The Poppy War (The Poppy War, #1) in The Sword and Laser

Aug 25, 2019 Jenny (Reading Envy) rated it really liked it

Shelves: read2019, location-china, 2019-sword, asia2019, hoopla, sword-and-laser, around-the-world, audiobook

The Poppy War combines the magical school idea (more of a martial arts school) featuring an outsider student, with historical events in China (Song Dynasty, Japanese invasion of China,) and a little bit of shamanism. It's the first in a series and I'm not sure I will keep reading as this is so far outside my usual fare, but this author has written an astounding debut at a very young age (I think she is an actual genius.) Thanks to the Sword and Laser book club for pushing me to read a book I wou ...more

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Feb 03, 2020 Beth rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy, sword-and-laser

Wow, this went some dark places. Rin flailed about a lot and really didn't want to accept responsibility but sorta did at the end. ...more

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May 11, 2018 John Wiswell rated it it was amazing

Over five hundred pages of book, and I'd happily read five hundred more if they were on sale. The Poppy War is an Epic Fantasy with a deeply considered main character and a robust world that's addicted to war.

From its outset, The Poppy War has a masterful sense of world. Rin is a young woman in a culture with few avenues for young women. In an exquisite scene, Rin tells her aunt that she doesn't want to get married to a callous rich man who'll just use her for heirs. Her aunt gives her vulgar t Over five hundred pages of book, and I'd happily read five hundred more if they were on sale. The Poppy War is an Epic Fantasy with a deeply considered main character and a robust world that's addicted to war.

From its outset, The Poppy War has a masterful sense of world. Rin is a young woman in a culture with few avenues for young women. In an exquisite scene, Rin tells her aunt that she doesn't want to get married to a callous rich man who'll just use her for heirs. Her aunt gives her vulgar tips on how best to get used to abuse and drug her husband, believing this path is subversive.

Automatically this is more compelling than a typical marital conflict because there are three sides: the traditional role, how women have manipulated it to make it less horrible, and Rin's fear that even that life is a nightmare. Instead she begs tutors for attention, burns herself to stay awake and alert at night, and studies her way through an exam for a shot at a military career. It's a way out, she thinks.

This is a military academy preparing cadets for war in a region that has seen dozens of them and doesn't see an end to that cycle. It's deep in their culture and economy. It's a viable escape from Rin's old life because the war machine needs more bodies. It's easy to lower your guard as Rin does, expecting that the worst things in life are unfair instructors, ridiculous bullies, and grueling spars. It's an authentic echo of how school life fails to prepare us for the world.

Much of the novel is a character study in social forces that could turn Rin from a prized pupil and into a ruthless leader. Her best way to good grades is appealing to authority, and she becomes addicted to praise from it, even when it's unhealthy. She sterilizes herself to prevent menstrual pain from distracting her work. With another war looming, she discovers a form of divine magic exists, and she begins to learn how to deceive an old professor in order to weaponize it against his will.

Her steps make sense, and they don't kill her empathy. The book has one of the Draco Malfoys you'll ever find, particularly due to his shift between the sheltered academy and the reality of war, and how that changes his relationship with Rin. That span of time likewise gives rich new context to Rin's old friends and mentors. The book grows up exceptionally well.

There's a terrible misconception circulating that this a YA novel. Rin is a young woman with agency and ferocious power, but the book's sensibilities are mature and it is not afraid of showing atrocity. Coming in expecting a gentler representation of violence has left several readers traumatized. The Poppy War's back half takes place during the hard decisions of a war Rin's country isn't equipped to win without massive sacrifices. The violence gets vivid, drawing heavily from the Japanese atrocities in China during the Rape of Nanking. Without spoiling what happens or how, readers should be prepared for life in war time to be realistically worse than the almost romanticized hardships of the academy.

This is as far as I can get without spoiling the heck out of the book. It has so many parts worth arguing over, especially its explosive ending, and the series it sets up. It's a full novel in that it takes us across Rin's entire arc as a person, while promising that the politics and battles have only begun. ...more

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Jan 22, 2019 Deirdre rated it liked it

Complex Opium is an undercurrent of the Nikara empire. The war with the Federation of Mugen brought it to these shores and only the powers of the Trifecta, the Vipress; The Dragon Emperor and the Gatekeeper who went to the gods and begged for power, have kept the Mugen Federation at bay.

The Dragon Emperor is dead, decades later, the Gatekeeper is missing and the Vipress sits on the throne and the Mugen Federation is still a threat.

In this world war orphan Fang Runin finds herself having to ma ...more

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Sep 14, 2019 Brittany rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

Well. This is not the book I was thought I was signing up for. Based on . . . I'm not exactly sure what I assumed these were fantasy books with dragons. The first book starts as a pretty standard going-away-to-world-saving-school story, just set in China. (There are no dragons though) It leaned into the magical/supernatural (still no dragons) and then flipped and suddenly became (or always was and I just noticed it) a pretty close retelling of the Second Sino-Japanese War, just with some superna ...more

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Dec 13, 2018 Chris C rated it did not like it

What's the point of this novel besides reliving past jingoism, national stereotypes and the worst brutalities that we've not yet forgotten but can't bear to relive since they were beyond the pale of tragedy. It seems like the main character is a both literally and figuratively a pyrrhic figure whose only thoughts are an eye for an eye with no hope of redemption. To continue the manic depression with a second book is just sad. ...more

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Sep 10, 2018 Matt rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This book is broken into 2 pretty distinctive parts. The first is a story that's been told in various forms in other popular books like Red Rising, Ender's Game and others I'm probably forgetting. A young child of low class or status attends an elite school where she overcomes/excels showing unique ability, skills, determination, etc. Even though it's not unique it is well written, compelling and my favorite part of the book. Without giving too much away, the second part of the book revolves aro ...more

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Jun 22, 2019 John Wiswell rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

It looks like Goodreads never logged my review of this novel. It's a shame because back in 2018, I wrote quite a long piece about how much I admired Poppy War.

This novel has stayed with me ever since. Few Fantasy novels in history have ever done such a great job exploring why a protagonist grows, and in having them grow so much. Here we see a girl with no privilege clawing her way into a military academy to escape one miserable life. Her refusal to accept pain and her unhealthy dedication to stu ...more

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