A Year of Reading: The Dragon Republic by RF Kuang - reviewed by Katherine Roberts
My March offering is a return to the fantasy genre of my youth, in that it's huge (650+ pages) and has 'Dragon' in the title. I picked it up in a local charity shop as part of a five books for £1 bundle, so although I've not come across this author before it was worth the risk. The Dragon Republic Dragons are beloved of fantasy fiction, whether telepathic and beautiful like those of Anne McCaffrey's Pern books, or fearsome and monstrous like those of George RR Martin's Game of Thrones. Often they have dragon riders, who are vulnerable in that they form fierce bonds with their mounts and feel pain when those dragons are injured or die. However, the dragons of The Dragon Republic turn out to be warlords rather than actual flying reptiles, and as a dragon fan I was slightly disappointed to find that none of these warlords ride any kind of fantasy creature. In fact, although there are a few references to wings, I am still not quite sure if any of the ...