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A review by crywithclaire
The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
5.0
The first quarter of the book made me think we were getting east Asian history and folklore-inspired Harry Potter. While that definitely sounds like something I’d like to read, this book was decidedly NOT that. As I pieced together the elements of Chinese and Japanese history which form the blueprint for this book’s events, I knew I was in for a rough ride, but I had no idea just HOW rough. R. F. Kuang has a lot to say about power, imperialism, genocide, war, racism, and addiction, and she does not hold back. However, it didn’t feel like the characters were just a mouthpiece for her ideas (like how i felt when reading The Sparrow). This book is engaging, poignant, and well deserving of 5 stars.
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“Because the answer could not be rational…It was, simply, what happened when one race decided that the other was insignificant.
The Federation had massacred Golyn Niis for the simple reason that they did not think of the Nikara as human. And if your opponent was not human, if your opponent was a cockroach, what did it matter how many of them you killed? What was the difference between crushing an ant and setting an anthill on fire? Why shouldn't you pull wings off insects for your own enjoyment? The bug might feel pain, but what did that matter to you?
If you were the victim, what could you say to make your tormentor recognize you as human? How did you get your enemy to recognize you at all?
And why should an oppressor care?
Warfare was about absolutes. Us or them. Victory or defeat.
There was no middle way. There was no mercy. No surrender.
This was the same logic, Rin realized, that had justified the destruction of Speer. To the Federation, to wipe out an entire race overnight was not an atrocity at all. Only a necessity.” - The Poppy War, page 432.
—
“Because the answer could not be rational…It was, simply, what happened when one race decided that the other was insignificant.
The Federation had massacred Golyn Niis for the simple reason that they did not think of the Nikara as human. And if your opponent was not human, if your opponent was a cockroach, what did it matter how many of them you killed? What was the difference between crushing an ant and setting an anthill on fire? Why shouldn't you pull wings off insects for your own enjoyment? The bug might feel pain, but what did that matter to you?
If you were the victim, what could you say to make your tormentor recognize you as human? How did you get your enemy to recognize you at all?
And why should an oppressor care?
Warfare was about absolutes. Us or them. Victory or defeat.
There was no middle way. There was no mercy. No surrender.
This was the same logic, Rin realized, that had justified the destruction of Speer. To the Federation, to wipe out an entire race overnight was not an atrocity at all. Only a necessity.” - The Poppy War, page 432.