
The Poppy War
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Emily Woo Zeller
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By:
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R. F. Kuang
About this listen
A brilliantly imaginative talent makes her exciting debut with this epic historical military fantasy, inspired by the bloody history of China’s 20th century and filled with treachery and magic, in the tradition of Ken Liu’s Grace of Kings and N. K. Jemisin’s Inheritance Trilogy.
When Rin aced the Keju - the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies - it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard - the most elite military school in Nikan - was even more surprising.
But surprises aren’t always good.
Because being a dark-skinned peasant girl from the South is not an easy thing at Sinegard. Targeted from the outset by rival classmates for her color, poverty, and gender, Rin discovers she possesses a lethal, unearthly power - an aptitude for the nearly-mythical art of shamanism. Exploring the depths of her gift with the help of a seemingly insane teacher and psychoactive substances, Rin learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive - and that mastering control over those powers could mean more than just surviving school.
For while the Nikara Empire is at peace, the Federation of Mugen still lurks across a narrow sea. The militarily advanced Federation occupied Nikan for decades after the First Poppy War, and only barely lost the continent in the Second. And while most of the people are complacent to go about their lives, a few are aware that a Third Poppy War is just a spark away....
Rin’s shamanic powers may be the only way to save her people. But as she finds out more about the god that has chosen her, the vengeful Phoenix, she fears that winning the war may cost her humanity...and that it may already be too late.
R.F. Kuang studies modern Chinese history. She has a BA from Georgetown University and is currently a graduate student in the United Kingdom on a Marshall Scholarship. The Poppy War is her debut novel.
©2018 Rebecca Kuang (P)2018 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
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Ariadne, Princess of Crete, grows up greeting the dawn from her beautiful dancing floor and listening to her nursemaid’s stories of gods and heroes. But beneath her golden palace echo the ever-present hoofbeats of her brother, the Minotaur, a monster who demands blood sacrifice. When Theseus, Prince of Athens, arrives to vanquish the beast, Ariadne sees in his green eyes not a threat but an escape. Defying the gods, betraying her family and country, and risking everything for love, Ariadne helps Theseus kill the Minotaur.
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We've been spoiled for choice
- By Stefan Filipovits on 05-04-21
By: Jennifer Saint
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The Boy from the Woods
- Wilde, Book 1
- By: Harlan Coben
- Narrated by: Steven Weber
- Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Thirty years ago, Wilde was found as a boy living feral in the woods, with no memory of his past. Now an adult, he still doesn't know where he comes from, and another child has gone missing. No one seems to take Naomi Pine's disappearance seriously, not even her father - with one exception. Hester Crimstein, a television criminal attorney, knows through her grandson that Naomi was relentlessly bullied at school. Hester asks Wilde - with whom she shares a tragic connection - to use his unique skills to help find Naomi.
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Coben could do a whole series on Hester!!!!
- By shelley on 03-18-20
By: Harlan Coben
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Once upon a Broken Heart
- By: Stephanie Garber
- Narrated by: Rebecca Soler
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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For as long as she can remember, Evangeline Fox has believed in true love and happy endings…until she learns that the love of her life will marry another. Desperate to stop the wedding and to heal her wounded heart, Evangeline strikes a deal with the charismatic, but wicked, Prince of Hearts. In exchange for his help, he asks for three kisses, to be given at the time and place of his choosing. But after Evangeline’s first promised kiss, she learns that bargaining with an immortal is a dangerous game—and that the Prince of Hearts wants far more from her than she’d pledged.
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Disappointing
- By ShawnieT on 11-02-21
By: Stephanie Garber
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I Found You
- A Novel
- By: Lisa Jewell
- Narrated by: Helen Duff
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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In a windswept British seaside town, single mum Alice Lake finds a man sitting on the beach outside her house. He has no name and no idea how he got there. Against her better judgment, she invites him inside. Meanwhile, in a suburb of London, 21-year-old Lily Monrose has been married for only three weeks. When her husband fails to come home from work one night, she is left alone in a place where she knows no one and with the police telling her that her husband never existed.
