Sally's Reviews > The Poppy War

Things I can't quite wrap my head around:

1) At the time of my writing this review, R.F. Kuang is just 23 years old.
2) She wrote a submittable draft of this book in 3 months.
3) She was just 19(!!!) when this book got signed.
4) She's doing a Masters in Military History at the same time as writing the sequel.
5) This book is still somehow completely and utterly fantastic?!
6) It's her debut book?!

It's this kind of work ethic, determination and sheer talent that's enough to send me into an existential spiral. How can someone so young produce a book this good in such a short space of time? This is the kind of fantasy I aspire to write -- not necessarily in content, but in tone, impact and resonance. This is the kind of book I live for.

The Poppy War is a military-focused historical fantasy, set in Nikara, a world inspired by medieval imperial China and the Second Sino-Japanese War. The story centres on Rin -- a war-orphaned peasant girl from the South -- who defies all expectations to win a place in the military academy of Sinegard in order to escape an arranged marriage.

The first half of this book deals primarily deal with Rin's experiences at Sinegard -- specifically classicsm, colourism, sexism and the illusion of meritocracy. The typical academy setting is threaded through with some truly shocking lessons on military strategy (the cold realisation that this is how politicians actually operate is galling) and the extreme measures Rin is willing to take to secure her place at Sinegard. There's also a lot of ruminating on drug use, meditation and achieving enlightenment, which I feel is going to be very important for Rin's storyline going forward. "With great power comes great responsibility" and all that jazz...

The second half of this book catapults us into war. Unflinchingly brutal, sanity-sapping war. All the theorising back-and-forth military strategy hashed out in Sinegard becomes reality in the war against Mugen, and it's sobering, to say the least. There's a certain fantastical element introduced by way of the Speerlies and the Cike, but it's the stuff grounded in cold hard reality that really hits hard. R.F. Kuang took inspiration directly from some truly horrific events during the Second Sino-Japanese War, specifically the Rape of Nanking, Unit 731, and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. All of these are depicted pretty graphically within the pages of this book, the truly chilling part of course being that nothing can compare to the horrifying reality. I really like books that teach me something and encourage me to read outside of their pages; The Poppy War was one of these books; I'd never heard of Unit 731 before, and there's quite a lot of stuff in here inspired by Sun Tzu's The Art Of War as well.

One of the things that really struck me whilst reading The Poppy War is how nuanced it is. Rin is a deeply flawed and fallible main character with her set of biases and prejudices that can sometimes be difficult to stomach. It's clear we as readers are meant to take some of her perceptions with a hefty pinch of salt (that she thinks the Mugenese aren't human, for example, when it's quite clear given the actions of the Empress and Jiang's constant warnings that there's a lot more going on we're not yet privy to). At the same time, you can't help but root for her as she continues to prove people wrong time and time again, and challenge their -isms to get ahead. Her headstrong nature is equal parts commendable as it is frustrating, but as the story progresses and the war with Mugen ramps up, Rin makes increasingly ruthless decisions -- defying and isolating her mentors in the process in order to acquire devastating power -- that it's clear that can be no heroes in war; only victors. At what cost? Guess I will have to read the sequel to find out...

I loved this book; I thought it was stunning. It repulsed me, intrigued me, horrified me... swept me up in its beauty only to send me crashing back down again. It's absolutely brilliant and stunningly written. Nothing can be taken at face value. There are no villains, no heroes -- only acts of good and evil. I can't wait for the release of The Dragon Republic.