Thank you for watching this episode of the breakdown! Check out the book here and support local bookshops: bookshop.org/a/89948/9780062662583
@FrenulemEnjoyer Жыл бұрын
Will you do a Asoiaf breakdown?
@taimohamed4447 Жыл бұрын
I need a One Piece breakdown
@taimohamed4447 Жыл бұрын
Thank you for the heart ❤
@deanryanmartin Жыл бұрын
Hey DG. Please have a breakdown on The Lightbringer by Brent Weeks. Thank you.
@destro6971 Жыл бұрын
I love how light hearted and whimsical this series is, it’s like being wrapped in a wool blanket on a cold day. Truly a healing experience for all who read it. 🔥☠️🔥☠️🔥☠️🔥☠️
@bendover7841 Жыл бұрын
I feel like you're lying me.....
@oliverdemille8388 Жыл бұрын
@@bendover7841 More than a little.
@destro6971 Жыл бұрын
@@bendover7841 yeah, much more than a little. I did enjoy it, but yikes it’s a downer
@Sp4rKzTV Жыл бұрын
@@bendover7841 It starts off all cool and whimsical but shit hits the fan halfway through the first book and it's pretty hardcore from there until the end. Regardless, I really enjoyed this book series. To me it was on par with the First Law Trilogy.
@katieamarsh Жыл бұрын
Fits right into that “cozy fantasy” genre. 😂
@august1837 Жыл бұрын
Poppy war is the most brutal thing I’ve read by far. I don’t know if I would ever dare to read something that dark again, but god did I love that trilogy. I wasn’t prepared but I was glued to every scene. It encouraged me to diversify my fantasy reading. And I may or may have not stumbled into a reread of the dragon republic 2 days ago so this video’s timing was great.
@bendover7841 Жыл бұрын
You should take a break from the dark stuff and read something lighthearted and fun like Berserk.
@greengandalf9116 Жыл бұрын
Don't read Malazan then lol. The second book is worse than this trilogy.
@AlexInASmallTown Жыл бұрын
I also wouldn't recommend anything by Joe Abercrombie. All his books are amazing but they're also very brutal.
@kdot78 Жыл бұрын
@@bendover7841 or, de sade
@madamebelle-5 ай бұрын
_Laughs in A Song of Ice and Fire_
@tygrysiepiorka9866 Жыл бұрын
What i love about it especially the first book is the tone shift. I went blind into it and enjoyed the ya elements but what made me really appreciate it was realizing that these teenagers who study in a military academy are completely unprepared for a real war. I also love Rin
@artisticbean494510 ай бұрын
Yes!! this is exactly how I feel about the tone shift, it was a vital part of the story in my opinion and I can't understand why others critisize it.
@stijnionio8238 Жыл бұрын
I feel like "inspired by real-world history" is quite generous for The Poppy War. It's mostly "basically actually real-world history with some different names and a few magic people squished in"
@tomasxfranco Жыл бұрын
A la song of ice and fire
@Dannsenman Жыл бұрын
@@tomasxfranco I felt like a song of ice and fire distinguished itself more from history with some solidly cementing world building, which was more lacking in the Poppy War trilogy for me
@robertm.8653 Жыл бұрын
As a massive history nerd I was super impressed by how well she depicted in a fantasy way the events of the Sino Japanese War and also addressing the Western Colonialism. I was also unaware about the Yellow River Flood until reading about the Four Gorges Dam in the book, and figured it must have also been used in real life.
@itsgonnabeanaurfromme10 ай бұрын
That's a way to put it I suppose. The events are basically from that so I hesitate to say it was inspired. And the story of Sun Tzu where she just ripped it off and renamed him. Nope. Not a fan of that
@anthonnygeoffrey707110 ай бұрын
the fact that the battles themselves are very porly described, if at all, did not bother you? As a bit of a history nerd myself, i was very put off buy the author's apparent lack of understanding of the Sun tzu strategy lessons that she was so often quoting
@DwayneRidgwayOfficial Жыл бұрын
Out of everything I have read, I'd actually consider The Poppy War to be the trilogy that got me into reading fantasy. And one of the scenes near the end of The Burning God still might be my favorite scene in fiction, period. Such a wonderful series and it genuinely deserves the praise it gets and more.
@rgrex16 ай бұрын
Wonder which scene you're talking about? I just finished The Burning God today and loved it but I'm curious lol
@DwayneRidgwayOfficial6 ай бұрын
@@rgrex1 Riga waking up and the scene to follow. (Minimal spoilers for those who haven't read. Please ignore.)
@sourcastic Жыл бұрын
5:00 If you're wondering, the length is actually 19 hours like Daniel says, not 9 like it says on screen. Very small nitpick, great video as always. Loving the breakdown series.
@TheEarthenLie Жыл бұрын
I double checked my audio copy and it’s 19 hours. He had me doing a double take with that length.
