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The Poppy War
- A Novel
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 19 hrs and 27 mins
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Publisher's summary
A brilliantly imaginative talent makes her exciting debut with this epic historical military fantasy, inspired by the bloody history of China’s 20th century and filled with treachery and magic, in the tradition of Ken Liu’s Grace of Kings and N. K. Jemisin’s Inheritance Trilogy.
When Rin aced the Keju - the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies - it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard - the most elite military school in Nikan - was even more surprising.
But surprises aren’t always good.
Because being a dark-skinned peasant girl from the South is not an easy thing at Sinegard. Targeted from the outset by rival classmates for her color, poverty, and gender, Rin discovers she possesses a lethal, unearthly power - an aptitude for the nearly-mythical art of shamanism. Exploring the depths of her gift with the help of a seemingly insane teacher and psychoactive substances, Rin learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive - and that mastering control over those powers could mean more than just surviving school.
For while the Nikara Empire is at peace, the Federation of Mugen still lurks across a narrow sea. The militarily advanced Federation occupied Nikan for decades after the First Poppy War, and only barely lost the continent in the Second. And while most of the people are complacent to go about their lives, a few are aware that a Third Poppy War is just a spark away....
Rin’s 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...and that it may already be too late.
R.F. Kuang studies modern Chinese history. She has a BA from Georgetown University and is currently a graduate student in the United Kingdom on a Marshall Scholarship. The Poppy War is her debut novel.
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He's not just any thief. He’s the greatest thief of the age - and he’s also a wizard. And with the help of his partners - a swordsman with the most powerful magic sword in the world but no magical ability of his own, and a demonseed who can step through shadows and punch through walls - he’s going to put his plan into effect. The first step is to increase the size of the bounty on his head, so he’ll need to steal some big things. But he’ll start with somethingsmall. Something like a king....
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Entertaining light fantasy
- By Kindle Customer on 02-16-12
By: Rachel Aaron
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In the Land of Hershel
- The Sunrider Saga, Book 0
- By: Rafael Hohmann
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Five knights tell stories of ancient lands, madness, and terrifying monsters...but no one can top Knight Elric's tale of the Land of Hershel, a monstrous swamp filled with horrifying creatures and an ever-present threat. If you stop moving, you drown. "In the Land of Hershel" is a short story set in the thrilling world of SunRider.
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Good but
- By Mistina on 05-09-23
By: Rafael Hohmann
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The Mortal Tally
- By: Sam Sykes
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 24 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Cier'Djaal, once the crowning glory of the civilized world, has gone from a city to a battlefield and a battlefield to a graveyard. Foreign armies clash relentlessly on streets laden with the bodies of innocents caught in the crossfire. Cultists and thieves wage shadow wars, tribal armies foment outside the city's walls, and haughty aristocrats watch the world burn from on high. As his companions struggle to keep the city from destroying itself, Lenk travels to the Forbidden East in search of the demon who caused it all. But even as he pursues Khoth-Kapira, dark whispers plague his thoughts.
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Great Middle Entry
- By Casey on 04-15-18
By: Sam Sykes
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Vengeance
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- By: Ian Irvine
- Narrated by: Grant Cartwright
- Length: 25 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In an unjust land, the only law is vengeance. In Cython’s slave camps, it’s the timid and obedient who survive – and Tali is neither, for she has sworn to bring her mother’s killers to justice. Her dramatic escape precipitates Cython’s war on Hightspall and, when Tali is rescued by Rix, heir to Hightspall’s greatest fortune, they flee through a land in turmoil.
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Eh, never really felt right
- By Jeff Jackson on 03-01-12
By: Ian Irvine
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Children of Fire
- The Chaos Born, Book 1
- By: Drew Karpyshyn
- Narrated by: Phil Gigante
- Length: 16 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Long ago the gods chose a great hero to act as their agent in the mortal world and to stand against the demonic spawn of Chaos. The gods gifted their champion, Daemron, with three magical Talismans: a sword, a ring, and a crown. But the awesome power at his command corrupted Daemron, turning him from savior to destroyer. Filled with pride, he dared to challenge the gods themselves. Siding with the Chaos spawn, Daemron waged a titanic battle against the Immortals. In the end, Daemron was defeated, the Talismans were lost, and Chaos was sealed off behind the Legacy - a magical barrier the gods sacrificed themselves to create.
