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あらすじ・解説

A brilliantly imaginative talent makes her exciting debut with this epic historical military fantasy, inspired by the bloody history of China’s 20th century and filled with treachery and magic, in the tradition of Ken Liu’s Grace of Kings and N. K. Jemisin’s Inheritance Trilogy.

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.

R.F. Kuang studies modern Chinese history. She has a BA from Georgetown University and is currently a graduate student in the United Kingdom on a Marshall Scholarship. The Poppy War is her debut novel.
©2018 Rebecca Kuang (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers

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  • 総合評価
    5 out of 5 stars
  • ナレーション
    5 out of 5 stars
  • ストーリー
    5 out of 5 stars
  • superstardrifter
  • 2018/07/01

Wow. Just... wow.

Wow. Where to start?

This one started out with Rin taking her exam, and I thought to myself ‘this isn’t so bad’ because, of course all ten of the people that recommended this book to me said that it ends a lot differently than it starts. Yeah… uh… not a lie, that.

This is the story of Rin, who is a a war-orphan in a small village in the south of the Nikara Empire, which is more-or-less China. She works in her foster-parents’ shop, which is a cover for their opium smuggling operation. She’s regularly beaten and starved by them, and all she dreams about is a way to get out. She dreams of taking the Keju exam, which, if she does well on it, could get her into a school far-far away from her village where she could thrive. She aces the exam, which nobody expected, and gets to go to Sinegard, which is a prestigious military academy in the north. When she gets there, Rin finds that it’s certainly not easy to be the one dark-skinned peasant southerner among the beautiful, pale, rich AF nobles who all attend Sinegard.

As Rin gains her military education, she finds out that she has a link to the gods through shamanic powers. These powers, as it happens, can be brought on and enhanced by psychedelic drugs, so she’s got that going for her. Her Master at the academy is slowly teaching her how to meditate to reach the gods. At the same time, Nikara and Mugen (more-or-less Japan) are getting closer and closer to another Poppy War, of which they have had two previously. It can probably be said that this book is based around our own world, most especially around the second Sino-Japanese War. And this war does come, and Rin finds herself directly in the middle of it and thrown head first into not only the military, but a very special branch of it known as the Cike, who are shamans, each with a different power from a different god.

There are plenty of influences from Asian mythologies. The twelve provinces of the Nikara Empire are named after the twelve animals of the Chinese Zodiac. The Kirin/Qilin was mentioned a couple times, which is a sort of antlered dragon type creature (though, they’re also considered to be unicorns depending on where you are) said to arrive with either the arrival or death of a great ruler. There are mentions of the Four Holy Beasts, or the Four Symbols in the Chinese constellations. the Black Turtle in the North, the White Tiger in the West, the Vermilion Bird in the South, and the Azure Dragon in the East. I know them as Genbu, Byakko, Suzaku and Seiryu respectively, which is what they are known as in Japan, but they have different names in Korea, Vietnam, and in China. Is my mythology nerd showing again? >.>

The characters in this story were fantastically developed, and I found myself rooting for some and hating others, and then making entirely instantaneous switches here and there. Other than Rin, who is a pretty complex and awesome character herself, I really liked Nezha, who is Rin’s rival at school, and Altan, who is Rin’s commander in the Cike. Rin changes really profoundly as this book went on, but so too does one of the other major characters.

This book starts out light. That’s the only way I can put it. Part one is a rather… maybe not typical but… certainly not super-dark romp through a military academy. Rin goes to school. There are fights. There are rivalries with other students. There is tension with certain teachers. There was nothing inherently new about the idea, but I didn’t not enjoy it. I thought it was slow at times and at one point I said to myself ‘everyone told me this was the best debut of the year… and it’s good, but I’m not so sure about best…’ It’s not that I thought it was bad. Not at all, it’s well written from beginning to end. And it wasn’t boring, but it was fairly standard military school fantasy fare.

Then we get to part two. Part two definitely ramps up the action, as this is when the war more or less begins. There are some actual military maneuvers here, and Rin, along with her new compatriots in the Cike, go out and actively fight people from the Federation of Mugen, and fight actual monsters. And it gets a bit darker here for sure. Characters definitely start showing some truer colors here and characters I hated I ended up liking, new characters are introduced and I really liked a few (especially Ramza). But, I mean I was told this book was pretty bruuuutal, and while part two was moderately brutal… it wasn’t super duper dark….

