The Complete Poppy War Trilogy

The Poppy War, The Dragon Republic, The Burning God

By: R. F. Kuang

Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller

Length: 66 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

From R. F. Kuang, the #1 New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of Babel, this collection features the novels in her historical military fantasy trilogy—The Poppy War, The Dragon Republic, and The Burning God—a complete epic inspired by the bloody history of China’s twentieth century and filled with treachery and magic.

The Poppy War

A war orphan, Rin earned her place in Nikan’s most elite military school. There, she discovers her lethal, unearthly power of shamanism—and learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive. When an inevitable conflict arises between longtime enemies the Nikara Empire and the Federation of Mugen, Rin realizes her 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. . .

The Dragon Republic

After committing an atrocity in battle, shamanic warrior Rin is consumed with guilt, an opium addiction, and the murderous commands of the fiery Phoenix god. Channeling her anger against the Empress who betrayed Rin’s homeland, she chooses to join forces with the Empress’s enemy, the Dragon Warlord. But as Rin discovers the true natures of the Empress and the Dragon Warlord, the temptation to unleash the Phoenix’s fearsome power grows—and so does her vengeance. . .

The Burning God

After saving Nikan from foreign invaders and battling the evil Empress in a brutal civil war, Rin realizes that her homeland’s real power lies with the millions of common people who thirst for vengeance and revere her as a goddess of salvation. Vowing to defeat all who threaten the shamanic arts, Rin’s power and influence grows—but so does the Phoenix’s intoxicating voice urging her to burn the world and everything in it. . .

“Mixing historical parallels of Chinese history, the themes of war, politics, and colonialism are balanced with terrific, flawed characters and amazing worldbuilding.”—Library Journal (starred review)

©2023 R. F. Kuang (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers

Dark, Compelling, and Brilliant

This is a grim dark fantasy, and anyone complaining that the series is too dark, the main character is whiny, etc etc has kind of missed the point. If you’re looking for a feel-good fantasy with a perfect hero/heroin, this this is definitely not the series for you.

Performance was fine, story was mediocre

I finished it, but felt 'meh' about it. Many fantasy and war tropes mixed into a parallel/alt-history thing. Such angsty melodrama. And I could've done without the chapter about the sacking of "Golyn Niis" (aka Nanking) by the "Federation" (Japanese) with its pages-long description of every war crime atrocity from the Wikipedia page... just no.
I was also mildly offended and off-put by the worst trope ever... where the main character overcomes her opioid addiction alone, through willpower, in a short time. And then never has a problem with opioids again. That was the most unbelievable part of the whole book. And there was magic.

Think hard before getting this.

If you're looking for entertainment, these are not the books for you.

A 3 star rating is both too low of a rating and too high. At the end of every other chapter I would have given a different score. With the writing at time being some of the roughest and most inconsistent of any other story I have listened to. At times I had to force myself to keep listening, but other times I could not put it down. As someone who has a really hard time with sadness, the ending was perfect, and it brought me to tears. But getting through the 2nd and most of the 3rd book was horrible.

If you can get to the finnish line, it's worth it, but you need to be a certain kind of listener to enjoy its full value and look past the flaws of someone's first work. I'm not sure I am. Good luck

Good "Popcorn" Listen

This is a good deal to use one credit for the entire trilogy. That said, it starts to drag after a while. Like a good "popcorn" movie, it is pretty good for listening to over a long commute or something. It gets a little YA for my tastes though. It is definitely better than anything written by, say, N K Jemisen. However, I think Babel would be a better place to start for a new reader. It was a lot better (though still had a bit of that YA flavor).

Devastating

I cant recommend this bool enough it is the best and worst book to ever happen to me.

Narration was amazing, but the story was Meh...

overall I loved the story. I couldn't stand the MC. literally years of time pass, and the MC has next to zero development other than super god powers. definitely glad I didn't waste 3 whole credits!

Best Fantasy Series Since The Hunger Games

I LOVED this series and could not stop reading. It begins with a poor girl, who is an orphan and destined to get married off to some old guy, who will help her adopted family gain more power for their opium business. But Rin has other ideas and at the moment we are on a roller coaster of emotions that is both terrifying and sometimes painful. The characters are incredible and you will love to hate them. Read this series if you’re having a book hangover or need some excitement in your life!

Difficult Read, but incredible

The story is not a happy one- it’s violent and brutal, but it sucks you into the world. I thought the narrator was amazing. She really makes you feel the anger and desperation of the characters

solid series

this was the second time I've dabbled with R.F Kuang first was with bable , here she is getting it done again , 10/10

Cool Magic, Dumb MC

I thought the magic and setting were very cool. 2 books through though and our main character never seems to develop, and is constantly making poor/stupid choices despite being incredibly smart and trained for all of the decisions she is supposed to be making. Voice acting was not great for all male voices.