“I have no doubt this will end up being the best fantasy debut of the year […] I have absolutely no doubt that [Kuang’s] name will be up there with the likes of Robin Hobb and N.K. Jemisin.” — Booknest
A Library Journal, Paste Magazine, Vulture, BookBub, and ENTROPY Best Books pick!
Washington Post “5 Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Novel” pick!
A Bustle “30 Best Fiction Books” pick!
A … Science Fiction and Fantasy Novel” pick!
A Bustle “30 Best Fiction Books” pick!
A brilliantly imaginative talent makes her exciting debut with this epic historical military fantasy, inspired by the bloody history of China’s twentieth century and filled with treachery and magic, in the tradition of Ken Liu’s Grace of Kings and N.K. Jemisin’s Inheritance Trilogy.
When Rin aced the Keju—the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies—it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard—the most elite military school in Nikan—was even more surprising.
But surprises aren’t always good.
Because being a dark-skinned peasant girl from the south is not an easy thing at Sinegard. Targeted from the outset by rival classmates for her color, poverty, and gender, Rin discovers she possesses a lethal, unearthly power—an aptitude for the nearly-mythical art of shamanism. Exploring the depths of her gift with the help of a seemingly insane teacher and psychoactive substances, Rin learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive—and that mastering control over those powers could mean more than just surviving school.
For while the Nikara Empire is at peace, the Federation of Mugen still lurks across a narrow sea. The militarily advanced Federation occupied Nikan for decades after the First Poppy War, and only barely lost the continent in the Second. And while most of the people are complacent to go about their lives, a few are aware that a Third Poppy War is just a spark away . . .
Rin’s shamanic powers may be the only way to save her people. But as she finds out more about the god that has chosen her, the vengeful Phoenix, she fears that winning the war may cost her humanity . . . and that it may already be too late.
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Excellent first novel. The author has talent and I look forward to the next two in the series. Hopefully, she will be able to get them out timely while still in graduate school. Please no Jordan or Martin years long delays.
With fantasy, I’m interested in where the story is conventional, and where it breaks with convention. I want a good balance of expected heroic pattern, and what breaks with that pattern. The pattern in this book is clear, but it breaks over two issues – destiny, and ethics. What if a character had a destiny, but that wasn’t such a good thing? What if – surprise, surprise – destiny was chosen, not foretold? And what if commitments of the heart and supernatural powers made ethics impossibly difficult to uphold? Those breaks with convention kept me engaged with this book. The focus on shadow also kept me engaged – the shiny mirror that is the hero the main character is becoming, though she cannot possibly believe that. The dynamic of embracing the shadow fully – valuing it as shadow, as something that will allow you to commit to unspeakable things. These surprises, and the possibilities they hold, also make me look forward to the next two books. Please note that four stars is a high review from me. You have to be as good as Ursula LeGuin to get five stars.
An original and engrossing tale of the coming of age of a talented young soldier amid the horrors of invasion and genocide.
A powerful, emotional journey, compellingly written.
Amazing
So… This is the story about a girl named Rin, who didn’t know who her parents were and in order to achieve freedom and escape from an arranged marriage had to study hard so she could train to be a warrior, but after, she realized she had powers and could summon the gods in exchange of unimaginable sacrifices
In this book you’ll find action, revenge, betrayal, friendship and loss.
Warning Rin is not a typical hero, actually she makes questionable decisions.
Just finished this fantasy-ish novel which is richly rooted in the history and culture of China.
Because of the tag line and the training of child soldiers description, at first I was expecting it to be kind of “Ender’s Game.” But they are nothing alike. In many ways, this book is historical fiction because of how firmly grounded it is in China’s history. The fantasy elements aren’t even introduced until the second half of the book, and they are more spiritual/metaphysical than traditional fantasy (in my opinion.) There are no trolls or elves running around in this book…
I can’t believe the author is only 20. This book would be an accomplishment at any age.
I especially appreciated how the author raised deep questions around the nature and “ethics” of war. Kuang also does an admirable job of using modern language in a way that makes the book accessible without breaking down the “foreign” feel of the people and their culture.
I can’t wait for the rest of the trilogy.
The poppy war was a brilliantly complex and thought provoking debut novel, one that was nothing like I expected based on the synopsis. It blew my mind and took me 2 days to gather my thoughts for a review. I still don’t know if I succeeded in delivering my opinion about it accurately.
The book has a strong writing style and there is nothing simple about it. Just by looking at the some of the words used in it you know that there went a lot of planning and thoughts into it. It is beautiful and so easy to read, to get into it despite the heavier topic.
As for the world building, I enjoyed it immensely. It is intricate, vivid and put together but not too complicating. The story is basically set in a historical Asian country, period but some of the technology and elements has a distinctly modern feel to it. However, the most amazing thing about the book is the incredibly evolution and the depth of the storyline. Honestly, the book is long but it was the first time that I actually felt like I was reading a different book by the end of it. There is so many things happening in it and the direction of the plot changes completely, that by the end the atmosphere is different. I loved how the story progressed, how it started out as a pretty harsh but still mild tale and slowly but unexpectedly it unfurled into a shocking, brutal, dark and bloody adventure. OMG, it was just phenomenal.
The storyline consist of different elements, the war and action, the main character’s development but apart from this there is the deeper, more meaningful part to it as well. The majority of the book discusses a lot of somewhat current and timeless, theological, moral, philosophical and such questions, different sides and possible answers to them. Personally I’m not a big spiritual person so some of these discussions were a bit mumbo-jumbo for me but most of it I enjoyed. It just gave an extra edge, a different perspective to a book generally focusing on fighting and war.
The story doesn’t have an overly fast pace, I would call it more like a intense simmering burn still there is not one boring or dull moment to it. It has a great balanced dynamic to it.
The main character Rin, is the proverbial conflicting protagonist. Sometimes I loved her, sometimes she annoyed me but I had a strong connection to her all the way along. She falls more into the grey area, than black or white. My first impression about her was that she is ballsy and cunning, persistent and hard worker. However, along the way she has a tendency to get a bit too greedy, impatient and power hungry. This side of hers wasn’t my favorite because while she was really smart for some reason her anger and need for recognition prevented her to make the right decisions. And she needed to make some hard choices but her character represented the whole “What’s wrong and right is only a matter of perspective” theory. I liked her but it was hard to love her some times. It was a bit strange but at the same time really refreshing to read about a main character who didn’t fall into the heroic, always making the noble choices and saves everybody kind of stereotype.
There are a lot of interesting and well developed side characters in the book, but I think most of their purpose is to stage the motivating questions or competition for Rin. I saw a lot of possibilities in some of them and I absolutely loved the misfit band of the Cike and their complete devotion to each other.
While with some minor changes the book could have been a standalone as well, I’m happy and elated that it’s actually a trilogy and can’t wait to proceed to the next book. The poppy war ended on a devastating but promising point. I think I’m going to finish it here because I don’t want to accidentally spoil anything. I loved this book but it’s definitely not for the weak and light hearted, it’s full of graphic details of aggression, torture, rape, substance abuse and self harm but if you don’t get queasy about these things then I definitely recommend to give it a try.
My biggest disappointment was that the e-copy I got had some problems with the maps and such in the beginning, meaning it was messed up, patchy or altogether missing and I think I lost out on some additional excitement because of this.