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I Had To Learn About This In A Fantasy Novel?
A discussion of R.F. Kuang’s ‘The Poppy War’ a Chinese military fantasy
Every once in a while, like succulent food, there is a story that is so well told it breaks the fabric of your entire being. Rips into old theories and misunderstandings and finally you are enlightened — it makes you hungry for more.
The Poppy War is about a young, dark skinned peasant girl named Fang Runin or “Rin” for short. She is so poor that her only option to make it in this life is to either marry an old man or score high enough to get into the prestigious military school, Sinegard. Rin eventually studies so hard she scores in the top percentile and when she gets to Sinegard, all that she ever knew will be challenged.
Her body and mind are pushed to a near breaking point as she struggles with losing her Southern accent having to learn new languages, take strategy classes and martial arts. There is bullying in here. There is violence. There is betrayal and there is beauty in strength. Rin finds herself in the middle of an actual war that will test her abilities, and she will learn that monsters and gods do in fact, exist.
I just finished The Poppy War (Book 1) and The Dragon Republic (Book 2), both are written by R. F. Kuang, a Georgetown History major who is…
