Hate was a funny thing. It gnawed at her insides like poison. It made every muscle in her body tense, made her veins boil so hot she thought her head might split in half, and yet it fueled everything she did. Hate was its own kind of fire and if you had nothing else, it kept you warm.
R. F. Kuang has become an important name in the fantasy genre since her debut in 2018 with the novel The Poppy War, which was then followed up by two sequels, The Dragon Republic in 2019, and The Burning God in 2020. Her work focuses on themes like colonialism and oppression, and she pulls a lot of inspiration from her Chinese background.
I have been interested in Kuang’s work for a while, in big part thanks to all the buzz generated by her novel Babel. I thought The Poppy War was the best place to start, and I’m glad that this is how I got introduced to her work, because I thoroughly enjoyed this trilogy and it gave me a lot to think about. While grimdark fantasy is not something that I’m generally drawn to, and the series does have a couple flaws, I think The Poppy War is one of the best fantasy series of the last decade and I can’t wait to read more by this author. Without further ado, let’s dive into this tragic story of rage and hatred.
Summary: Rin is a war orphan whose only option in life is getting married, but she’s determined to find a way out. Despite the overwhelming odds against her, Rin decides to take the Keiju, an exam taken all over the Empire that decides if a student can go to higher education. She doesn’t want to just pass the exam, but to make it into Sinegard, the most prestigious military academy of the Empire, where students are trained to become high ranking officers. Getting admitted, however, is not enough—staying at Sinegard is a whole new challenge, and Rin has to prove she can be as cutthroat as her competition if she wants to survive. Meanwhile, war looms in the horizon, threatening to destroy her entire world and to reveal things about herself and her origins that she could never have imagined.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to maria's corner to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.