I think we’re about to be handed off,” Baji said. “It was nice knowing you all. Except you, Chaghan. You’re weird.” If you found our recaps useful, please consider leaving a tip! Donations will help pay for our domain and hosting. Military tactics, strategy, and manoeuvring are not easy to write about. Not only do you have to have a good grasp of the universe you’re playing in, you also need to be well-versed in the workings of war and politics. Kuang is an absolute master at understanding these kinds of topics and portraying in her writing. I am in awe. She’s gonna go down as one of the best writers of military fantasy fiction in history, mark my words. The saddest thing about The Burning God is that you can very clearly tell that Rin and Nezha both believe in the utter righteousness of their paths, and nothing and no one is going to sway them.They may love each other deeply, but in the end, even that is not going to stand in their way.

Most Anticipated Non-Western Fantasy Books of 2019". Den of Geek. 2019-10-10. Archived from the original on 2022-02-03 . Retrieved 2022-04-14. Kitay makes Rin some wings, which are powers by heat from her fire powers. So now she can fly, which is pretty cool. My first point is, in and of itself, purely observational and didn’t directly affect my rating. In my opinion, this series is not Fantasy. Fantasy, by definition, is that which comes from ones imagination, whereas this series is based, with some truth, on actual historical events. A more accurate genre designation would be ‘Historical Fiction’ with mythological elements. In fact, in 1000 years, if every other account of modern Chinese history were lost and this was the only text remaining, this would likely become Mythology. The names of people and places would all be wrong and the mystical shamanic powers would be a stretch but the general shape of events, however sparse, would be there.

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Mir Fantastiki (in Russian). Hobby World. 2020-07-30. Archived from the original on 2021-07-08 . Retrieved 2022-04-14. a b Bourke, Liz (2018-05-02). "A Light in the Grimdark: The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang". Tor.com . Retrieved 2018-05-12. She had a weapon now. She wasn't defenseless against him. She'd never been defenseless. She had just never thought to look.” Mason, Everdeen (2018-11-13). "The 5 best science fiction and fantasy novels of 2018". The Washington Post . Retrieved 2019-12-27. The Hesperians are given guns by Chaghan’s cousin, Bekter. They start shooting and the Sorqan Sira is killed. Bekter and his men will be telling everyone that Rin did it. Qara is also shot, so the twins break their bond.

Rin’s story continues in this acclaimed sequel to The Poppy War—an epic fantasy combining the history of twentieth-century China with a gripping world of gods and monsters. Earlier, I talked about how anger is integral to Rin’s character. She wants to take out everything that’s ever happened to her on the world and the people around her. And above all, she wants to survive. The same can be pretty much said of Nezha. A second son – not as prized as the firstborn or as cherished as the youngest – Nezha has always played second-fiddle, always been replaceable in his parents’ eyes. The conquering and solidification of the empire under his rule is his one last chance to amount to something better than what everyone – Vaisra, his mother Saikhara, is older brother Jinzha – thought he could do. Trying to seek revenge on your enemies while fighting an opium addiction seemed damn near impossible and you could feel every moment with Rin. (at least I did) And trying to fight losing control of your powers. There are a bunch of refugees outside the city walls now. They’ve been fleeing from everywhere. Rin goes looking for her old tutor but bumps into her aunt and step brother instead. Rin is unhappy with the way these people are being treated but she can’t really do anything about it. Love the world, love the magic system, love the characters' development and where the story is going. I really liked how the world keeps getting bigger and more complex.

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Enthralling from start to finish ... I thought myself prepared. I was now. R.F. Kuang's debut is a masterful must-read, and I've no doubt the best is yet to come' I spent my time gritted my teeth when I read Rin’s part at the first book. In this second installment she still got my nerves up but at least I saw some maturity, growing up pains and toughening up process which made me hopeful about the evaluation of the character! But eventually, you'll have to ask yourself precisely what you're fighting for. And you'll have to find a reason to live past vengeance.”

She wondered if he was going to kiss her now. She didn't know much about being kissed, but if the old stories were anything to judge by, now seemed like a good time. The hero always took his maiden somewhere beautiful and declared his love under the stars. Publishers Weekly called the book "a strong and dramatic launch to Kuang's career," [22] while Michael Nam, writing in New York Daily News, referred to The Poppy War as an ambitious start to a trilogy. [23]

Tejada, Andrew (2020-10-17). "Announcing the Winners of the Inaugural Ignyte Awards!". Tor.com. Archived from the original on 2022-02-20 . Retrieved 2022-04-14. Before I read The Burning God, I cherished a very quiet hope that somehow Rinezha would pull through. Of course, this hope was but a tiny, insignificant flame. Rinezha has been my OTP for this trilogy since that “ on your left” moment in the first book, but I also knew that, with the way things were being set up between the two, there was no way the trilogy was going to end with the two of them together. Kidd, James (2018-07-25). "China's bloody history and Game of Thrones-style fantasy unite in author R.F. Kuang's debut novel". South China Morning Post.

a b c "Cover Story: R.F. Kuang's The Poppy War, an Epic Debut Inspired by 20th Century China". The B&N Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog. 2018-01-11 . Retrieved 2018-05-12.The Poppy War is the story of Fang Runin, or Rin, a young girl orphaned from the Poppy Wars that ravaged the Nikan Empire. Determined to avoid the fate of so many other war orphans, Rin takes the Keju, an empire-wide civil service exam, and wins herself a spot at Sinegard, the most prestigious military academy in all of Nikan. She thinks this is her key to a good life, but Sinegard is full of the scions of wealthy families who are prejudiced against her because of her origins, as well as her brown skin. Chief amongst her bullies is Nezha, the son of the Warlord of Dragon Province; and Venka, the daughter of another wealthy family from the Dragon Province, who has a sibling-like relationship with Nezha. That alone would have been enough to entice the Yin children, all of whom were adventurous to a fault. But they’d heard rumors of great treasures, too; of underwater piles of pearls, jade, and gold. Nezha’s Classics tutor had once told him that every piece of jewelry lost in the water inevitably wound up in those river grottoes. And sometimes, on a clear day, Nezha thought he could see the glimmer of sunlight on sparkling metal in the cave mouths from the window of his room. Kuang wrote The Poppy War while teaching debate in China and graduated with a degree in Chinese History from Georgetown University a few days after its release. [1] Her studies in Chinese military strategy and collective trauma inspired her to write the novel. [7] [8] She said, "I chose to write a fantasy reinterpretation of China's twentieth century, because that was the kind of story I wasn't finding on bookshelves". [7] Kuang said Rin's life is meant to parallel the trajectory of Mao Zedong. [9] Grounded in the real-world history of Chinese wars and adding a fantasy drug element inspired by the Opium Wars, [4] The Poppy War is a dark and fatalistic tale of warfare. [10] Rin must decide whether to make a deal with the gods to unleash her shamanic powers. Her decision may change the war but result in the loss of her humanity. The war between Rin's country of Nikan and Mugen mirrors the Second Sino-Japanese War with its horrors at the Nanjing Massacre. [6] Reception [ edit ]