War Does Not Determine Who Is Right, But Rather Who Remains

I recently finished reading The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang. This is book #1 in the Poppy War trilogy.

**POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT**

  Rating: 3.75/5 stars

"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."

This isn’t some fluffy little tale about teenage romance and personal discovery (although it may seem that way in the beginning). This is a book about reality. Now that’s an odd thing to say, isn’t it? Reality? We’re talking about fantasy here. But do let me explain.

This is a book about the realities of war. War isn’t pretty. War isn’t about heroics and grand deeds. War is about men pissing themselves and running away in fear. War is about control. War is about men trying to murder each other; it’s about soldiers brutalising their enemies and terrorising the innocent. War is about rape, raping of the land and of the defenceless. None of us will ever be ready for it. It is so very unsurprising that Rin turns into a cold-hearted bitch by the end.

Her student days are over before they really began. She has only just begun to taste her power (a rage-filled magic fueled by drugs) before she is enlisted and forced to defend her training academy from invaders. Her master taught her to control her power and trained her only to understand it. He never wanted her to use it, though when backed into a corner, Rin unleashes all her fiery fury upon her enemies. It was either that or death. Some will think her character extreme, though I think she is a product of her situation.

Rin is driven to succeed. This is not a woman who will give up. She has done some excessive things to be admitted into the training academy. She has gone without sleep. She has self-harmed (to allow the former), and she has worked harder than most would think possible. The war has shattered her dreams. It has prevented her from finishing her studies, and it has turned her into a killer. She wants to finish it and will do absolutely anything possible to do so; vengeance becomes her new goal. By the end, she is unrecognizable even to herself. War has killed her in a way, though it has made her very strong.

The Poppy War was not the book I thought it would be. The more fantasy I read, the more I see the same plot directions and romances. Some details were predictable, though I did not expect it to go quite the way it did.

This was far from a bad thing. I did really like the first part of the story, though my interest piqued as chaos descended. War never comes at the right time. It interrupts lives (and plots.) What the author showed us here is that it destroys everything. It destroys our plans, and it destroys the direction we set for ourselves, and that’s why the sharp shift in plot was so necessarily strong.

Check out The Poppy War, and discover what happens when war demands.

Happy Reading :)