And then came part three.

..........part three.

This book gets bruuuuutal in part three. Just… wow. Hold on to your butts. If you’re opposed to reading books with themes and events that are very savage, things like crazy violence against everyone, including children, with rape, torture, and genocide on top, um, maybe skip this one. Because yeah. You’re not going to have a good time.

All told, I started out being not so sure I was going to love it. I originally wasn’t planning on writing a full review when I was done, but maybe throwing up a few sentences and a rating at audible, amazon, and goodreads and calling it day. But, I ended up just having to sit here in solitude for a while afterwards just thinking about what I thought about it, which led me to my keyboard, and so here we have it. Any book that I started out rather indifferent about, but in the end had me sitting here like ‘gods above and below what in all the worlds even was that?’ is probably looking at being pretty good. Any book that has me being like ‘WHAT?!?!’ more than once during the last four hours has to be good. Admittedly, the subject matter in the end made it hard to listen to at times, but all the feelings and responses it evoked despite or because of those things made it very easy to know that this is a damn good book. Damn. Good. This book surprised me. I had warnings about it, and it still surprised me. This book -ruined- me. And books that do that can’t possibly be bad.

Bad books don’t make me ugly cry. I’m just saying.

The narrator, Emily Woo Zeller did a really great job. I was on the fence about that too because while I listened to the sample before I bought this in audio, and thought it fine, I have previously not really liked a book she narrated, and I wasn’t sure, thinking back, if it was the book or the narration or both put together that I didn’t really like. Well, no worries here, because she was awesome. Characters’ voices on point, areas where feeling needed full of feels. Well done!

If this book had went along with the same tone as part one had, it would have been a 3 or a 3.5. But no, this one got more and more stars as it went, ripping stars out of my poor feels. So, it ended pretty strongly with 5/5 stars. I’ve heard it called the best debut of 2018 by more than one person. It doesn’t quite make it there for me, but man, it’s close. I’m definitely, definitely looking forward to more from R.F. Kuang.

  • 総合評価
    4 out of 5 stars
  • ナレーション
    5 out of 5 stars
  • ストーリー
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Riley
  • 2020/03/09

Massive tonal shifts + character derailment

I was initially interested in reading this book, as it was recommended to me by my local bookstore, due to my interest in the fantasy genre.

After the strained intro, this book was shaping up to be a promising read, until the end of part 2, when the character development is thrown out the window and Runin (Rin) is reduced to a shadow of her former self.

The intro is a mess. While I am not one to shy away from vulgar language, the usage in the intro is used for one reason: to be vulgar. Although it does lend to the atmosphere and historical context, it does not add any substance.

Once the narrative leaves the intro, Rin's character is presented as a person with strong convictions and willpower. Which is expanded upon during her struggles in studying for the Keju, while living under her, Cinderella's stepmother stereotype, foster mother, and her schooling at the Academy at Sinegard.

However, once a man (read: Altan) is introduced to Rin, she is reduced to a whiny, mentally feeble, and single dimensional character that seeks out approval and a pat on the head.

On top of the huge and unexpected character derailment of Rin, there are huge tonal shifts within part 3, mostly dealing with Rin's interactions with anyone she comes across. While others cite the sudden jump to war, war atrocity descriptions, and overwhelming feeling of hopelessness as poor writing (Part 2 to part 3), I find that the shift in Rin's demeanor from eager puppy looking for approval from, now, Commander Altan, to despair at not being able to use her powers, to strong-headed and intelligent enough to understand how a certain monster works, all within the span of one chapter, is more jarring.
It got so bad that during a pivotal point in the story when Rin is straight up told about her heritage, I refused to believe it until the end, when she discovers the truth on Speer. The fact that it was just declared, out of the blue, is the most blatant "tell don't show" instance I've come across, in literature. And the fact that it comes down to skin color feels so out of place in a modern fantasy book, even if it is historically accurate.

Additionally, I find that the jump to the war between the Federation and Nikara to be rushed. Instead of expounding on how the degrading political relations between Mugen and Nikara were affecting Rin and the other students, it just jump cuts to war.


Emily Woo Zeller did a fantastic job with her narration and she was the only reason I was able to finish this book. If I was reading the physical book, I probably would have stopped around the end of part 2 or the beginning of part 3.
Hopefully Books 2 and 3 of this trilogy will be better, as the current state of the series leaves much to be desired.

