The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang, a rant review

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

EXPECTATIONS: 

REALITY:

As you can see from the title of this post I didn't like the book, bit in the beginning, I want to tell about the things I actually liked. 

I liked a magic system in this book because it based on shamanism, not your regular witchcraft. I think it's an excellent choice for dark fantasy since it requires some dangerous practices to connect to the gods or spirits, and shaman doesn't fully control spirits, their life and soul can be in danger. In this book, it is an especially dangerous way to use magic and I respect it. 

I really liked Rin. She is this kind of character who is cruel to herself and to others, and this is very believable for a person who has such a harsh childhood. She doesn't have the luxury to stop and reflect her decisions, to have some spare time for herself, she is determined to climb higher and higher since she hasn't any backup. I like how the author didn't make a Rin "she maybe harsh and aggressive on the surface but actually a big softie inside" type of a character. She is stubborn, selfish, she is ready to (and too quick to) make sacrifices for the victory. And from the beginning, we can see how the author building a road for her future downfall. I like how the blind determination she has is both her strength and her flaw: she is like a horse in blinders, she sees only a narrow way to the victory and don't really think about its cost. I like how she has the same self-destructive tendencies from the start, how she gives herself completely unhealthy incentives. It isn't good and relatable, but clearly shows us how she ended up with what she has at the end of the book. I think Rin's character development is the best thing in the book. 

And here we go. 

Unfortunately, other characters weren't developed enough. The most ridiculous one is definitely Nezha. How did I suppose to believe this rude and aggressive guy with the impulse control of two years old child is actually a well-educated young man from a noble family? Does he have any brain cells? I thought he should make useful connections for his future career in the academy but all he does is punching other students and earning fame of an aggressive dangerous asshole. I mean it's ok for him (as a spoiled arrogant rich person, of course, I don't think it's ok) to be an asshole towards Rin because she is a girl from nowhere without a family, but the author said that Nezha was extremely violent to all others students. And in the second part of the book, he suddenly becomes a good guy. 

I think only two side characters were properly developed: Kitay and Altan. They both have their stories and personalities, and it's natural how Rin leaned to the Altan who has the same self-destructive tendencies and how she is ok with his abuse because she does the same shit with herself, but I really wanted more development of their relationship (maybe in even more unhealthy and destructive way). Other characters are just.,. bland. Especially the Cike. They are a walking stereotype of "quirky group of misfits" and act like ran away from some Marvel comic series for teenagers. 

I was especially disappointed in worldbuilding. It's just... Bad. This can be every random fantasy setting with class inequality and this weak version of patriarchy which can provide some insults towards the main character but is never strong enough to be ingrained in the main character's mind so she can appeal without any problems to the target audience of the book. And writing style doesn't add any kind of immersion, because it sounds very modern. The author hadn't even attempted to adapt her writing style for her own world. I didn't expect the main character calling her vagina "scarlet cave" or "jasper gates" but can we at least have an impression that we read about an actual person living in an eastern pseudohistorical setting, not some modern girl in wuxia drama costume. 

And I wanted to know more about this setting. We had some infodumps about its history, mythology, and social structure, but the author doesn't give us these small details about customs and everyday life that make the world vivid and different. 

Like for example episodes in Kitay's house are super sloppy. It was a great opportunity to introduce us to the everyday life of wealthy people in the capital city. But actually, we found out nothing about them. They are just... Rich. They eat expensive food. Kitay's family has small dogs. That's all. Seriously? 

And all the book is like that. It feels very lazy: we have an actual Chinese book and some actual Chinese names and mythological creatures, and we also have a bunch of made-up stuff that doesn't even sound Chinese. I can't fucking believe we have a character named Venka in Chinese fantasy. I've read a book in Russian translation and I was so confused when I saw it in the English text. And I really don't know why the author deliberately used these weird names that completely ruin the integrity of a fantasy world because they are just very random and don't work for worldbuilding. I can imagine some uneducated white American guy doing this because he is just stupid, but the author clearly isn't a white American guy. Also, I feel so sorry for a person who translated this book into Russian. Here is a thing: we use a special system to write down Chinese words that were written down in the Latin alphabet. It's completely different from the way we write down regular English words in the Cyrillic alphabet. It the book we have some names that are at least sound like something that could be Chinese name and the translator can write them down properly. But what can she do with all these venkas?..