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Not a Good Book - Amateurish and Derivative
- By Grace Ausley on 01-06-14
By: Drew Karpyshyn
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Heroes Die
- The First of the Acts of Caine
- By: Matthew Stover
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 22 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Renowned throughout the land of Ankhana as the Blade of Tyshalle, Caine has killed his share of monarchs and commoners, villains and heroes. He is relentless, unstoppable, simply the best there is at what he does. At home on Earth, Caine is Hari Michaelson, a superstar whose adventures in Ankhana command an audience of billions.
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Don't Let the Cover Turn You Off
- By Paul on 08-13-12
By: Matthew Stover
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Servants of War
- The Age of Ravens, Book 1
- By: Larry Correia, Steve Diamond
- Narrated by: Daniel Thomas May
- Length: 16 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The war between Almacia and the Empire of Kolakolvia is in its hundredth year. Casualties grow on both sides as the conflict leaves no corner of the world untouched. Illarion Glaskov’s quiet life on the fringes of the empire is thrown into chaos when an impossible tragedy strikes his village. When he is conscripted into the Tsarist military, he is sent to serve in The Wall - an elite regiment that pilots suits of armor made from the husks of dead golems.
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Capable writers produce soul-draining dystopia
- By Bruce Burns on 04-21-22
By: Larry Correia, and others
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God's Last Breath
- By: Sam Sykes
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 25 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The great demon Khoth-Kapira has broken free of his prison and taken his first step upon the mortal world. And he owes it all to Lenk. Believing that the demon will heal a broken world that the gods have abandoned, Lenk serves as reluctant champion to Khoth-Kapira's cause. But as the desperate and fearful flock to Khoth-Kapira's banner, begging for salvation, Lenk begins to doubt his patron's great designs.
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Fantastic Finish
- By Casey on 07-18-18
By: Sam Sykes
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The Girl with Ghost Eyes
- By: M. H. Boroson
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- Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
It's the end of the 19th century in San Francisco's Chinatown, and ghost hunters from the Maoshan traditions of Daoism keep malevolent spiritual forces at bay. Li-lin, the daughter of a renowned Daoshi exorcist, is a young widow burdened with yin eyes - the unique ability to see the spirit world. Her spiritual visions and the death of her husband bring shame to Li-lin and her father - and shame is not something this immigrant family can afford.
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Loved this!
- By Elizabeth Tennant on 05-09-16
By: M. H. Boroson
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City of Stairs
- By: Robert Jackson Bennett
- Narrated by: Alma Cuervo
- Length: 17 hrs and 50 mins
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The city of Bulikov once wielded the powers of the gods to conquer the world, enslaving and brutalizing millions - until its divine protectors were killed. Now Bulikov has become just another colonial outpost of the world's new geopolitical power, but the surreal landscape of the city itself - first shaped, now shattered, by the thousands of miracles its guardians once worked upon it - stands as a constant, haunting reminder of its former supremacy. Into this broken city steps Shara Thivani.
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Something Different
- By Scott S. on 10-17-14
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The Queen of the Tearling
- A Novel
- By: Erika Johansen
- Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
- Length: 14 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Magic, adventure, mystery, and romance combine in this epic debut in which a young princess must reclaim her dead mother’s throne, learn to be a ruler - and defeat the Red Queen, a powerful and malevolent sorceress determined to destroy her. On her 19th birthday, Princess Kelsea Raleigh Glynn, raised in exile, sets out on a perilous journey back to the castle of her birth to ascend her rightful throne. Plain and serious, a girl who loves books and learning, Kelsea bears little resemblance to her mother, the vain and frivolous Queen Elyssa.
