First things first: I don’t care about any ‘controversies’ surrounding this novel. I heard about some of the stuff making the rounds, but yep, I don’t care, and I won’t be commenting on anything. I’m also not a BookTok person, so the book didn’t pop onto my radar because of a social media platform. Might be considered weird, in this day and age, but a friend trusted me with her copy, and after I read it… Well, suffice it to say, I decided I had to write a review about the book.
Nicholas Eames had it right – he said, “I thought myself prepared. I was not.” (If you don’t know who Nicholas is, you need to read this book ASAP; it’s epic, kickass, and awesomely memorable)
Most of you will know, I’ve read a lot of Fantasy. I’ve also read my fair share of Fantasy based on historical events (Paul Kearney’s The Macht trilogy is a great example), and I figured, just from the title and the author’s heritage, that The Poppy War would be a novel that took historical events as its focus and threw those events into my favourite genre; I was ready for that, for a kind of ‘hmm, this was cleverly done’ instead of a ‘damn, okay, this was awesomely done’.
What Kuang did in this novel (and what she continued to do in The Dragon Republic, which I’m busy reading) is say, “Okay, here’s my book,” and then proceeded to punch me in the head with it.
And I mean that as a compliment.
I thought I knew what to expect – I had no idea.
Let’s start with Fang Runin, and the opening scene of the book – her introduction. She’s about to write a very important exam. The tension is huge. There’s the worry that people will soil themselves because, once they’ve begun with the exam, they won’t be able to leave the locale they’re writing it in. The entire scene is like nothing else I’ve come across in a Fantasy novel before. It’s graphic, unflinching, purposeful. Not only did I sit up and immediately think, “Okay, this is something fresh and bold,” but I wondered why the main character would put herself in such a tense situation in the first place.
That’s the mark of a great writer and storyteller right there, for me: you present the character in a situation that forces you to take notice and begin asking questions. Kuang did that perfectly – she just did it without pulling any punches. She wanted the reader to know that the novel would not care about their feelings or how squeamish they are, nor what triggers them. As with Erikson, once you start reading, you’re in the writer’s world, and you either delve deeper or set the book down.
I was, of course, utterly hooked. Like, if Kuang hadn’t continued to reel me in, I would have crawled out of the river onto the riverbank.
And that was just the opening scene.
But the hook was set, and I was kind of helpless as I read more and more, and more. The reasons why Rin is writing the exam become known; the reasons for Rin pushing herself so hard, for her almost suicidal determination and drive, are driven home. And knowing what I know now (well, as far as I know it, which is around 157 pages into The Dragon Republic), I can say that certain seeds are sown in terms of Rin’s stubborn resolve, and there’s some great foreshadowing of major events in the lead-up to Rin writing the exam.
I won’t say any more regarding the events in the book, for fear of spoiling future readers (and I hope there will be many).
I will talk a bit, however, about the things I was worried about.
I was worried that I’d be bludgeoned with infodumps and that there we be a lot of ‘telling and now showing’, but Kuang managed the worldbuilding in this novel with an expert hand; the history and events and filling out of Rin’s world happened naturally and cleverly, to such a degree that I had to really think about it to spot where it was being done.
I was worried that characters would take a back seat to magic, or that characters would at least become wooden when they encountered the big beats (and there are many) throughout the novel, but again, Kuang knew what she was doing. Rin is one of the most interesting and human characters I’ve ever met – I felt angry along with her because I understood her, and I got angry at her for the same reason. She does, of course, stand out because she’s the main character, but there are many other characters who live and breathe in this novel and who could, without a doubt, blaze as Rin does in their own novels as the main character. When a writer pulls that off, you realise that all the characters are important – not because of the roles they play, but because they’re people in the same drama being unveiled.
I was worried that events would ‘overtake’ the plot, in terms of the book speeding up to reach certain points just to keep the plot ticking along, but again, Kuang showed how great a storyteller she is, because what I needed to witness, I witnessed. And sometimes the emotional impact of an event is even more powerful than the witnessing of the event, something Kuang understood perfectly.
Those were my main worries, because I’ve seen other writers stumble at those hurdles, but not here.
The pages blurred by, but are still as fresh in my memory as if I had just finished reading the novel an hour ago (and I finished it just over a week ago), and I’m happy to say that The Dragon Republic is having the same effect on me.
As a debut, The Poppy War is incredible. As a work of Fantasy, it is fucking excellent. Kuang’s handling of characters, plot, pacing, worldbuilding, and the words themselves is expertly done. There was never a sense of ‘okay, now she’s waffling’ – her steering of the ‘ship’ was always sure and focused, and the result, at least for me, is a novel that hits tremendously hard, makes no apologies for it, and unfolds an excellent, addictive tale that had me swearing and cheering throughout.
If you haven’t yet read this and don’t mind a difficult (because this is not ‘happy, wonderful Fantasy’) but rewarding read, then I hope you’ll get onto The Poppy War soon.
Peter V Brett also has it right: “R. F. Kuang’s fresh approach to magic and hard-hitting story is a punch to the gut fantasy has needed for a long time.” (long-time readers of this blog know how much I dig Peter’s work; ’nuff said)
Highly recommended. 10/10
Order it from your favourite bricks-and-mortar store – I’m sure the booksellers will also be talkative about the book. 😉
And until next time, as always,
Be EPIC!
Dave de Burgh 
