The Poppy War: REVIEW
A fresh and unique fantasy world begins to take shape…
A very strong debut! From the beginning I was immediately pulled in and immersed in Kuang’s world, a world that bears a striking resemblance to ours. I thought that initially Rin was such a strong, and interesting character and seeing her achieve her goals through sheer determination and faith in herself captivated me. I also enjoyed Kuang’s slow but sure reveal that this world is not as it seems, gods exist and their powers can be manifested in the mortal world to devastating effect, and great personal cost. I always enjoy ‘magic’ systems that have a monkey’s paw/double edged sword cost of use. Can you channel the power of a god? Why of course you can. But the price will be your mind. Or the price will be you’ll indiscriminately set the world ablaze, friends and foes will burn. I think it’s elements like that, that add some stakes to the story. Because on one hand, you want Rin to be given this power so she can achieve the autonomy she deserves, on the other, you fear for what the power will do to her, how it will change her, and the lengths she’ll go to to get it. Another element of the book that was well done was the obviously in-depth historical research that went into shaping this world. Like wow, this felt so real, and so anchored in shades of our reality/history that it made me want to do my own research into the events and conflicts that so clearly inspired this narrative.
Other elements I enjoyed:
• The academy setting, while this trope has been done to death, Kuang’s take on it was very engaging.
• Jiang and Rin’s mentor/apprentice relationship, so heartwarming.
• The inclusion of several obvious gay characters. Their sexualities weren’t really important to the narrative but I really appreciate the inclusion of their identity here, because gay people have existed throughout history and in every culture, and that should be celebrated/shown.
• The harsh realities of war not being glossed over. A lot of other books would have shied away from the brutality of war but this book didn’t. It was dark, without feeling indulgent.
• The ‘Suicide Squad’-esque team Rin joins in Part II had so many interesting character dynamics. However, I would’ve loved if the new characters here would have been explored in more depth. These are going to be her teammates for the foreseeable future, right? Develop them. Stop having other characters give a brief summary of who they are, and show us who they are. For me, Rin is overshadowed by these new characters, because they all seem to have clear goals/a purpose, or are just straight up interesting as hell, and Kuang has not bothered to develop Rin past her academy ambitions for power…which leads me into some more things I took issue with.
The like, first 2.5 Parts of the book are so good. Like really good. Each part was good enough, and had enough lore and potential world building to be expanded into it’s own separate book if you ask me! Which is why it was disappointing when I was reading Part III and realizing “Wow, I sort of…want this to end?” Because not only had Rin stopped feeling like she was a consistent, developing character, the plot was starting to go off the rails. Everything after our characters witness the horror the Mugen army is capable of, feels as if it was in service of setting up the next book and not in reaching a satisfying conclusion to this book. Within 80 pages we get (light spoilers):
• Important backstory info we should have been privy in Part II, that’s only revealed to make the plot make sense, and not to develop character.
• Trying to execute one incredibly risky plan, to that plan backfiring.
• A Betrayal that makes sense, but should have been obvious to characters who we’ve come to know as competent.
• Rin becoming a vessel for another character’s motivations, since she really had none of her own.
• An important event being severely undercut but unnecessary foreshadowing.
I think the only thing the ending did well was having Rin make that world altering decision. It not only has major implications for what’s going to happen to the world in Book 2, but also the personal consequences Rin will face from not only her people, and her god, but herself as well. The internal conflict and seeing “which side her coin lands on”, is one of the things I look forward to seeing the most in The Dragon Republic. And I hope that the rushed set-up here for that next book was worth it and will not be repeated.