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Volume changed a lot
- By Nik on 12-20-14
By: Erika Johansen
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The Empire of the Dead
- By: Phil Tucker
- Narrated by: Paul Guyet
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Acharsis has always loved long shots. But even with a perfect scheme and a handpicked squad of godsblooded grifters and fighters, breaking into the undead lord's Akkodaisis' ziggurat is suicidally impossible. Good thing Archarsis is a fallen demigod with more than one trick up his sleeve....
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Incredibly imaginative
- By RyRy on 09-08-17
By: Phil Tucker
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Taming Fire
- Dragonprince Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Aaron Pogue
- Narrated by: Cameron Beierle
- Length: 14 hrs and 15 mins
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Overall
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Performance
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Daven Carrickson grew up as a beggar in the filthy alleys beneath the shadows of the palace. He's the son of a known thief, disgraced and despised. His only real talent is his ability with a sword, and his only real chance at finding honor or a home is a desperate dream of joining the King's Guard. Then, Daven receives a new future when Master Claighan invites him to study magic at the Academy. The wizard offers to make him into a new kind of soldier: a swordsman equally skilled with forged blades and mystic forces.
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Wow what a ride this kid had to take
- By Krop Circle LLC on 08-09-14
By: Aaron Pogue
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New Spring
- The Wheel of Time Prequel
- By: Robert Jordan
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Overall
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For three days battle has raged in the snow around the great city of Tar Valon. In the city, a foretelling of the future is uttered. On the slopes of Dragonmount, the immense mountain that looms over the city, a child is born, an infant prophesied to change the world. That child must be found before he can be killed by the forces of the Shadow.
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Read it after reading others in the series
- By Stacy Fair on 12-13-07
By: Robert Jordan
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What listeners say about The Poppy War
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
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- superstardrifter
- 07-01-18
Wow. Just... wow.
Wow. Where to start?
This one started out with Rin taking her exam, and I thought to myself ‘this isn’t so bad’ because, of course all ten of the people that recommended this book to me said that it ends a lot differently than it starts. Yeah… uh… not a lie, that.
This is the story of Rin, who is a a war-orphan in a small village in the south of the Nikara Empire, which is more-or-less China. She works in her foster-parents’ shop, which is a cover for their opium smuggling operation. She’s regularly beaten and starved by them, and all she dreams about is a way to get out. She dreams of taking the Keju exam, which, if she does well on it, could get her into a school far-far away from her village where she could thrive. She aces the exam, which nobody expected, and gets to go to Sinegard, which is a prestigious military academy in the north. When she gets there, Rin finds that it’s certainly not easy to be the one dark-skinned peasant southerner among the beautiful, pale, rich AF nobles who all attend Sinegard.
As Rin gains her military education, she finds out that she has a link to the gods through shamanic powers. These powers, as it happens, can be brought on and enhanced by psychedelic drugs, so she’s got that going for her. Her Master at the academy is slowly teaching her how to meditate to reach the gods. At the same time, Nikara and Mugen (more-or-less Japan) are getting closer and closer to another Poppy War, of which they have had two previously. It can probably be said that this book is based around our own world, most especially around the second Sino-Japanese War. And this war does come, and Rin finds herself directly in the middle of it and thrown head first into not only the military, but a very special branch of it known as the Cike, who are shamans, each with a different power from a different god.
There are plenty of influences from Asian mythologies. The twelve provinces of the Nikara Empire are named after the twelve animals of the Chinese Zodiac. The Kirin/Qilin was mentioned a couple times, which is a sort of antlered dragon type creature (though, they’re also considered to be unicorns depending on where you are) said to arrive with either the arrival or death of a great ruler. There are mentions of the Four Holy Beasts, or the Four Symbols in the Chinese constellations. the Black Turtle in the North, the White Tiger in the West, the Vermilion Bird in the South, and the Azure Dragon in the East. I know them as Genbu, Byakko, Suzaku and Seiryu respectively, which is what they are known as in Japan, but they have different names in Korea, Vietnam, and in China. Is my mythology nerd showing again? >.>
The characters in this story were fantastically developed, and I found myself rooting for some and hating others, and then making entirely instantaneous switches here and there. Other than Rin, who is a pretty complex and awesome character herself, I really liked Nezha, who is Rin’s rival at school, and Altan, who is Rin’s commander in the Cike. Rin changes really profoundly as this book went on, but so too does one of the other major characters.
