The Complete Poppy War Trilogy Audiobook By R. F. Kuang cover art

The Complete Poppy War Trilogy

The Poppy War, The Dragon Republic, The Burning God

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The Complete Poppy War Trilogy

By: R. F. Kuang
Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
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From R. F. Kuang, the #1 New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of Babel, this collection features the novels in her historical military fantasy trilogy—The Poppy War, The Dragon Republic, and The Burning God—a complete epic inspired by the bloody history of China’s twentieth century and filled with treachery and magic.

The Poppy War

A war orphan, Rin earned her place in Nikan’s most elite military school. There, she discovers her lethal, unearthly power of shamanism—and learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive. When an inevitable conflict arises between longtime enemies the Nikara Empire and the Federation of Mugen, Rin realizes her 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. . .

The Dragon Republic

After committing an atrocity in battle, shamanic warrior Rin is consumed with guilt, an opium addiction, and the murderous commands of the fiery Phoenix god. Channeling her anger against the Empress who betrayed Rin’s homeland, she chooses to join forces with the Empress’s enemy, the Dragon Warlord. But as Rin discovers the true natures of the Empress and the Dragon Warlord, the temptation to unleash the Phoenix’s fearsome power grows—and so does her vengeance. . .

The Burning God

After saving Nikan from foreign invaders and battling the evil Empress in a brutal civil war, Rin realizes that her homeland’s real power lies with the millions of common people who thirst for vengeance and revere her as a goddess of salvation. Vowing to defeat all who threaten the shamanic arts, Rin’s power and influence grows—but so does the Phoenix’s intoxicating voice urging her to burn the world and everything in it. . .

“Mixing historical parallels of Chinese history, the themes of war, politics, and colonialism are balanced with terrific, flawed characters and amazing worldbuilding.”—Library Journal (starred review)

Accolades & Awards

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Fantasy World Literature Historical Epic Scary
Complex Characters • Rich Worldbuilding • Exceptional Voice Acting • Compelling Magic System • Raw War Depiction

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I really liked the first book! I felt like there could have been so many different directions the author could have gone, but wanted to focus on basically the troubles of war. After a while, the story just repeated itself over and over. The main character only gets more insufferable as the series goes on. You know how usually when there is an orphan and raised by terrible people, you want to root for them to be better, but she literally focuses on revenge and I never felt like there was a "happy" moment. It felt like the show Prison Break. Starts out solid and then you realize that there was no way for thing to ever go their way and you as the viewer feel defeated because you have nothing to look forward to.

It is a slog

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I got the 3 book combo and thank goodness I did because I would have been PISSED If I would have wasted 3 credits on this series.

Waste of my time

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I enjoyed the first part of the trilogy. Things were not skipped over. Characters were given backgrounds and character development was great. Then the author skipped forward. Then skip forward more and the same connections to characters that I had taken to build were no longer important. Those characters were gone. Replaced by new ones without any context or character building. Just unfortunate.

Skipped forward through events without much context.

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I completely skipped the last chapter of the last book. I kept waiting for growth from the main character...she literally kept making the same wrong mistakes throughout all 3 books, and not even in a likable fashion - there a great villains, and great heros; this character could never decide which she was and ended up being incredibly irritating. Despite that, the side characters made me keep it up until almost the end, when I finally gave up and skipped to the epilogue.

I've never hated a main character more....

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I love this trilogy. I read it as it was released, and this was my first time returning to it (and listening to the audiobook). I found it just as impactful (if not more so) the second time through.

I was going through a really dark time in my life when the second book came out, and I found it comforting to follow a character like Rin who is flawed and has to deal with the shit that life gives her while making plenty of mistakes along the way.

This story is not afraid to lay out dark, no-win scenarios and force you to sit in them, just like real life. There is no easy way out, you can’t just close your eyes and wish it away. You have to deal with it. So yes, these books are dark, and maybe not for everyone. But I enjoyed the ride!

Raw and unflinching

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