The Poppy War
by R. F. Kuang
★ Top 25 book of 2018 · #23 on Best Books of 2018
Rin, a war orphan, surprises everyone by acing an Empire-wide exam and entering an elite military school, where she is targeted for her poverty, color and gender. There she finds she has a deadly shamanic gift tied to gods thought long dead.
Best for: Fans of military fantasy inspired by twentieth century Chinese history, with magic and treachery
The Poppy War is #23 on BookWard's Best Books of 2018, out of 59 2018 books that cleared our data bar.
What The Poppy War is about
Rin is a war orphan from Rooster Province, and her guardians plan to marry her off to help their criminal business. Her way out is the Keju, the Empire-wide exam meant to find the most talented young people. She aces it, and test officials doubt she could pass without cheating. She gets into Sinegard, the most elite military school in Nikan.
There she is singled out by rival classmates because of her color, her poverty, and her gender. Then she discovers a gift for shamanism, an art so old it is nearly mythical.
This is R. F. Kuang's debut, an epic military fantasy shaped by the bloody history of twentieth-century China. It has been compared to Ken Liu's Grace of Kings and N.K. Jemisin's Inheritance Trilogy. The tone is dark and brutal, so it is best for readers who want war fiction that does not look away.
The Poppy War on the Best Books of 2018
The Poppy War came out in 2018. Of the 59 books first published in 2018 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #23 on our Best Books of 2018 list.
Why it made the list: 610 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.8 out of 5 (53 ratings). The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
Nearby on the 2018 list
- 21 Lessons for the 21St Century Yuval Noah Harari, #21
- Kingdom of Ash Sarah J. Maas, #22
See all Best Books of 2018 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 2017 Best Books of 2019.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 521 want to read it, 13 are reading it now and 76 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 3.8 out of 5 from 53 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 75 | 55% |
| Reader love | 24 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 61 | 20% |
Questions about The Poppy War
When was The Poppy War published?
The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang was first published in 2018.
Was The Poppy War one of the best books of 2018?
The Poppy War is #23 on BookWard's Best Books of 2018, out of 59 2018 books that cleared our data bar. 610 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.8 out of 5 (53 ratings).
Why is The Poppy War on the Best Books of 2018 list?
610 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.8 out of 5 (53 ratings).
More of the best books of 2018
- Heartstopper, Volume 1 Alice Oseman, #1
- Where the Crawdads Sing Delia Owens, #2
- The Laws of Human Nature Robert Greene, #3
- Atomic Habits James Clear, #4
- Five Feet Apart Rachael Lippincott, #5
- Then She Was Gone Lisa Jewell, #6
See the full Best Books of 2018, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
Find your own best books
Add what you have read, rate it, and BookWard will recommend what to read next.
Free while in beta. No credit card needed.