by R.F Kuang
I love the Poppy War. It is intense. It is heavy. It is magical. It is heartbreaking. I thought about the characters and their choices long after I read it.
When I first encountered Kuang’s work in Babel, I was struck by her distinctive writing style. It’s a style that I envy, one that I wish I could emulate. Her sentences are not just words on a page, but lyrical, concise, impactful expressions that brim with imagery and emotion.
When you start reading The Poppy War, you’ll want to gulp the plot down as quickly as possible, but you will choke on its intensity and detail. No. You have to sip. There is SO much information regarding plot character and world building in each and every sentence.
Rin, our tragic hero, is a war orphan fostered in the Rooster province. She’s faced with a future dictated by her fate, one that she refuses to accept. Instead, she sets her sights on a different path, one that leads to the Kejee, the Empire-wide exam . Passing this exam would grant her entry into the most prestigious military school in the Empire, a chance to shape her own destiny.
While at school, Rin uncovers her heritage, a revelation that sheds light on her unusually powerful gifts. This aspect of the story not only adds depth to Rin’s character but also enriches the world-building, as it reveals a hidden layer of the book’s supernatural realm.
Having yet to graduate, Rin and the rest of her fellow schoolmates are thrown into a war where they have to put to use the skills and strategies they have learned in real-life and death battles.
The Poppy War is not just a novel, it’s a rich tapestry of themes. It delves into the ethics of war, exploring concepts like genocide and the means justifying the end. It grapples with identity, power, and responsibility. And it celebrates the bonds of friendship. These themes are not just surface-level musings, but wonderfully complex and beautifully developed, with more to come in the second and third books of the trilogy.
The world-building is enthralling. The political systems, cultures, supernatural realm, military, and educational systems are beautifully detailed, and all contribute successfully to the progression of the plot, the development of characters, and the strengthening of themes.
The Poppy War has become one of my favourite books of the year. I am in the process of reading the second book the in the trilogy, and it’s starting off as just as wonderful as the first.
Ink And Spine 