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A review by lwadz
The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
5.0
WOW! I cant stress how much I loved this book!
It started off fairly formulaic, in fact it felt like an imitation of Trudi Canvan's Black Magician trilogy - poor but street smart girl finds herself against all odds and unexpectedly in a prestigious learning institution. Talented and spoiled rich kids, plus most of the teachers take an immediate disliking to her and make her life misery, until she stumbles across formidable magical powers. From this point on it certainly has a whiff of Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind, in that our heroines teacher is whimsical borderline insane, and places great emphasis on moral conundrums. The second half of the novel takes a hard swerve into original territory, and explores ancient warfare from a far east perspective in gory and brutal detail. Some of it is a hard read, but at no point does it feel like the violence is glorified.
Despite similarities to other series, this really is a great debut to the series. Rin is a highly likeable protagonist, and the folklore and magic system is fascinating. The author manages to dodge the usual tropes that befall female leads (no falling in love with men waaaay too old for her, thankfully!). By the end, despite not necessarily agreeing with all of Rin's decisions, you can certainly sympathise with and understand her motivations.
I can't wait to start The Dragon Republic!
It started off fairly formulaic, in fact it felt like an imitation of Trudi Canvan's Black Magician trilogy - poor but street smart girl finds herself against all odds and unexpectedly in a prestigious learning institution. Talented and spoiled rich kids, plus most of the teachers take an immediate disliking to her and make her life misery, until she stumbles across formidable magical powers. From this point on it certainly has a whiff of Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind, in that our heroines teacher is whimsical borderline insane, and places great emphasis on moral conundrums. The second half of the novel takes a hard swerve into original territory, and explores ancient warfare from a far east perspective in gory and brutal detail. Some of it is a hard read, but at no point does it feel like the violence is glorified.
Despite similarities to other series, this really is a great debut to the series. Rin is a highly likeable protagonist, and the folklore and magic system is fascinating. The author manages to dodge the usual tropes that befall female leads (no falling in love with men waaaay too old for her, thankfully!). By the end, despite not necessarily agreeing with all of Rin's decisions, you can certainly sympathise with and understand her motivations.
I can't wait to start The Dragon Republic!