Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
It took me three days to finish the first 400 odd pages of ‘The Poppy War’ by R.F. Kuang, and another 3 to finish the last 100 pages. And that’s really one way to review the book: absolutely riveting and gripping for the first 75%, after which the plot gets slow, repetitive, bland and slightly disappointing. And if readers made a game out of drinking a shot every time the author wrote a variant of ‘it would rip the fabric of the world’, you’d be reasonably hammered by the end.
Set in a fictional empire called ‘Nikara’, ‘The Poppy War’ is about teen protagonist Fang Runin AKA Rin, a war orphan who burns the midnight oil to clear the Keju exam, her ticket to the prestigious Sinegard academy, an elite military school which trains future war generals. Life at the academy, however, isn’t a dream. Rin is mocked for her peasant background, ridiculed for her accent, and dismissed by masters who can’t look past her origins. But she’s determined to prove her worth, no matter how high the cost.
A stroke of luck (or destiny?) brings her under the wing of Jiang Ziya, a reclusive lore master who, despite being perpetually absent from his classes, decides to personally mentor her. Jiang prepares Rin for combat and is easily one of the most entertaining characters in ‘The Poppy War’. He’s a rebellious outlier, the classic “misunderstood genius” who refuses to play by the rules and is constantly underestimated by those around him. So when war comes knocking far too soon, Jiang’s unorthodox training gives Rin her chance to shape history… or burn it all down. Or, as the book puts it, “rip the fabric of the world.” (Feel free to try the drinking game while reading this review.)
R.F. Kuang builds a rich, imaginative world filled with lore, history, powerful deities, superhuman shamans, cultural divides, and racial tensions. The Nikara Empire comprises of 12 provinces, each ruled by a warlord, who are under an empress known for her hypnotic powers and part of a legendary trio with shamanic powers. But peace is fragile in Nikara, with the island nation of Mugen, led by merciless commanders, constantly threatening invasion.
The first half of ‘The Poppy War’ is absolutely unputdownable. It’s not overly intense and delivers a familiar but entertaining story of the underdog (Rin) trying to make it big despite all the odds. The only real friend Rin makes at the Sinegard Academy is the nerdy Kitay, essentially the ‘Hermione’ of the novel, but from a powerful family: the son of Nikara’s defense minister, no less. Of course, there’s a mortal enemy too: Nezha, the arrogant, handsome heir to a powerful warlord, who brawls with Rin on day one. And the there is Altan Trengsin, a revered senior warrior who becomes Rin’s idol and eventual partner in chaos.
Rin gets a very ‘Karate Kid’ style strength training, unlocks her ‘chakras’ (yeah, no, R.F. Kuang doesn’t say that, but still), channels her inner shaman, and rips the fabric of the world. Sort of. The spiritual mechanics are vague at best, but they’re serviceable: shamans typically enter a drug-induced trance, call upon a God, and if the God responds, either their enemies are doomed… or the shaman is. “With great power comes great insanity” could easily be the story’s tagline. It’s fantasy, after all.
As Rin’s power grows through the climactic chapters, so does the reader’s fatigue with ‘The Poppy War’. What started as a compelling journey turns into a slightly bloated saga of destruction. Rin goes from being a relatable fighter to a near-invincible weapon of mass destruction, and it’s not always convincing.
For instance, there are things the author just doesn’t convincingly convey, like Rin’s anger at the world. In the second half of ‘The Poppy War’, Rin is grief-stricken over the loss of her “friends” in the war, devastated by having to watch them die before her eyes. And I’m thinking: girl, you had one friend, and he’s very much alive. R.F. Kuang needed to establish stronger friendships for Rin to make her “ripping the fabric of the world”-level vengeful rage believable. Or, better yet, just be honest about Rin’s simple, understandable thirst for power, blood, and destruction.
The final act of ‘The Poppy War’ dives deep into graphic territory. From brutal war crimes to chilling body horror and sexual violence, the book doesn’t flinch. These depictions are deliberate, meant to show the horrors of war, but they will be too much for some readers. But you cannot rip the fabric of the world without grotesquely butchering humans, can you?
Overall, the novel is an intriguing fantasy-fiction novel steeped in legend and lore, which ends on the promise of more bloodshed. I might’ve felt disappointed by the last few chapters, but this was worth a read.
Rating: 3.5 stars on 5.
Read Next: The Village of Eight Graves Review: Wickedly Rich (Audio Version Below)