River of Smoke question

Reading Sea of Poppies helps in forming a longer perspective, but reading River of Smoke alone does not in any way affect the understanding.

Sea of Poppies is a great stand alone book and after the first chapter of River of Smoke it could stand alone. But why not read them in order since both books are excellent.

Yes agree. But on the other hand .'The river of smoke' moves on its own dynamics and against a diiferent backdrop and many characters are fresh or were yet to be explored in the Sea of Poppies.
So one does not miss much if you were not aware that it had a prequel

well,reading sea of poppies first will help you get better grasp of the charactersand also you will enjoy ros more

I agree that it is better to read in he correct sequence. So much easier to understand recurring characters. Can't wait for the final one. So glad I discovered Ghosh.

I would read in order but they stand alone more than many readers wanted.

Better to read in sequence. It will give you full preview otherwise when you read Sea of Poppies it will read like a Prequel.

I FEEL IT IS ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL TO READ THEM IN SEQUENCE