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.

Over the past while I have been intrigued by the increase in oriental fantasy books by authors such as Ken Liu and Fonda Lee so when I came across on other bloggers talking about The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang I was instantly intrigued by it due to the synopsis and the rave reviews it was receiving. Thank you HarperCollins for giving me the opportunity to read and review The Poppy War.

The Poppy War’s world is based around the 20th century history of China, I don’t know much about Chinese history so reading this book was extremely interesting especially with a story as intriguing and in depth as this. The world within The Poppy War has many different aspects such as its history and political backdrop from which the story is born due to the divide between the different continents as well the rich and the poor. One of my favourite aspects of this world is how much it coincides with Chinese culture and its mythology, as R.F. Kuang has used these elements in crafting the different continents as well as the gods.

These elements alone for me would make a fantastic book but the characters that reside within the world are extremely well crafted. As the story progresses they too become more complex and interesting due to a certain event occurring and get to see them mature and grow beyond their years. This for me was one of the elements that made the author truly shine because we know that certain events can change people and we can only imagine how this might change them but R.F. Kuang takes her characters and gives them the depth and soul I believe a human being would have under these circumstances. Reading about this was astounding because you grow with the characters and you experience this will them in such a short space of time which in turn emotionally draws you towards each character.

Over the last while I have read quite a few grimdark fantasy books so when I picked up The Poppy War I thoroughly enjoyed it like I did with the other grimdark books if not more. But as the book progress you will notice a small increase in how dark it gets and I loved this because I feels it gave more gravitas to the world and how one event can drastically change the world. However towards the end of the book I came across one scene that shook me to my core and I couldn’t believe what I was reading. Right now you might be thinking it sounds like the author went over the top with this scene but this was not the case because what we get is a character discussing a truly horrific moment with their friend due to a plan that has been set in motion. For me this was a truly inspiring moment because this is how a human would react when they don’t want a friend to do something that they believe they will regret. This scene was extremely well thought out and I think the author wrote it extremely well considering the context of it.

When I first started reading The Poppy War I immediately blown away by it and I am surprised I haven’t seen more mentions about it in the lead up to its release as this is easily the best book I have read this year so far and other books will be hard pushed to beat this for my favourite book of 2018. This book is a must read for any fan of SFF and for me R.F. Kuang sits atop with some of the best grimdark authors in the genre. I am extremely excited to see what R.F. Kuang produces next and I will be following her work for years to come.