This book starts out light. That’s the only way I can put it. Part one is a rather… maybe not typical but… certainly not super-dark romp through a military academy. Rin goes to school. There are fights. There are rivalries with other students. There is tension with certain teachers. There was nothing inherently new about the idea, but I didn’t not enjoy it. I thought it was slow at times and at one point I said to myself ‘everyone told me this was the best debut of the year… and it’s good, but I’m not so sure about best…’ It’s not that I thought it was bad. Not at all, it’s well written from beginning to end. And it wasn’t boring, but it was fairly standard military school fantasy fare.
Then we get to part two. Part two definitely ramps up the action, as this is when the war more or less begins. There are some actual military maneuvers here, and Rin, along with her new compatriots in the Cike, go out and actively fight people from the Federation of Mugen, and fight actual monsters. And it gets a bit darker here for sure. Characters definitely start showing some truer colors here and characters I hated I ended up liking, new characters are introduced and I really liked a few (especially Ramza). But, I mean I was told this book was pretty bruuuutal, and while part two was moderately brutal… it wasn’t super duper dark….
And then came part three.
..........part three.
This book gets bruuuuutal in part three. Just… wow. Hold on to your butts. If you’re opposed to reading books with themes and events that are very savage, things like crazy violence against everyone, including children, with rape, torture, and genocide on top, um, maybe skip this one. Because yeah. You’re not going to have a good time.
All told, I started out being not so sure I was going to love it. I originally wasn’t planning on writing a full review when I was done, but maybe throwing up a few sentences and a rating at audible, amazon, and goodreads and calling it day. But, I ended up just having to sit here in solitude for a while afterwards just thinking about what I thought about it, which led me to my keyboard, and so here we have it. Any book that I started out rather indifferent about, but in the end had me sitting here like ‘gods above and below what in all the worlds even was that?’ is probably looking at being pretty good. Any book that has me being like ‘WHAT?!?!’ more than once during the last four hours has to be good. Admittedly, the subject matter in the end made it hard to listen to at times, but all the feelings and responses it evoked despite or because of those things made it very easy to know that this is a damn good book. Damn. Good. This book surprised me. I had warnings about it, and it still surprised me. This book -ruined- me. And books that do that can’t possibly be bad.
Bad books don’t make me ugly cry. I’m just saying.
The narrator, Emily Woo Zeller did a really great job. I was on the fence about that too because while I listened to the sample before I bought this in audio, and thought it fine, I have previously not really liked a book she narrated, and I wasn’t sure, thinking back, if it was the book or the narration or both put together that I didn’t really like. Well, no worries here, because she was awesome. Characters’ voices on point, areas where feeling needed full of feels. Well done!
If this book had went along with the same tone as part one had, it would have been a 3 or a 3.5. But no, this one got more and more stars as it went, ripping stars out of my poor feels. So, it ended pretty strongly with 5/5 stars. I’ve heard it called the best debut of 2018 by more than one person. It doesn’t quite make it there for me, but man, it’s close. I’m definitely, definitely looking forward to more from R.F. Kuang.
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- James
- 12-04-18
whiniest character
I bought this book because it was compared to Red Rising, one of the best new series to come out the last few years. Couldn't be farther from the truth. The main character is fatally flawed, paired with both stupidity and incessant whining. She fails over and over to understand basic concepts that people she supposedly idolized are trying to teach her, then acts totally shocked when the predictions they made come to pass. She is flighty, whines all the time and is only concerned with power...for the sake of it. I found myself deploring her and the screechy way the narrator would interpret her outbursts. She would break down into these near screaming crying sessions that would make me cringe. The best characters and interactions, the novel avoided with near surgical precision, instead focusing on abrupt reintroduction of characters that didn't appear connected to the storyline at all. I will not be reading the next installment of this series.
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- Riley
- 03-09-20
Massive tonal shifts + character derailment
I was initially interested in reading this book, as it was recommended to me by my local bookstore, due to my interest in the fantasy genre.
