The Burning God

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. How do your sympathies toward Rin evolve over the novel, as her actions become more brutal and extreme? To what degree do you sympathize with her over the novel’s arc? What about in her final moments?

2. The theme The Dehumanizing Effects of War is used to explore the idea that all actions have unforeseeable consequences. How do you personally weigh the ramifications of your actions? What goes into your decision to make certain actions, despite the consequences?

3. When you were reading, did you see any moments where Rin could have effectively turned back, mended her destructive feud with Nezha, truly saved the South, or prevented her fate? Do you think the way Rin responded in these moments is understandable and realistic? If you were in the extreme circumstances Rin was in, what would you decide?

4. Though this trilogy is fantasy, Kuang based it around several wars and events in Chinese history, and she has said that all the violence or wartime brutality in the book is directly extrapolated from real events. Knowing this, were any parts of this novel particularly difficult to read?

5. How did this novel influence your understanding of The Multifaceted Nature of Empire and Colonialism? Does this affect your perspective on colonialism in the real world?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. Do some research into the real historical events (such as the Chinese Civil War and the Great Chinese Famine) and figures (such as Mao Zedong [Rin] and Chiang Ching-kuo [Nezha]), that inspired this novel. How does the novel update these people and events into its fantasy world? What is the effect of using historical inspiration, as opposed to entirely fictionalized events? Does the fantasy representation elide any important aspects of these real events?

2. Whether she’s working with the Republic or the Southern Coalition, Rin feels like an outsider who is used as a weapon. How are Rin’s unique challenges informed by her race, being both a Speerly and a dark-skinned Southerner, and gender, being a woman in an army? How do Rin’s intersectional struggles affect how she treats marginalized people others might consider ‘weak’?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. Though this novel is mostly from Rin’s close third-person point of view, it has sections from other key characters, Daji and Nezha. What did these add to the narrative’s tone? How did they impact your understanding of the narrative’s trajectory?

2. How do the novel’s environments impact the development of characters and themes? You might juxtapose the South’s ruined hidden city Ruijin or the destroyed town of Tikany with Nezha’s rich (and then drowned) port city home of Arlong or the barren Baolei mountains in Ox and Dog Provinces. You might also juxtapose the environments where spirit is at its strongest, like the grotto, Speer, or the Heavenly Temple.

3. How does the novel use its character arcs—specifically characters’ grey morality— to nuance the theme of The Calculations and Human Cost of War? In what ways does this theme manifest as the novel goes on, in explicit wartime strategies, in the guilty consciences of the characters, in the dissolution of friendships and individual lives, etc.?

4. How are Rin and Kitay foils? How are Rin and Daji foils? How are Rin and Nezha foils? How are Rin and Venka foils? What is the purpose of giving Rin’s character so many foils?

5. The Trifecta is used as a symbol for the cyclical nature of history. How are Rin, Kitay, and Nezha associated with different Trifecta members as the novel proceeds, and how does this add to their characterization? Why are they associated with different members at different times? What does this association add to the novel’s themes?