  • 総合評価
    1 out of 5 stars
  • ナレーション
    3 out of 5 stars
  • ストーリー
    1 out of 5 stars
  • grumpy old blind guy
  • 2020/03/12

90% internal drama

I got this book looking for interesting culture and world building. This book is not about that. It is mostly about internal sniveling and drama.

  • 総合評価
    4 out of 5 stars
  • ナレーション
    4 out of 5 stars
  • ストーリー
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Michael Jennings
  • 2018/05/17

Engaging, Gruesome, but sometimes misses the mark.

R.F Kuang did her audience a service by bringing such a cool, fun, and foreign setting to us. I was thoroughly engaged throughout the three acts of this novel. It hits some of the more popular, albeit overused, tropes of contemporary fantasy like studying in a school or joining an army. Frankly, if you enjoyed Name of the Wind you will love the first half of this book.

This book definitely falls in the category of grimdark. Kuang struggles with tone throughout the novel. I think sometimes she forces a darker tone instead of letting the tone bring itself out. For example, in the first five minutes of the novel, a student asks if they can go to the bathroom during the exam, but asks “what if we have to shit?” Instances like that serve to disrupt immersion in a novel that rather engaging. This book gets very dark in the latter half. There is one chapter will be singed in my memory for a long time, comparable to the Siege of Capustan or Y’Gatan in Malazan Book of the Fallen.

Reasons to read: tropey in all the right ways, Awesome and remarkable setting, and emotional impactful.

  • 総合評価
    3 out of 5 stars
  • ナレーション
    4 out of 5 stars
  • ストーリー
    2 out of 5 stars
  • scotchbroth
  • 2020/03/09

Starts strong. Finishes weak.

Good narrator, and the first 2 parts are good. Ending is weak and the main character flip flops all the time.

  • 総合評価
    3 out of 5 stars
  • ナレーション
    2 out of 5 stars
  • ストーリー
    3 out of 5 stars
  • James
  • 2018/12/04

whiniest character

I bought this book because it was compared to Red Rising, one of the best new series to come out the last few years. Couldn't be farther from the truth. The main character is fatally flawed, paired with both stupidity and incessant whining. She fails over and over to understand basic concepts that people she supposedly idolized are trying to teach her, then acts totally shocked when the predictions they made come to pass. She is flighty, whines all the time and is only concerned with power...for the sake of it. I found myself deploring her and the screechy way the narrator would interpret her outbursts. She would break down into these near screaming crying sessions that would make me cringe. The best characters and interactions, the novel avoided with near surgical precision, instead focusing on abrupt reintroduction of characters that didn't appear connected to the storyline at all. I will not be reading the next installment of this series.

  • 総合評価
    1 out of 5 stars
  • ナレーション
    1 out of 5 stars
  • ストーリー
    1 out of 5 stars
  • SarahH
  • 2019/12/06

DNF after ch 22 - gruesome violence & bad reader

Grimdark isn't even close. I get that war is awful, and the writer was trying to convey the real effects of the brutality of war. But I couldn't stomach it. There is no break from constant suffering, death, and misery in this book. The main character is inconsistent. It's a long slog. I just couldn't keep going.
Also this reader os awful. She whispers the narration and has a strange choppy cadence. This isn't the first book I've read where she did that. I won't be purchasing any more books where she's the narrator.

  • 総合評価
    1 out of 5 stars
  • ナレーション
    3 out of 5 stars
  • ストーリー
    1 out of 5 stars
  • pogue
  • 2020/03/03

ugh

voyeuristic tragedy porn mushed awkwardly together with derivative ya

if you want to read about the rape of nanjing, buy a history book

  • 総合評価
    1 out of 5 stars
  • ナレーション
    2 out of 5 stars
  • ストーリー
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Lee Friedman
  • 2020/02/16

One of the worst books ive listened to

Narrator did as good as a job one could do with a manuscript this awful. The plot is plodding and transparent. The dialog is painful. My God, how is this book popular?

  • 総合評価
    3 out of 5 stars
  • ナレーション
    4 out of 5 stars
  • ストーリー
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Chris Hoggard
  • 2020/03/05

Shallow characters and absurd moralizations

I cannot remember when I have encountered an Asian protagonist who was depicted as such a simplistic, selfish, and undisciplined western-styled caricature of a person. Similar faults were manifested in nearly every major character in this story and the moral quandaries that the author dished up were equally absurd.
I genuinely regret the loss of so many hours listening to this story.

