even anti-villain. She turns into a plan old villain. I can’t believe how far she’s fallen.

I wonder if the author wants us to like Rin or show her us her downfall and descent into darkness. Following a path she can’t return from. Plainly I don’t think she wants to come back from the path she’s taken. When a character goes too far there is no redemption for them. It leads only to one place. A fitting in for her. Rin is her own worst enemy.