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Foul language
- By Carolyn D Mitchell on 03-04-20
By: Lisa Jewell
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The Kaiju Preservation Society
- By: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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When COVID-19 sweeps through New York City, Jamie Gray is stuck as a dead-end driver for food-delivery apps. That is, until Jamie makes a delivery to an old acquaintance, Tom, who works at what he calls “an animal rights organization”. Tom’s team needs a last-minute grunt to handle things on their next field visit. Jamie, eager to do anything, immediately signs on. What Tom doesn't tell Jamie is that the animals his team cares for are not here on Earth. Not our Earth, at at least. In an alternate dimension, dinosaur-like creatures named Kaiju roam a warm and human-free world.
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I'm listening with a permanent smile on my face
- By Lucy A. Pithecus on 03-15-22
By: John Scalzi
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Babel
- Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution
- By: R. F. Kuang
- Narrated by: Chris Lew Kum Hoi, Billie Fulford-Brown
- Length: 21 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel. Babel is the world's center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as its knowledge serves the Empire’s quest for colonization.
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The novel language lovers have been waiting for
- By LisaLee on 09-06-22
By: R. F. Kuang
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Belladonna
- By: Adalyn Grace
- Narrated by: Kristin Atherton
- Length: 13 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Nineteen-year-old Signa Farrow, orphaned as a baby, has been raised by a string of guardians, each more interested in her wealth than her well-being—and each has met an untimely end. Her last remaining relatives are the Hawthornes, an eccentric family living at the glittering and gloomy estate of Thorn Grove. Thorn Grove’s patriarch, Elijah, mourns his late wife, Lillian, through wild parties and drink, while eldest son Percy grapples for control of the family’s waning reputation and daughter Blythe suffers from the same mysterious illness that killed her mother.
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The narrator is amazing!
- By Nemofishy on 10-05-22
By: Adalyn Grace
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One Dark Window
- By: Rachel Gillig
- Narrated by: Lisa Cordileone
- Length: 12 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Elspeth Spindle needs more than luck to stay safe in the eerie, mist-locked kingdom of Blunder—she needs a monster. She calls him the Nightmare, an ancient, mercurial spirit trapped in her head. He protects her. He keeps her secrets. But nothing comes for free, especially magic. When Elspeth meets a mysterious highwayman on the forest road, her life takes a drastic turn. Thrust into a world of shadow and deception, she joins a dangerous quest to cure Blunder from the dark magic infecting it.
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Unique magical world with an annoying HEERTH
- By April on 07-15-24
By: Rachel Gillig
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Malibu Rising
- A Novel
- By: Taylor Jenkins Reid
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Malibu: August 1983. It’s the day of Nina Riva’s annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone wants to be around the famous Rivas: Nina, the talented surfer and supermodel; brothers Jay and Hud, one a championship surfer, the other a renowned photographer; and their adored baby sister, Kit. Together the siblings are a source of fascination in Malibu and the world over—especially as the offspring of the legendary singer Mick Riva. The only person not looking forward to the party of the year is Nina herself.
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Malibu Sinking
- By SB on 06-01-21
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All the Dangerous Things
- A Novel
- By: Stacy Willingham
- Narrated by: Karissa Vacker
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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One year ago, Isabelle Drake's life changed forever: her toddler son, Mason, was taken out of his crib in the middle of the night while she and her husband were asleep in the next room. With little evidence and few leads for the police to chase, the case quickly went cold. However, Isabelle cannot rest until Mason is returned to her—literally. Except for the occasional catnap or small blackout where she loses track of time, she hasn’t slept in a year. Isabelle's entire existence now revolves around finding him, but she knows she can’t go on this way forever.
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Wow
- By Rachel on 01-10-23
By: Stacy Willingham
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Empire of the Vampire
- Book One
- By: Jay Kristoff
- Narrated by: Damian Lynch
- Length: 27 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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It has been twenty-seven long years since the last sunrise. For nearly three decades, vampires have waged war against humanity; building their eternal empire even as they tear down our own. Now, only a few tiny sparks of light endure in a sea of darkness.
