The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang Book Review

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang has been unlike any other novel that I have read. Before I started reading this book I initially categorized it as science fiction/fantasy but now after reading it, it’s more like a fantasy/military fiction (if a genre like this exists). 

The story starts in our main character Rin’s early years, she is a war orphan who was adopted into an abusive family that sells stolen opium. Hoping to escape a future where she is set to be married off Rin pleads for the town’s tutor Tutor Feyrik to train her to prepare for the Keju. The Keju is a notoriously challenging exam students take when they turn 16, it is meant to test their knowledge of history, advanced mathematics, logic, and classics. She bribes the tutor to teach her for free, however most other individuals who are attempting to take and pass the Keju are from wealthy families who have paid for tutors from a young age. This is the type of exam people spend their entire lives preparing for and starting at 14 years old, Rin is at a big disadvantage compared to the rest of her peers.

After two years of intense study aided by a new psychotic way of using pain to her advantage, Rin not only passes the Keju but she has the highest score in her entire province which grants her admission to Sinegard. Sinegard is a highly selective academy reserved for students who gained the highest score in the Keju, naturally these slots are normally reserved for children of diplomats, warlords, generals, and other high ranking government officials. Immediately Rin realizes as she meets her other classmates that she is an anomaly, she doesn’t belong here, and she is exactly what the Generals fear the most. She is a war orphan, she is a southerner, she is a girl, and she wasn’t supposed to pass the Keju. They pretend to be a meritocratic society, especially with the Keju, but the reality is this system that they have built is meant to keep the poor in their rightful place in society.

5 years of study at Sinegard reveals a whole world that Rin did not think existed. She learns the real reasons her kingdom fought in the previous Poppy Wars, and the key factors that caused them to win the war. She also meets at Altan Trengsin, the last surviving Speerly from the Speerly massacre, he was the star of the entire academy with many students aspiring to either beat him or be like him.

At the end of her first year of study Rin pledges Lore under Master Jiang Ziya. On the outside Lore appears to be a joke of a subject however it is really an ancient field of study where individuals learn to become shamans. Shamans are individuals who are able to summon the powers of the gods to do their will. They act as the middlemen for the gods and allow them to walk among the earth which grants the individuals unbelievable power. As Master Jiang often cautions, however, that power comes at a price. 

The majority of the book deals with the conflict of the third poppy war which is between the Federation of Mugen led by Emperor Ryohai who declared war on the Nikan empire. The Nikans previously gained their independence from the very same Federation in the previous Poppy War. 

Colorism and Classism

One of the key features of this novel is colorism and classism and how they are explicitly intertwined in this story. R.F. Kuang intended for Rin and the remaining Speerlies to be represented by the Southeast Asian community, describing them to be from the southern region of their kingdom and constantly contrasting her darker skin tone to the rest of her peers at Sinegard. Strangely, Altan’s skin is described to be even darker than Rin but he is allowed to be beautiful, having an angular face and crimson eyes. I think Atlan is an exception to the colorism that Rin faced because he was created to be a weapon by the Nikan, he was also a man so that could have helped him.

Of course the colorism lines align with the lines of classism that’s present throughout the novel. Sinegard itself is the first place we see such a stark difference in wealth. When Rin first joined the academy and began competing against her classmates she saw firsthand how behind she was. Her classmates have had combat training since they could walk so they could follow the combat master’s instructions better than she could. Her classmates listened to the war and political conversations their parents were having around their dinner table making their strategy and history lessons easier for them. Her classmates were one in a line of many generations in their family who attended this elite academy, they were bread for this. 

As the war rages on, it also becomes obvious that those born into a higher class were not tasked with the dangerous and impossible missions. The Empress purposefully created a division of warriors for her own personal use having discovered and accepted that none of her high born generals would put themselves or their direct line in danger.

The Lengths to Go For War

The introduction of shamans and Gods proposes the question of how far we should go during war if it means that a specific side will have the ultimate victory. Rin’s master is constantly cautioning against being a conduit to the fullest for the gods. Repeating that the ends do not justify the means and the consequences are too large to bear. The gods are described as careless beings who want any opportunity to exert their full power at the cost of the humans who are their conduits. One flaw from Master Jiang is I don’t think he truly did all he could to caution Rin against the power of the gods. What he didn’t factor in is the fact that Rin is an impressionable child, give her powers to end this war and the chances are high that she will take it.

Altan on the other hand wants to use the full power of the gods to enact his ultimate revenge against the people who caused the genocide of his people and against those who turned him into a weapon. To him, he wants them to burn and feel the pain that he has been holding in for so long. Rin is in her early 20s at this point of the war and she’s torn between Jiang and Altan wanting to please them both.

I’m predicting that this will be one of the main themes of the trilogy, as Rin dives deeper into this war. Hopefully we will get to see her navigate through the two perspectives introduced to her so she can form her own path and solution instead of simply going along with what she was told.. 

Creating Child Generals

The nation of Nikan had to know they would be thrown into war in the future which is why I think they chose to focus on creating the next generation of generals through the Sinegard Academy and even by an extension the Keju exam. The Keju is a lie promoting meritocracy while in reality children from wealthy upstanding families are the ones who benefit from this system, and it is these children who end up in these elite places of study in the first place. Sinegard graduates end up in high ranking military positions, in charge of the other low born individuals who don’t have the luxury of even dreaming of rising through the military ranks. 

Nikan created its own system so that the elite and wealthy can stay at the top of society, and be somewhat insulated from the harms of war. The generals often kept themselves out of harm's way and would be the first to flee from the sign of danger. During my readthrough I was initially confused as to why parents and families in this position would want their children to follow their footsteps, this is war after all and not every life is guaranteed. But then I remembered, these are the wealthiest individuals of this society and similar to the reality that we live, the wealthy will always be okay.

Conclusion

Starting off strong with this book! I’m not sure what direction R.F. Kuang will take the next book given this one had such an explosive ending but excited to keep moving forward!