Book review: The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
I just finished reading The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang. I do highly recommend it, but there were a couple of aspects I found quite jarring.
But first: The following discusses some particularly horrific historic events. Proceed with an appropriate level of caution.
But first: Spoiler alert.
So, the jarring bits:
If I'm reading a fantasy story set in a fantasy universe and suddenly exclaim, "Hey! I've been there!", something is amiss.
It's a bit like reading Lord of the Rings and after the hobbits ask where he's been, Gandalf explains he'd popped down to Oxford and conferred with his colleagues at Magdalen College, then spent a few days in the stacks of the Bodleian doing a bit of research. Didn't happen, right?
But I'm reading The Poppy War and suddenly there's a reference to the Yuelu Shan Academy. I've been to Yuelu Academy several times. The map in the front of the book includes Mount Tianshan and the Wudang Mountains. Tianshan is a mountain rang in China's far west, while the Wudang Mountains are a mountain range in central China famous for Taoist temples and martial arts. There is also a Four Gorges Dam. One more gorge than the real world China has, but with the other places mentioned above...
Rinse and repeat for the inclusion of real-world classical Chinese philosphers Sun Zi and Zhuang Zi.
Kuang's description of the capital Sinegard was a little better - yes, this was definitely a fantasy city in a fantasy world. But also, her description had me thinking, "Yep, that's Beijing from a southern point of view." And that's doubly so when she's describing the accent of the Sinegardian people.
Just a wee reminder: Proceed with caution. I'm about to mention some particularly horrific historical events. Steel yourself before you click on those links.
The most disturbing, though, were those sections of the book that seemed to have been lifted straight from accounts of the Rape of Nanking and Unit 731. Kuang goes into detail, the kind of detail that you could read in Iris Chang's book. It's almost as if Kuang has lifted historic accounts of these events, put them in her book, and changed most of the names. There's a reason why the Wikipedia article on The Poppy War lists this book as grimdark - the real-world history of Japan's invasion of China in the 1930s and 1940s provides plenty of historical incidents grimmer and darker than almost any fiction.
But there's plenty more in this book. Most importantly, although many of the characters can be quite unsympathetic, they are very much human, we see them develop, and their stories are relatable and engaging.
The shamanism-through-martial-arts is a fascinating system, though the use of psychedelics does raise troubling questions - questions which the story ponders, and while the story doesn't provide answers to these questions, the questions do remain an integral part of the story.
Rin's journey from eager student desperate to escape her abusive adoptive family through student at an elite academy she is socially unprepared for to shaman hell-bent on earth-shattering revenge is written brilliantly, as is the slow reveal of Altan's backstory.
All up, yes, I do highly recommend this book, with the warning that it is not for the faint of heart.