subjunctive (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
subjunctive) wrote2020-06-13 02:37 pm
subjunctive) wrote2020-06-13 02:37 pm
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The Poppy War & The Dragon Republic - R. F. Kuang
General non-spoilery stuff:
I think I got the first book via a Bookbub out of mild curiosity, and as soon as I finished it, I bought the second. The third is supposed to come out this year, and I hope I don't have to wait long. They are definitely grimdark (trigger warning for pretty much everything you can think of) and there's a focus on political machinations that brings ASOIAF to mind, although the Poppy books are definitely their own thing (for one thing, focusing more closely on a smaller cast and a single identifiable main character, although there's still the sense of a giant world out there). They're also funny books. The books are a fantasy version of 20th-century Chinese history, and the third book will put us squarely in the fantasy Communist revolution, so I'm looking forward to that.
One specific thing I enjoyed was a relationship subplot that can best be described as "rivals to friends to almost-lovers to enemies" that I can't wait to see the fallout from. It was also mixed with class issues that I thought were well drawn and that made it very compelling. Rin and Nezha's rivalry starts out steeped in class, and then as the story continues and they're thrust together, the class issues kind of fade to the background, and the arc appears to be Overcoming Difference Through Friendship, and then you get the rug pulled out from under you and it turns out their experiences of class have shaped their respective worldviews in ways that are fundamentally irreconcilable. I enjoy a good Love Conquers All theme, but that is very much not what The Poppy War books are putting out there.
There's also a specific comedic aspect to the writing that makes it easy to visualize--in particular as a cartoon. A couple of examples:
Aren't these so easy to picture? I spent some time thinking of how to divide the books into seasons of a show, and I think the first book can be split right down the middle into two seasons (the first ending with Rin joining the Cike). I can't think of anyone who would produce a show based on these books, though; they're darker than ASOIAF in some ways. I'm thinking especially of how Rin commits genocide against the Mugenese at the end of the first book. How many protagonists commit genocide?
Unfortunately, I finished reading them JUST after nominations for several exchanges closed, alas.
I think I got the first book via a Bookbub out of mild curiosity, and as soon as I finished it, I bought the second. The third is supposed to come out this year, and I hope I don't have to wait long. They are definitely grimdark (trigger warning for pretty much everything you can think of) and there's a focus on political machinations that brings ASOIAF to mind, although the Poppy books are definitely their own thing (for one thing, focusing more closely on a smaller cast and a single identifiable main character, although there's still the sense of a giant world out there). They're also funny books. The books are a fantasy version of 20th-century Chinese history, and the third book will put us squarely in the fantasy Communist revolution, so I'm looking forward to that.
One specific thing I enjoyed was a relationship subplot that can best be described as "rivals to friends to almost-lovers to enemies" that I can't wait to see the fallout from. It was also mixed with class issues that I thought were well drawn and that made it very compelling. Rin and Nezha's rivalry starts out steeped in class, and then as the story continues and they're thrust together, the class issues kind of fade to the background, and the arc appears to be Overcoming Difference Through Friendship, and then you get the rug pulled out from under you and it turns out their experiences of class have shaped their respective worldviews in ways that are fundamentally irreconcilable. I enjoy a good Love Conquers All theme, but that is very much not what The Poppy War books are putting out there.
There's also a specific comedic aspect to the writing that makes it easy to visualize--in particular as a cartoon. A couple of examples:
Rin's right food slid out from beneath her. She teetered off the edge of the branch, dropped the book, and would have plummeted to the stone floor if her left ankle hadn't snagged in the crook of two dividing branches.
She jolted to a halt with her face inches from the ground and gasped out loud in relief.
"Jun can teach you how to be a decent soldier. But I can teach you the key to the universe," Jiang said grandly, before bumping his head on a low-hanging branch.
Aren't these so easy to picture? I spent some time thinking of how to divide the books into seasons of a show, and I think the first book can be split right down the middle into two seasons (the first ending with Rin joining the Cike). I can't think of anyone who would produce a show based on these books, though; they're darker than ASOIAF in some ways. I'm thinking especially of how Rin commits genocide against the Mugenese at the end of the first book. How many protagonists commit genocide?
Unfortunately, I finished reading them JUST after nominations for several exchanges closed, alas.