Also, this lack of consistently written setting leads us to the problem I have with a lot of fantasy books where we have our protagonist is a woman from lower classes. As I said earlier, patriarchy in this kind of fantasy is usually decorative and doesn't really affect our main character and female characters near her (however this book doesn't have any proper female characters besides Rin, they are either very stereotypical antagonists (evil stepmother, mean girl, demonic seductress) or don't have any personality at all). This book also deals with classism in the same poor way. Of course, local Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson are rude with Rin because of her background but we never see how it affects Rin. Yes, there is Nezha who is treated better than everyone else because his father is an influential person, but it's not how classism works. I mean yes this is a part of the problem, but classism and patriarchy are deeply ingrained in our society and our minds. And Rin is like "I don't give a fuck about it", and everything is suddenly ok. Yes, she studies very hard, way harder than her classmates from wealthy families, but she doesn't have any inner struggles the real woman in this society will have. She is so conveniently unaffected by patriarchy. She is so conveniently doesn't want to (and doesn't need to) interact with all these classist assholes. Her uterus is easily removed (I presume this scene should show us how determined Rin is about her future but she forgets about it so easily and has no consequences so I can't perceive it as a sacrifice) so she can continue her career without having her periods and without risk of pregnancy. Because, you know, we can have only two types of women on the battlefield: either they are just like men or they raped and tortured for drama. 

Uh... I think I'm digging too deep. 

Usually, I'm in the "I want this to be standalone" camp, but this time I think this book can be two separate books. For me, it feels too rushed. I'd prefer to have two books instead of this one so the author can give more attention to Rin's education, her relationships with fellow students, and worldbuilding in the first one and to war in the second. The pace of the book seems too fast, I was listening to a part about war and everything was described even more sparingly than it was in the first part: there should be months of the exhausting war but as a reader, I can't feel it. All actions seem to take only a couple of weeks. New characters in the second part were written badly and I felt no connection to them so I didn't really worry about them. There were a lot of over-the-top graphic descriptions of violence, but in my opinion, they lack both artistic quality and emotional connection with the reader because there is just a bunch of cannon-fodder characters suffering. Or maybe I'm an insensitive bitch, I don't know. Only scenes in the laboratory really disturbed me. I think it's mostly because the pace finally slowed and there was a proper time left to feel bad about characters, but Dr. Shiro acts like a villain from the old James Bond film, and this ruins immersion. 

Also, there are some really weird moments.

For example, a government official wanted Rin as his first wife. Why? She is an uneducated girl with regular appearance. Her family isn't influential, they don't have any useful connections. 

Or this thing with cutting hair. Rin's teacher advised her to cut her hair and it's supposed to be "for school" but actually nobody in her academy has to cut their hair short, it's completely their choice. Tbh guys with short hair are the most egregious waste of ancient Chinese setting I've ever seen in my life. 

I was waiting for the entire book for an explanation of why poppy wars here are called poppy wars because they seem to be usual wars for territory. 

How you can have hallucinations from regular poppy seeds? 

But it doesn't matter this much. 

The proper word for this book for me is - underwhelming. I'm sure the author put a lot of effort into recreating historical events and making parallels with the history of East-Asian countries, but that doesn't make great fantasy. It fills so... Gutless. It's like "hey, do you like edgy war fantasy with a strong female character? Here it is, it has a slightly exotic setting but there is nothing to disturb westerners' mind! We have these simple names easy to remember (not two names and a title like in the actual Chinese history), it will be super easy to consume after tons of regular western fantasy, nothing will challenge your mind, and our protagonist is your usual edgy not-like-other-girls aggressive young woman just like tons of other female protagonists, and here we have a bunch of pretty typical characters you would meet in every other fantasy novel, and also we have this quirky squad of soldiers with superpowers who act like modern teenagers because we want them to be relatable". Sorry, I just really disappointed after all these 5-star reviews. I give the book 2,5 out of 5.