The Burning God (Poppy War Series #3)

by R. F. Kuang, Emily Woo Zeller (Read by)

Overview

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 intoxicating voice urging her to burn the world and everything in it? 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781799945215
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	11/17/2020
Series:	Poppy War Series
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 5.70(h) x (d)

About the Author

Rebecca F. Kuang is the #1 New York Times and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of the Poppy War trilogy, Babel: An Arcane History, and Yellowface. Her work has won the Nebula, Locus, Crawford, and British Book Awards. A Marshall Scholar, she has an MPhil in Chinese Studies from Cambridge and an MSc in Contemporary Chinese Studies from Oxford. She is now pursuing a PhD in East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale, where she studies diaspora, contemporary Sinophone literature, and Asian American literature.

Editorial Reviews

"Kuang has crafted a story that is truly epic in nature, making this trilogy one of the best epic fantasies of the past decade." — Tor.com

"Bringing her complex Poppy War trilogy to a poignant conclusion, Kuang shines a searing light on the devastating price and valiant sacrifices that warfare requires of all involved." — Booklist (starred review)

"An incredible end to this epic trilogy. Mixing historical parallels of Chinese history, the themes of war, politics, and colonialism are balanced with terrific, flawed characters and amazing worldbuilding." — Library Journal (starred review)

"The Burning God is an excellent book, and the trilogy as a whole is a masterpiece. Decades from now, I’m sure that R.F. Kuang’s Poppy War trilogy will prove to be one of the most influential fantasy series of the modern era." — Grimdark Magazine

"A dark and devastating conclusion that transcends its roots in historical fact to examine brutal truths." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"The Burning God is a triumph....It is a spectacular work—perhaps my favourite release of 2020." — Fantasy Hive

“Kuang’s Poppy War series, the saga of a young shaman fighting to bring the old gods back to her homeland, comes to a striking close in this gritty finale.”  — Publishers Weekly

"A wholly unique experience." — Washington Post on The Poppy War

"It feels nostalgic, wistful even … The Burning God is the best-written book of the trilogy … This place and this protagonist are singular in fantasy literature." — Book Marks

From the Publisher

A dark and devastating conclusion that transcends its roots in historical fact to examine brutal truths.”

Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Kuang shines a searing light on the devastating price and valiant sacrifices that warfare requires of all involved.”

Booklist (starred review)

Narrator Emily Woo Zeller…fiercely depicts the brutality of war, commanding listeners’ attention throughout with visceral passion that engrosses them in Rin’s triumphs, overconfidence, devastation, and slip from sanity…Listeners will be hard-pressed to pause before the series reaches its gripping conclusion. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”

AudioFile

"It feels nostalgic, wistful even … The Burning God is the best-written book of the trilogy … This place and this protagonist are singular in fantasy literature."

Book Marks

"A wholly unique experience."

Washington Post on The Poppy War

★ 2020-10-27
In the final installment of the Poppy War trilogy, a warrior shaman resolves to seize control of her homeland from enemies far and near, no matter the cost.

Having suffered severe losses and betrayals, Rin rallies the Southern Coalition in an effort to defeat the Mugenese troops still in Nikan, the president of the Nikara Republic, and the foreign menace of the Hesperians, with their almost unimaginably advanced technology. But a southern army is not enough, and Rin must also rely on the unpredictable powers of her wild god, the Phoenix, and form a risky alliance with the Trifecta that once ruled Nikan. Drawing heavily on 20th-century Chinese history, Kuang continues to explore familiar themes—including imperialism, racism, colorism, and the terrible and long-lasting effects of war—while deepening Rin’s portrayal, as Rin experiences moments of heartfelt sympathy and connection with others while also continually seeking power and succumbing over and over to her own hubris and paranoia. This installment dwells heavily on the devastating realities of war and the costs of leading a nation in crisis but does not sink into overly grotesque meditations—or perhaps we, along with Rin, have become desensitized and hardened. Ultimately, despite the epic scope of the plot, the novel hinges on the relationships between Rin and those closest to her: A nation may rise or fall and thousands may lose their homes or starve in the process, but their fate depends not on magic from the divine plane but on simple, fallible people.

A dark and devastating conclusion that transcends its roots in historical fact to examine brutal truths. (Map, Dramatis Personae)

Kirkus Reviews