After the strained intro, this book was shaping up to be a promising read, until the end of part 2, when the character development is thrown out the window and Runin (Rin) is reduced to a shadow of her former self.
The intro is a mess. While I am not one to shy away from vulgar language, the usage in the intro is used for one reason: to be vulgar. Although it does lend to the atmosphere and historical context, it does not add any substance.
Once the narrative leaves the intro, Rin's character is presented as a person with strong convictions and willpower. Which is expanded upon during her struggles in studying for the Keju, while living under her, Cinderella's stepmother stereotype, foster mother, and her schooling at the Academy at Sinegard.
However, once a man (read: Altan) is introduced to Rin, she is reduced to a whiny, mentally feeble, and single dimensional character that seeks out approval and a pat on the head.
On top of the huge and unexpected character derailment of Rin, there are huge tonal shifts within part 3, mostly dealing with Rin's interactions with anyone she comes across. While others cite the sudden jump to war, war atrocity descriptions, and overwhelming feeling of hopelessness as poor writing (Part 2 to part 3), I find that the shift in Rin's demeanor from eager puppy looking for approval from, now Commander Altan, to despair at not being able to use her powers, to strong-headed and intelligent enough to understand how a certain monster works, all within the span of one chapter, is more jarring.
It got so bad that during a pivotal point in the story when Rin is straight up told about her heritage, I refused to believe it until the end, when she discovers the truth on Speer. The fact that it was just declared, out of the blue, is the most blatant "tell don't show" instance I've come across, in literature. And the fact that it comes down to skin color feels so out of place in a modern fantasy book, even if it is historically accurate.
Additionally, I find that the jump to the war between the Federation and Nikara to be rushed. Instead of expounding on how the degrading political relations between Mugen and Nikara were affecting Rin and the other students, it just jump cuts to war.
Emily Woo Zeller did a fantastic job with her narration and she was the only reason I was able to finish this book. If I was reading the physical book, I probably would have stopped around the end of part 2 or the beginning of part 3.
Hopefully Books 2 and 3 of this trilogy will be better, as the current state of the series leaves much to be desired.
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- Michael Jennings
- 05-17-18
Engaging, Gruesome, but sometimes misses the mark.
R.F Kuang did her audience a service by bringing such a cool, fun, and foreign setting to us. I was thoroughly engaged throughout the three acts of this novel. It hits some of the more popular, albeit overused, tropes of contemporary fantasy like studying in a school or joining an army. Frankly, if you enjoyed Name of the Wind you will love the first half of this book.
This book definitely falls in the category of grimdark. Kuang struggles with tone throughout the novel. I think sometimes she forces a darker tone instead of letting the tone bring itself out. For example, in the first five minutes of the novel, a student asks if they can go to the bathroom during the exam, but asks “what if we have to shit?” Instances like that serve to disrupt immersion in a novel that rather engaging. This book gets very dark in the latter half. There is one chapter will be singed in my memory for a long time, comparable to the Siege of Capustan or Y’Gatan in Malazan Book of the Fallen.
Reasons to read: tropey in all the right ways, Awesome and remarkable setting, and emotional impactful.
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- grumpy old blind guy
- 03-12-20
90% internal drama
I got this book looking for interesting culture and world building. This book is not about that. It is mostly about internal sniveling and drama.
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- pogue
- 03-03-20
ugh
voyeuristic tragedy porn mushed awkwardly together with derivative ya
if you want to read about the rape of nanjing, buy a history book
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- SarahH
- 12-06-19
DNF after ch 22 - gruesome violence & bad reader
Grimdark isn't even close. I get that war is awful, and the writer was trying to convey the real effects of the brutality of war. But I couldn't stomach it. There is no break from constant suffering, death, and misery in this book. The main character is inconsistent. It's a long slog. I just couldn't keep going.
Also this reader os awful. She whispers the narration and has a strange choppy cadence. This isn't the first book I've read where she did that. I won't be purchasing any more books where she's the narrator.
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- Sophia Feddersen
- 05-07-18
Opium, War Crimes & Magic!
The Poppy War by R.F Kuang is a book with many faces.