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So good
- By donna on 09-16-21
By: Jay Kristoff
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The Shadows Between Us
- By: Tricia Levenseller
- Narrated by: Caitlin Davies
- Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Alessandra is tired of being overlooked, but she has a plan to gain power: 1. Woo the Shadow King. 2. Marry him. 3. Kill him and take his kingdom for herself. No one knows the extent of the freshly crowned Shadow King’s power. Some say he can command the shadows that swirl around him to do his bidding. Others say they speak to him, whispering the thoughts of his enemies. Regardless, Alessandra knows what she deserves, and she’s going to do everything within her power to get it. But Alessandra’s not the only one trying to kill the king.
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Excellent and Unique
- By English Teacher on 03-04-20
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The Spellshop
- By: Sarah Beth Durst
- Narrated by: Caitlin Davies
- Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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She and her assistant, Caz, a magically sentient spider plant, have spent the last eleven years sequestered among the empire’s most precious spellbooks, preserving their magic for the city’s elite. But when a revolution begins and the library goes up in flames, she and Caz save as many books as they can carry and flee to a faraway island Kiela was sure she’d never return to: her childhood home.
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My Soul Needed This Book
- By Ms.Me on 08-30-24
By: Sarah Beth Durst
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Musashi
- By: Eiji Yoshikawa, Charles S. Terry - translator
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 53 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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The classic samurai novel about the real exploits of the most famous swordsman. Miyamoto Musashi becomes a reluctant hero to a host of people whose lives he has touched and by whom he has been touched. Inevitably, he has to pit his skill against the naked blade of his greatest rival.
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Good Historical Novel
- By The Walking Dude on 08-11-19
By: Eiji Yoshikawa, and others
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American Prometheus
- The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
- By: Kai Bird, Martin J. Sherwin
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 26 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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J. Robert Oppenheimer was one of the iconic figures of the 20th century, a brilliant physicist who led the effort to build the atomic bomb but later confronted the moral consequences of scientific progress. When he proposed international controls over atomic materials, opposed the development of the hydrogen bomb, and criticized plans for a nuclear war, his ideas were anathema to powerful advocates of a massive nuclear buildup during the anti-Communist hysteria of the early 1950s.
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An American Tragedy
- By Edith on 12-13-07
By: Kai Bird, and others
What listeners say about The Poppy War
Highly rated for:
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- Jake Chappelle
- 05-17-18
Bright Star Burns Quick
I heard about this book through a Reddit post a few months ago, and to my delight it was available when a recent cross country drive came up. I fell into the world immediately. From the get go, Rin’s drive and ambition had me following along. For every one of her achievements, the stakes grew. From street to to school, to war and all its atrocities, Rin’s experience is certainly a harrowing one.
Now, I applaud miss Kuang’s debut. The world vivid and pulses with a real brutality. She paints action scenes so fluidly, and her sensory input is fantastic. The first two parts were unrelentingly gripping.
As the book continued, there came a shift from Rin’s internal struggle from more of what she did to more of what she thought. The philosophical quandaries began to dominate the pages, and the pace of the story started to trudge. Not to say that I don’t like understanding a characters thoughts, but it felt like they began to loop in redundancy. I think a large part of that is due to Rin’s obsession with Altan, and who through and through felt like the weakest character. Anything focused on him and his rage or hatred just slogged. And the heavy focus on him towards the end of the book really arrested the momentum going into the war.
All in all, I really enjoyed most of the book. The blips that irked me were not enough to keep me from finishing it. I appreciate the fact that miss Kuang pulled zero punches with her historical references, and I look forward to future books.
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16 people found this helpful
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- Joshua
- 09-15-19
average fantasy
the none eropean setting help it feel very refreshing, Felt like the middle slogg a bit to much. the academy part could have been better fleshed out didnt feel like you get much of chance to know many of the side characters introduced during academy times of the story. the story also suffers from white room syndrome where often there would be barely any description beside knowing there was a table in the room kind of thing or get no description at all even if characters changed rooms or farther locations. action scenes were often very vague but that enjoyment is just readers preference I guess. There was good job with food description and the storys good length to listen to while traveling.
