The Poppy War

TW: Brutal descriptions of war and its aftermath, torture, rape, substance abuse, self harm, genocide, racism, bullying

I'm feeling a lot of things and I can't decide, but I think I'll go for a 4.5.

I have held back from reading this book for almost an year despite the rave reviews because grimdark is so not my thing, and this story seemed brutal. Finally, my dearest friends from the Stars and Sorcery book club gave me no choice when they selected this book as our September BOTM and I decided I had to give it a try. And what an experience this was. I literally started and finished this monster of a book on the same day because I just couldn't put it down for a second. But to be honest, any review I write will not be able to do justice to this book.

As you all are already aware, I'm always skeptical about adult fantasy because I have this feeling that they'll be too complicated for me, but this book had no such issues. The author's writing is just so easy and straightforward, very clear on what she wants to tell us, and I really appreciated that. This world which she created inspired by the early 20th century China is very detailed and the history and culture of this land felt like something very real and familiar. And a for a book that is majorly a historical military fantasy, I thought the author did a brilliant job incorporating the magical elements (shamanism). I particularly liked the allusion to Buddhism when describing about spiritual realms and the importance of meditation when navigating out of the mortal plane. The book is divided into three parts - military training, learning about shamanism and finally the war - and I was amazed by how brilliantly the author was able to write each of these parts, though they are far different from each other. She never minces her words and every terrifying truth is laid bare for the characters (as well as us) and we are left feeling extremely uncomfortable and introspective in its wake. This is not an action packed novel (though there are some brilliant strategy as well as fight scenes) but there is a steady pace throughout, and the size of the book gives room for the characters and the plot to breathe, and develop in their own time. This book is not exactly full of twists and turns in the usual sense, but lot of unpredictable things do happen - it's just that I never felt shocked by them, they all felt inevitable. I had a similar reaction to many of the character deaths too - maybe the extremely brutal nature of this story numbed me and I couldn't comprehend the devastation that was happening on the pages.

While there are a whole host of characters in this book, we get to exclusively follow the journey of Rin. She is ill treated by her foster parents, bullied by her fellow students and even teachers and told repeatedly that she doesn't deserve to be among them, but it's through her sheer will and determination that she succeeds at whatever she sets her mind to. She burns with rage at every slight and hones her anger to be used at the right time, wants to achieve all the power that she can so that no one will ever get to control her again - but she is also afraid of losing control to that lust of power. She is mostly ruthless in her ambition and quest for vengeance which makes her not a very typical fantasy heroine, but nonetheless we root for even if completely hate the decisions that she is making. Even when she utterly frustrated me, I couldn't stop marveling at the author's prowess in creating this very realistic, raw and gritty female character.

There are also many many side characters and while I can't talk about all of them, I can promise you that every single one of them is excellently developed and we get to deeply understand each one of their desires and motivations. Master Jiang is one of my favorites because he is the eccentric mentor who sees promise in Rin but also the darkness she can succumb to, and tries very hard to impart wisdom to her. Kitay is probably the only witty character here, a privileged kid with eidetic memory who uses humor to get through horrible circumstances - and the only person who ever treats Rin like a friend. Altan is her second mentor, and it is by being with him that Rin realizes the extent of the brutalities that have happened in the past to her people and what she might have to do get her justice. There is also an unlikely gang of other shamans whom Rin works along with, and it was lovely seeing their fascinating group dynamics.

As the primary inspiration for this book is the second Sino-Japanese war and the Nanjing massacre, it was inevitable that the depiction of the aftermath of war is brutal. But it never feels gratuitous or unnecessary, just something that's very much integral to the story and the character development. We also see how continuous wars and brutal killings shape the minds of generations of people, resulting only in more destruction. Through the characters, we too get to question why the war was necessary, did it need to be so brutal, and what kind of retribution is justified. The author brings to life the fact that seeking vengeance only creates a circle of never ending violence and not everlasting peace or safety. The other important theme which I found fascinating was the discussion about religion and myth - how much of the lore we know is really true and how much is just born out of human imagination, is all the history we are taught true or have we been manipulated to believe in things that are convenient for the powers to be. There are also other important elements like finding one's purpose in life and the importance of friends and found family, but the grim reality of war is the main underlying theme throughout the story and there's no way to escape it.

What can I say about this book that hasn't already been said. Despite whatever frustrations I had with the main character, this book is near perfect and deserves all the accolades it has received. I'm definitely late to the party but if you haven't read this book yet, and love the grimdark genre or historical/military fantasy, then it can't get better than this. If you love Asian inspired fantasy novels, then this one is just the right pick for you. Just be prepared for the brutality, and maybe consume it in low doses to fully appreciate it.