The Dragon Republic

A solid middle book of a trilogy. It's not as exciting or fresh as the first book and doesn't have some of the explosively transgressive moments. And the historical parallels are a little lost on me. There's no set piece as huge as the Golyn Niis massacre in the first book, or if there was it was lost on me. The book leans even more heavily into the supernatural elements which takes it further from historicity. And while I appreciate the intrigue of adding a new faction, the Federation, it really wasn't clear to me what they were meant to represent other than vaguely the influence of the Western world on China.

In short the book lacks some of the things that made the first book so very compelling. On the other hand it's still got plenty of deep back story. And an interesting story with good characters. Some of the machinations get a little overwrought but it was compellingly entertained and I am looking forward to reading the final book.