Review – ‘The Poppy War’ By R.F. Kuang

My first review of 2023 (and also my first review since December 2019 but we don’t talk about that) is dedicated to one of the most impactful fantasy debuts of the last few years. R.F. Kuang has exploded onto the scene with extraordinary speed and poise and I suspect she’ll be around for a long time.

The Poppy War is an Asian-inspired grimdark military fantasy, heavily influenced by the second Sino-Japanese War. While all warfare is brutal by nature, this conflict is often identified as being particularly harrowing and extreme, with the Rape of Nanjing the defining event of the war. This alone will give budding historians a sense of what will transpire throughout the course of the book. It is not for the faint-hearted, depicting atrocities on a monumental scale and with deeply unsettling detail.

Through her natural talents and sheer dumb willpower and determination, our protagonist Rin finds herself accepted into one of the country’s most prestigious war academies against all the odds where she will learn all that she needs to know to become a good soldier to the Empire. However, through her time at the Academy, she discovers that she possesses powers beyond that of a typical graduate, which may go a long way to settling the horrific war that her people are plunged into.

At no point did I find myself rooting against her (an admirable quality for the main character). Her rags-to-(sort of)riches story is very engaging, and her determination to succeed despite everything she’s up against (background, ability, gender etc.) is compelling. She has had the Mary Sue badge bestowed upon her by some. There are moments where this unwanted status threatens to land, with occasions of domination against equally impressive peers a little hard to believe, but I personally wouldn’t put her in that category. Kuang works hard to show that Rin’s success is achieved through a combination of her work ethic and shamanistic powers that she struggles to control and understand throughout the entire book.

The world-building is truly exceptional. Rin’s time at the Academy allows for (occasionally long-winded) explorations of the history and lore of the world as she learns from both her peers and tutors. I do feel as though the world as a whole (in terms of regions/cities/warlord dynamics etc.) is not quite as polished and a little vague at times, but I suspect these aspects will be explored in greater detail as the series progresses.

The book (as many others have pointed out) has three distinct parts. The obligatory Academy section does what it needs to do, though I didn’t find it quite as engaging as similar sections from Blood Song by Anthony Ryan and Red Sister by Mark Lawrence. The middle section (or the war section) is strong. Kuang retains an excellent sense of control over all the moving parts. The stakes remain high at all times and the action scenes are great. And the third section delves more into the book’s fantastical elements as Rin comes closer to fully understanding what she is capable of. It also covers a particularly world-shattering ending that upends everything that’s gone before and sets the sequel up in a very unpredictable way.

Despite its clear and obvious strengths, I don’t think that I was quite as enamoured with this book as many others were. Rin was central to everything to the point where only a couple of the other characters (Altan and, at a push, Jiang) really left a mark. In particular, some of the characters at the Academy bordered on being plot devices rather than fully fleshed cast members. The same can also be said for the crew of the Cike. I didn’t buy the reconciliation between Rin and her Academy rival.

I also found the magic system a little frustrating throughout most of the book. Psychedelics enable access to the Gods (until they don’t) who will channel their God-like powers through the shaman, but only after an extended period of negotiation and understanding. It’s a bold and ambitious system but it didn’t quite pay off for me.

That being said, The Poppy War is still an impressive read, especially given the fact that it was from a debut author! I will definitely be picking up its sequel The Dragon Republic at some point this year.