Title: The Burning God
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?
This has been one hell of a ride. I read all three books this year. I don't know if that was a mistake or not yet. Maybe I should have spaced it out a little, there were breaks because I had to wait for the first two at the library, and this one there was never a guarantee that I would get a copy. (Thank you NetGalley)
This was a fantastic ending to a roller coaster of a series. Rin is a beautifully flawed person. Looking back at who she was at the start of this series, and seeing who she became. She started as this tiny angry child with a bit of a chip on her shoulder and grew into a powerful woman with years of battles, and hardships that make what she saw as a hardship as a child feel meaningless.
She still has a good measure of rage that fuels the Phoenix, but she also burns with a lust for power. As one of the last remaining Shamen, and the last Speerly. She feels that she deserves to be their ruler, she came from nothing and fought her way to the top, she knows what it's like to live in squaller and doesn't want anyone else to feel that again. And even with Kitay holding her grounded, she still struggles.
It is intensely difficult to talk about this book and not spoil anything for this book or the previous book.
There are a lot of things in this book that was both unexpected and inevitable. The ending especially. I was anxious for the ending the moment I started this book. I hoped for some kind of happy ending, what we got... not sure what to call it.
This has been called a "game-changer" for Fantasy, and I whole-heartedly agree. I think this series will open the gates for more diverse fantasy, something that is desperately needed. And I am excited for whatever Kuang writes in the future. This book, and series, has gutted me in the best way.
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