We begin our journey with Rin, a war orphan fostered by a pair of illegal opium traders. The first third of the book deals with her journey to the capital city where she attempts to gain entrance into a military academy and trains there. This part, while never light, feels a lot like Ender's Game or Red Rising. Rin struggles to make friends, learn strategy, and outwit the bullies who are upset that a peasant has risen so high. It's brutal, but fun.
The fun stops around act two.
It happened gradually enough that I didn't realize how dark the book was until we reached the end of it. Dark revelation after dark revelation unfolds, not just about the world around the characters, but about their internal lives and vices. It doesn't surprise me that this book was written by someone who studies "collective trauma". By the time I'd reached the last page, I felt if I understood the emotional cost of war in a way I hadn't before.
This is an author with something to say about war, power, and addiction, and she says it so beautifully. As much as I love books like Red Rising or even Ender's Game, I feel since they aren't as strongly rooted in one countries history they lack the intimacy and raw rage I found in the Poppy War. Despite being a book about a whole country, every sentence, every plot moment felt personal. It helps that the prose is excellent. I can't wait to read the next book.
Side note: I also really enjoyed the magic system, which is based around the use of drugs. I found the role Opium played in the world fascinating. Some of the most heart-breaking moments of the book dealt with addiction.
Performance notes:
I really loved the performer of the audiobook. She did a great job, with the exception a the fighting masters voice which really did sound like someone strangling Kermit the frog. Otherwise, though she killed it!
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- Jake Chappelle
- 05-17-18
Bright Star Burns Quick
I heard about this book through a Reddit post a few months ago, and to my delight it was available when a recent cross country drive came up. I fell into the world immediately. From the get go, Rin’s drive and ambition had me following along. For every one of her achievements, the stakes grew. From street to to school, to war and all its atrocities, Rin’s experience is certainly a harrowing one.
Now, I applaud miss Kuang’s debut. The world vivid and pulses with a real brutality. She paints action scenes so fluidly, and her sensory input is fantastic. The first two parts were unrelentingly gripping.
As the book continued, there came a shift from Rin’s internal struggle from more of what she did to more of what she thought. The philosophical quandaries began to dominate the pages, and the pace of the story started to trudge. Not to say that I don’t like understanding a characters thoughts, but it felt like they began to loop in redundancy. I think a large part of that is due to Rin’s obsession with Altan, and who through and through felt like the weakest character. Anything focused on him and his rage or hatred just slogged. And the heavy focus on him towards the end of the book really arrested the momentum going into the war.
All in all, I really enjoyed most of the book. The blips that irked me were not enough to keep me from finishing it. I appreciate the fact that miss Kuang pulled zero punches with her historical references, and I look forward to future books.
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- Mat
- 09-20-18
The Poppy War's Crisis of Identity
The prospect of a grimdark fantasy novel inspired by a post-opium-epidemic China is hard for me to pass up. As a lover of oriental style narratives and grimdark alike, I was sure this book would be right up my alley. I was mistaken.
Don't get me wrong, the book is not bad. It is far from bad. It is, however, lacking in many elements that I feel should have been included.
Rin, the main protagonist, struggles to not only understand who and what she is as a magic-wielding god-channeler but who she is as a character. Likewise, the book struggles to understand what it is as a book. Characters have little to no depth, save for the main character who has too much depth. The theme bounces from 'an outsider who doesn't fit it because of her culture' to 'an outsider who doesn't fit in because of her special powers' then lastly to 'an outsider who doesn't fit in because of her race (Not to be confused with her culture, which she is already an outsider for.)'. Many characters are only relevant for a few chapters before suddenly losing all of the features that make them interesting, which makes me pretty sad. Many characters are quite enjoyable but are magically drained of life and joy after only a few chapters of their existence.
Lastly, the book has several awkward time skips, that I feel like should have been expanded more on. Harry Potter wouldn't be interesting if books 2 and 3 were suddenly condensed into a single chapter.
As a final note, Emily Woo Zeller's performance is excellent. Her acting makes the book truely enjoyable. I do hope she continues to perform at such an amazing level in future reads.
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