My Expressions

When Rin aced the Keiju, the test to find the most talented students in the Nikara Empire, she got into Sinegard- the most elite military school in Nikan. However, she discovers that being a dark-skinned peasant girl from the south is not easy at Sinegard. With the help of a seemingly crazy teacher, she discovers that she has the ability to unlock a supernatural power- shamanism. While the Empire is currently at peace, it has survived two Poppy Wars against the Federation of Mugen. And a few are aware that a Third Poppy War is on its way.

Warning:

This book is classified as “Grimdark fantasy”. This genre is not for everybody. I can tolerate graphic violence in a book. But if you are sensitive to any of the following things, this book is not for you: Genocide, Infanticide, Torture, Beheading, Mutilation, Racism, Etc.

Cons:

The first con I would like to address is the pacing in the beginning. As much as I love fast-moving thrillers, at times, this book went way too fast. For example, there is the instance when Rin has to study for two whole years for the Keiju, but instead of showing us Rin’s experience in that time, those two years go by so quickly that Rin reaches Sinegard and starts studying by the end of Chapter-2! And then there is an instance which I will not describe as it would give away spoilers. But there comes a time in this book when two years pass by in three sentences.

The second con I would like to state is that Rin is an awful person. Don’t get me wrong. There should be flaws in every character. Otherwise, the book will feel boring. But Rin is supposed to be our protagonist. She needs to be good enough for us to sympathize with her and care for her. But Rin continuously lets anger and revenge fuel her decisions, which leads to her constantly making bad choices. Not just that, she’s also greedy. Throughout the story, you see instances where Rin is ready to do anything just so she can unlock her powers. I’m not saying that her character is poorly written. Her personality is quite interesting to explore. But she needs to be a good enough human being for us to care for her and her feelings. She isn’t. And I hate that so much. It bothers me to no end. How am I supposed to like a horrible person?

Pros:

All that said, there are also a lot of pros about this book. Even though I didn’t really care about the main protagonist, I adored the side characters. Namely: Kitay, Altan, Chaghan, Jiang, Irjah, and even Nezha, who first served as the school bully but had a nice character arc in the end.

Now, even though I am an Indian, I have read only 9 fantasy books with an Asian setting, and I had never read a book with a Chinese environment before this. So it was definitely very fascinating. Oh, by the way, when I say “Chinese setting”, I don’t mean that the story takes place in China. Poppy War takes on a completely different world than ours (no such place as Nikan ever existed). But what I mean is that the fictional culture and history of the “Nikara Empire” is inspired by Chinese history and traditions. For example, Chinese people do, in fact, place their family names or surnames before their actual names, like how Rin states her name as “Fang Runin” and not “Runin Fang”. I would also like to inform you that the rivals to the Nikaran people, the Federation of Mugen, were actually inspired by Japan and its culture. And the wars mentioned in this book were also inspired by real-world battles. Namely, the Opium Wars of China and the Sino-Japanese Wars between China and Japan.

Speaking of wars, I also loved the way Rebecca Kuang depicts war in her books. The battles in this book are always sudden and fast-paced. When asked about it in an interview, the author said she wanted the wars to happen quickly. Because that’s how it actually happens, you can rarely expect an attack. And the wars definitely feel very realistic. Of course, we can’t really expect anything else from an author who has studied wars for years.

The pro that I will mention next is going to be this story’s magic system. Most magic systems are not very dangerous, they have some rules that can prove fatal if you break them, and most of them can be controlled once the characters have learned it. But this system is not like that. The very fact that a character has decided to be a shaman means that they are going to fall into madness eventually. It’s just how this magic system works. I will not explain the magic system in this review, as it is an amazing experience to learn about it yourself, and I will not take it from you, in case you decide to read this book.

Last but not least, I would like to praise R.F. Kuang’s short yet efficient writing. Aside from the parts that went too fast, the pacing is perfect. The author never lets the book slow down. I would also like to tell you that Rebecca Kuang’s style of writing action is just impressive.

Conclusion:

The worldbuilding, setting, magic system, side characters, and general pacing of this book are quite good. Even though it has a lot going for it, the complaint about Rin brings the book down considerably. So I have decided to give this book… 3.8 stars. This book is part of a trilogy, and I have not yet read the sequels, so it is possible that the later books don’t have some of the problems that this book does. So I hope I will like them more.

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