Babel is the world’s center of translation and, more importantly, of silver-working: the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation through enchanted silver bars, to magical effect. Silver-working has made the British Empire unparalleled in power, and Babel’s research in foreign languages serves the Empire’s quest to colonize everything it encounters. Her mom grew up on Hainan Island and her dad grew up in Leiyang, in the province of Hunan. Her dad’s family went through the Japanese conquest of Hunan firsthand. Her mom’s dad fought for Chiang Kai-shek. Mason, Everdeen (2018-05-02). "Best science fiction and fantasy books out this month (brief book review)". Washington Post . Retrieved 2 September 2018.

Lila Garrott in Locus gave the novel a more critical review: "It's well executed for what it does, but it's a shame that Kuang chose to downplay the more original elements in favor of material that has been seen before. All of the novel's ambition seems to have gone into the worldbuilding and magic system and then not been allowed to affect the actual plot." [24] In his Wired commentary on fantasy tropes, Jason Kehe agreed that the material did not represent a "revolution" in the genre, but said that "Kuang manages to pierce through." [25] Translations [ edit ] Haunted by the terrible choices she had to make to save her people, Rin's only reason for living is to take revenge on the traitorous Empress who sold her homeland to its enemies. Oxford, the city of dreaming spires, is a fairytale for Robin; a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge serves power, and for Robin, a Chinese boy raised in Britain, serving Babel inevitably means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to sabotaging the silver-working that supports imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide: Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence? What is he willing to sacrifice to bring Babel down?The Poppy War is the first installment in a Chinese-history inspired epic fantasy trilogy about empire, warfare, shamanism, and opium. The Poppy War is a Goodreads Choice Award finalist (twice over), Nebula Award finalist, Locus Award finalist, and winner of the Stabby, Crawford, and Compton Crook Awards. An epic historical military fantasy, inspired by the bloody history of China’s twentieth century and filled with treachery and magic.

I am the force of creation […] I am the end and the beginning. The world is a painting and I hold the brush. I am a god.” A dark and devastating conclusion that transcends its roots in historical fact to examine brutal truths.” KirkusFANG RUNIN – Known as Rin, she is the heroine of trilogy. She is southerner who gains entrance into the famed military academy of Sinegard (book one), where she meets Nezha and Kitay. She is one of the last of the Speerlies who connect with the Phoenix, the god of vengeance and fire. She’s clever but also hotheaded. Also said to be quite short. YIN NEZHA – The youngest surviving son of the Dragon Warlord, Nezha is beautiful, rich and . . . at the beginning, an asshole. He looks down upon Rin because she is a peasant from the south with skin darker than his own, but they eventually find mutual respect (and more) for each other. He’s been trained all his life to lead and to effectively navigate politics. Also hiding a secret that is revealed in book two (but those readers who love those binary oppositions? Light and dark? Earth and air? Fire and water? You will get that here). a b Bourke, Liz (2018-05-02). "A Light in the Grimdark: The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang". Tor.com . Retrieved 2018-05-12. Babel — a thematic response to The Secret History and a tonal response to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell — grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of translation as a tool of empire. The Poppy War (2018) The Dragon Republic& The Burning God contain aspects which allow the reader to look at the effects of Western imperialism and colonisation from the perspective of the country (and population) being colonised, under a fictional framing.

Ultimately, she says, she loves the series for the ways it examines race and power. For instance, she has a quote from Rin in the second book up on a corkboard: "I've seen how power works. It's not about who you are, it's about how they see you. And once you're mud in this country, you're always mud." Kuang ambitiously begins a trilogy that doesn’t shy away from the darkest sides of her characters, wrapped in a confectionery of high-fantasy pulp. [...] The future of Rin in this world may appear quite dark, but that of the series seems bright indeed. New York Daily News But, she continues, she's no longer writing out of anger. For one thing, she learned how the Chinese Communist Party politicizes traumatic events like the Nanjing Massacre to stoke nationalism. And she realized it could be dangerous to tell a revenge story where her main character destroys a whole country of perceived oppressors.

Publication Order of The Poppy War Books

The entire trilogy contains extremely fascinating character relationships and dynamics. Rin and Nezha; Rin and Altan; Rin and Kitay; Rin and Venka; Rin and Su Daji . . . The Dragon Republic” is the second novel in the “Poppy War” series, which was released in the year 2019. Nikan has battled for survival three times in its history during the bloody Poppy Wars. Even though the third battle has just concluded, warrior and shaman Rin is unable to forget the atrocity she herself committed so she could save her people. She is now on the run from her own guilt, the addiction to opium that grips her like a vice, the murderous commands of the fiery Phoenix, who is the vengeful god that has blessed Rin with her power. Author Rebecca F. Kuang was born in China May 29, 1996, and immigrated from Guangzhou, China in the year 2000, when she was only four years old. Kuang grew up in Dallas, Texas and graduated from the Greenhill School in the year 2013. The bulk of Book 1 follows the Second-Sino Japanese War between the Republic of China and Imperial Japan in what was essentially WW2 in East Asia. It’s important to note that while Kuang does not shy away from depicting the atrocities that imperial Japanese soldiers committed, she makes it a point to mention in interviews that the series is not meant to vilify any specific country or to glorify violence. The author, R.F. Kuang, previously attended Oxford University and is currently bound for Yale. She wrote The Poppy War . . . when she was nineteen. Reading this book, you feel smart.