The Poppy War

The Poppy War is a 2018 novel by R. F. Kuang, published by Harper Voyager. The Poppy War, a grimdark fantasy, draws its plot and politics from mid-20th-century China, with the conflict in the novel based on the Second Sino-Japanese War, and an atmosphere inspired by the Song dynasty. A sequel, The Dragon Republic, was released in August 2019, and a third book, The Burning God was released November 2020. Harper Voyager's editorial director David Pomerico acquired the novel after a heated auction on Kuang's 20th birthday. Plot Rin is a poor war orphan who lives with opium seller foster parents. To avoid an arranged marriage, she secretely studies for a national test, the Keju, as an escape. Much to her surprise and the villagers' Rin places first and is sent off to a Sinegard, the imperial military academy in the north. Although the students mock the color of her skin and her southern accent, Rin excels in her studies. She becomes friends with Kitay, the son of a minister, and enemies with Nezha, the son of warlord, and looks up to Altan, the school's star student. At the end of her first year she discovers her talent for shamanism and spends the next year studying with the batty Master Jiang, who teaches her how to access the magic of the gods via the use of meditation and more importantly psychedelic drugs. When the country is attacked by the Mugen Federation, Rin and Nezha fight together to defend the gates, where Master Jiang reveals the depth of his shamanic powers. Rin is then sent south to the front to Kurdalain. There she finds she's been attached to the Cike, imperial assassins, who are a company of so-called misfits – all of whom have shamanistic abilities – commanded by Altan. He is from the island of Speer and is able access and control fire through his god. When they realize the battles in the area are a feint, they travel to Golyn Niis to find that city destroyed. Sifting through the wreckage they discover Kitay, who has survived hidden behind a wall. Rin wants revenge against the Mugenese and works to access her god, the Phoenix of Speer. When Rin and Altan are captured by the Mugenese they are subjected to science experiments and made into heroin addicts. When they escape Altan gives his life in a suicidal attack as a diversion for Rin to escape the mainland to go to Speer. There she finds the fire Phoenix's temple, channels the god's unlimited fire, and destroys the islands that are the Mugenese homeland.