The Poppy War (R.F. Kuang)

[cahn]

4/5 - I spent the first third of this book wondering why it wasn't on the Lodestar nominee list, because it's better written and deeper and possessing more narrative drive than any of the Lodestars this year. Also not in first person present, although still with spunky rebellious teen heroine The first bit talks about the heroine, Rin, studying for her important entrance exam, and surprise not surprise that is a way to keep my interest up. It then turns into something that's a bit reminiscent of a Chinese-inflected Ender's Game, which takes up about the first third. To be honest, I didn't have that sort of scary complete immersion and identification that I did with Ender's Game (which to be fair I read as an adolescent, but I suspect it wouldn't have happened with Poppy War as an adolescent either) -- but it was very readable, and clearly in dialogue with Ender's Game and that type of SF battle-school novel, and examining some of the assumptions and baggage of that kind of novel.

Then the last 2/3 of the book happened, and I was like, "Oh. Hmm. That's not YA, is it?"

It's a fantasy retelling of the second Sino-Japanese War, and let's face it I know basically zero history about anything unless you make a musical or a fantasy novel about it. But, I mean, I knew enough from vague osmosis to know that all the things that were most over-the-top about this book (it's grim. And dark. Lots of horrible things happen. War sucks.) are indeed historical facts. She definitely got me to sit up and pay attention (and get more interested in the history, for that matter!). It's really interested in examining war and genocide and how these things propagate themselves.

It's a first book, and to be perfectly honest sometimes the first-book-ness is there; I think it got a little unwieldy in places, and maybe a little too much in other places. The thing is, though: I thought it was wildly ambitious, and as such I want to give Kuang the Campbell. Perhaps not always sticking the landing 100%, but I feel like the Campbells should be about authors that try to push what they do :)

Content note for... umm... the second Sino-Japanese war. Genocide(s). Medical experimentation. Rape (though not onscreen/of POV character). Violence. You know. That kind of thing.

Although I still have City of Brass / Kingdom of Copper to go, so I guess I shouldn't make sweeping pronouncements about how I want to vote in the Campbells yet...

Comments

[ambyr]

I’m finding the Campbell list really strong in general this year.

[cahn]

Yay! It's such a relief after suffering through the really weak Lodestar list. (I suppose this means we will all have to read and nominate YA next year :P ) For some reason it's hard for me to read very much of City of Brass at a time, but so far I'm liking it.