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絞り込み：
  • 総合評価
    3 out of 5 stars
  • ナレーション
    2 out of 5 stars
  • ストーリー
    3 out of 5 stars
  • 匿名
  • 2020/08/28

Good narrative, decent characters, jarring pacing

Overall, I enjoyed the book, I would give a solid 6.5 out of 10. It's nothing we haven't seen before, though it does take some more unorthodox directions. The narrative is good though, it does have some jarring pacing that does take away from the experience. The main character is setup well and has development though I didn't particularly enjoy the direction it took and the performance is on the whole, pretty good.

The beginning is tight and well written and the lead character grows on you quite quickly. Though a somewhat cliche introduction and early development of a character in a setting that we've all seen before, the characters involved make this section quite interesting.

Then the book takes a turn, quite a sudden one too and it has a jarring affect on the lead characters personality. She becomes very 1 dimensional and slightly unlikable. At this point, while I must admit the vocal performance is great for most of the book, it becomes quite grating and only amplifies the lead characters new whiney personality.

The narrative also slows right down through the middle to third quarter of the book. A warning to anyone who is also not looking for dark/graphic descriptions and depictions of violence, there are chapters here that are a tough read.

I think the story does pick up towards the ending and while the lead character takes a direction that I didn't personally enjoy, I do think it's quite and original/alternative ending and a good set up for another narrative in the future.

  • 総合評価
    3 out of 5 stars
  • ナレーション
    2 out of 5 stars
  • ストーリー
    2 out of 5 stars
  • MASTER
  • 2018/07/15

Disappointing

I was immediately drawn to try this book but unfortunately it failed to wow. At points it felt rushed and as if I’d missed large chunks of the story but alas I hadn’t. I really persevered with the story not aided by a rather annoying performance. I felt incomplete upon finishing and missed the point of the story. I wanted so much more then was found.

並べ替え：
絞り込み：
  • 総合評価
    4 out of 5 stars
  • ナレーション
    4 out of 5 stars
  • ストーリー
    4 out of 5 stars
  • peastri
  • 2018/05/11

Almost perfect

This will be a very popular book. It should be a very popular book and up there with the best YA has to offer. I would have given it a 4.5 if audible allowed it.


A couple of loves: Rin is a great, driven character that puts it upon herself to get where she wants to be. Perhaps my favourite part of her character is that she takes the time to educate herself rather than just run into things blindly particularly early on. Her curiosity draws you in and rather than being info dumped on you're learning with her.


The story does a great job of immersing you into the Chinese inspired mythology, fantasy and history. I'll admit to being quite dense on the subjects but I enjoyed them immensely and am keen to learn more.


The magic is awesome, just awesome. I don't generally enjoy magic as a main theme but this is just too cool.


A couple of gripes: There were a few parts at the beginning that had me thinking ‘hey that's a cool and different direction’ but they weren’t really pursued which I found a little disappointing and made the direction of the story a bit predictable.


I would have liked to have endured a bit more of Rin’s oppression early on rather than being told things like because her skin’s a little darker people don't like her as much. The potential marriage wasn't enough I would have liked to have seen that followed through to see how she handled it, escaped it. It all seemed a bit easy for her.


Finally the few YA standards that crept into the tale early on that made me cringe because they are used all the time and add little to nothing to the overall story such as kids swearing I can only assume to sound cool, the female lead that thinks she's not up to scratch in the looks department… a war training academy.


Those are really pretty minor gripes in the greater scheme of things as once I got to part two I found those things fell by the wayside.


Cover: Not a huge fan, feels a bit underwhelming when there's so much magic to work with in this story. I would have loved to see what someone like Jason Chan could have done with it (drooling at the thought). Although a Chan cover might be wasted as I suspect it will have a cheesy movie tie-in cover in the near future.


For the audio fans: I was worried with the direction they would go here but they got it right with Emily Woo Zeller. The only problem I ran into was that some of the younger male characters started sounding the same the deeper into the book I got but otherwise overall a good experience.


In short: I liked it but in spite of its late attempts to grab me I didn't love it. My advice would be to read it, I think you'll enjoy it, it's a very entertaining read and a great debut.