The Poppy War

The Poppy War is a 2018 military high fantasy novel by R. F. Kuang. It draws inspiration from Song Dynasty China, the Opium Wars, and the Second Sino-Japanese War. It also draws aspects of its mythology from Chinese literature, Taoism, Buddhism, and Hongshan culture. Kuang was born in Guangzhou, China, and immigrated to the United States with her parents as a young child. She majored in history at Georgetown University. She received a master’s in philosophy in Chinese studies at the University of Cambridge and a master’s in science in contemporary Chinese studies from the University of Oxford. In 2020, she began a PhD in East Asian languages and literature at Yale University. Her other works include Babel, or the Necessity of Violence (2022) and Yellowface (2023).

Kuang began writing The Poppy War at 19 while teaching debate in China. She has stated that Rin is based on Mao Zedong and that The Poppy War trilogy explores the question, “what makes a monster?” (Yu, Alan. “In The Poppy War Series, R. F. Kuang Asks: ‘What If Mao Was a Teenage Girl?‘“ NPR Book News & Features.