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- Scott
- 11-07-21
Wow that was a lot
A a a a a. A a. A an any cat rat rep deep k
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- Alicia Hern
- 04-13-21
why doesn't this book have a trigger warnings
so much to unpack with what I just read. So upu know this has lots of need to know spoilers! #1 Why doesn't The Poppy War by R.F Kuang have trigger warnings for rape!!! This is the new It book everyone is talking about. And no one is talking about the SEXUAL ASSAULT
In chapter 21 or 22 I think it is horriblely graphic. #2 I am so ok with war books, I am so ok with magic and I'm great with mixing them together... buttt this book did not mix well In my opinion. There was a more a focus on the gruesomeness of War It was just so focused on how awful war is and how awful drugs Than to really give give us an understanding of the powers in this world. The magic was to watered down with drugs to make any true understanding to why people are fighting for it.
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- Tippy L
- 06-07-18
Wonderful debut! Congratulations!
Very nice debut novel. the sequel will be very interesting. good character history, but could use more history about the twins. looking forward to the next book.
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- Rose
- 12-02-19
Brutal but incredible book.
excellent prose and fantastic narrator. not for the faint of heart. it does not dance around wartime atrocities, and it's better for it.
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- Kaitlyn lacquement
- 09-16-20
Started with the book, ending with the audiobook
Let’s just say I started off with the physical book and I trudged through it. Then I decided I didn’t want to give up on the book and I used my credit to get the audiobook. I’m not disappointed that I did, I’m disappointed that I didn’t start from the beginning with the audio. I think Emily did a great job narrating. Some of the men’s voices were funny but I still enjoyed it. I was able to get in to the story more because of her narration. I will probably but the audiobook for Dragons Republic, instead of reading the physical copy though.
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- Anonymous User
- 09-25-21
Not sure I got it?
Unsophisticated writing at best at par with The Hunger Games. The book starts well but the author quickly takes the plot on a meandering course of magic and warfare that honestly doesn’t make much sense. The characters are a bit cookie cutter and their development adequate at best. Not a bad listen but surely there is better out there.
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- J. Angel
- 10-13-21
Brilliant, Game Changing, and Brutal!
(No Spoilers) This series set a new high bar for me in grimdark warfare realism, and may have actually changed my expectations of Fantasy books in general.
THE GOOD
Paradigm Shift? This is one of those series that once you've read it, you wonder why no one else was been writing this way before? Most if not all Fantasy books featuring war all present it from the viewpoint of nobility, wizards, generals, soldiers, etc. I now have the expectation of seeing the collateral damage to the common folk, and if the author doesn't include that viewpoint it's going to feel like a cop-out.
Echoes of Red Rising While reading I was struck by how much this series reminds me of Red Rising, but in a good way. While Poppy Wars didn't spend nearly as long in the "school" setting Red Rising, it does pull heavily from the relationships formed there. Much like Red Rising, you can expect every character from the school to make an appearance at some point, and play some important role in the story due to their connection to the main character.
Similarly, I found the tone of the book reminded me quite a bit of Red Rising. Because everything the characters do is so damn important with thousands (or millions) of lives hinging on their decisions. The stakes are always very high.
Gore Factor: At this point, I'm all in on grimdark, and DAMN does this deliver. The graphic descriptions of atrocities committed by both sides are all the more harrowing because it's all based loosely on real events.
People are horrible y'all.
THE NOT-AS-GOOD
I am having trouble coming up with anything negative to say about this series. Perhaps the only gripe I could level at the series is that it was a bit tiring to read. It's "heavy", and not something I'm likely to reread anytime soon. I'm glad I read it, but this was a series that takes you to a dark mental place, so perhaps avoid this if you happen to be going through a rough patch.
THE VERDICT
I think this series is brilliant, and I will be following the authors career closely.
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- Alex Kronk
- 10-09-21
Absolutely love this book and how is this a debut.
Rin may be a little intense and extra morally grey but wow am I fully invested in her survival. The school is wild. Tutor... Altan... Jung... So many moving pieces. IF YOU NEED TRIGGER WARNINGS MAKE SURE YOU TAKE A GANDER. Chapter 21 will destroy you so no shame in skipping if need be. That being said the brutality in this story draws from the authors background on Chinese history and is a no fluff depiction of war. Also how dare R.F. Kuang write such a complex story with vibrant characters at such a young age while in school because I'm over her questioning what I've done with my life.
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