@Ultr4l0f Жыл бұрын
Daniel about 3 years ago: "Berserk is some edgelord BS." Daniel now: "Berserk is now a measurment on my newly invented tradegy-scale." Glad you came around :)
@ruggedsinger2118 Жыл бұрын
I finished The Poppy War just a couple of weeks ago and it will forever be burned into my mind. I love history and found it really fun recognising some of the events that happened in the books and real life. The ending has still not left me and it finally pushed me into start writing my own book. This trilogy changed me and I will forever be grateful for that.
@noahjohnson5603 Жыл бұрын
I remember listening to the trilogy during the summer of ‘21, and I really loved it. The final shot/description from _The Burning God_ has been burnt into my head ever since. Based on how _Babel_ turned out, R.F. Kuang is definitely getting better and better with each publication.
@winterwoodbooks Жыл бұрын
I was just reading Babel and loving it, already considered this series, your timing is perfect!
@AE8dood Жыл бұрын
you should definitely check it out! i also read and loved babel prior to reading this series. i am actually on the last chapter of the burning god, so the timing of this video really is perfect lol
@Luka2023- Жыл бұрын
Just want to say Daniel that the quality of recent videos this year has been fantastic, the editing and prep put into them is brilliant 🤙
@blankpagepanic11 ай бұрын
I finished this series this weekend and it absolutely rewired my brain chemistry. I will think about these characters forever. On my favorites shelf for sure. Now I just need to get my hands on those damn hardcovers.
@joshhankins6854 Жыл бұрын
I'm glad you brought up RF Kuang's improvements as an author as the series went on. I almost didn't finish Book 1 because I was so frustrated at the execution of the cool ideas and world. Glad I stuck with it though, Book 2 was a huge jump in quality. The Poppy Wars became one of my favorite series and Babel is high on my list of favorite individual books.
@chaseblackstock2859 Жыл бұрын
The first book has been sitting in my to read pile for a while now. Looking forward to finally getting around to it
@lemon8283 Жыл бұрын
I absolutely love The Poppy War series, so thank you for making a breakdown video for it!
@OverlyAverageBen Жыл бұрын
I love the phrase "people who still have to live". Because, boy do I feel that burden lol. Also Yellowface is sooooo good, so even though it isn't fantasy and you won't review it on the channel, I really hope you pick it up outside of the channel! Bring on RotE!
@funkehfunkeh Жыл бұрын
Hey Daniel, great content as always. Here's a rather niche perspective for you - I'm Singaporean, ethnically Chinese. I read the poppy war and loved it, but some of my friends did not, because they felt it was too much of a fusion. I would be considered slightly more western/non-traditional than the average Singaporean. Some of my friends skew more the other way (for example they read much of the same English-language fiction as I do, but they also read Chinese fiction) and they felt rather weird about the poppy war. Like how some people don't like fusion foods - because the Poppy War does feel like a fusion book, even to me. As much as Rebecca is Chinese as well and one of her sources is her grandfather who literally grew up in China, she's also American and her writing probably has been influenced by that. Furthermore, seeing Chinese words in an English book was strange for my friends, as well as the way they're used. They also disagreed on some of the (Chinese) word choices. They also didn't like the way the myths/historical figures of people like Ziya, Nezha and Sunwukong (the monkey God) were adapted. Like cherry picking characters from five different unrelated stories and throwing them together in a semi-historical narrative. To be honest, I don't know any of those myths (except Sunwukong, vaguely) so it didn't bother me, but to others I can see how that would be weird. It would be interesting to get more Chinese perspectives of this work. And it will be something Asians will have to grapple with over time, as more non-western fiction gets written and popularized. Do we support it just because it's Asian-authored and Asian-based? Or is staying true to the context important as well? The target audience must also be considered. At the end of the day my personal view is that language, culture, and stories are made to change over time, and we should embrace that while still valuing traditional values and stories.
@rosebud849 Жыл бұрын
Your fascination with numbers just reminds me of Kitay....
@Nyxduder Жыл бұрын
By some act of fate I started reading the poppy war the day this video released and finished it not too long ago. And it's utterly fantastic
@nuxus2 Жыл бұрын
Just finished poppy war yesterday while on vacation. The first two days i finished "legend & lattes" then i went on to read poppy war. Almost broke my neck with that whiplash and i think this book came closer than any other to giving me *actual* nightmares. The blip at the back of the Edition was perfect "i thought i was prepared. I was Not". I actually have waking flashbacks to some of the parts of the book, closest to having a waking nightmare that i ever came. Its genuinely a great book, with a lot to say. But shiva, Kristna and Christ only read that when you prepared for something *super* dark and in an emotionally stabile state
@NiceBeard Жыл бұрын
Same, bro. The first book really scar me. It took me weeks before i stop thinking about it all the time. I can't bring myself to read the second and third book. And very unlucky of me, i read it right after the war start, the anxiety was terrifying.
@RiseeRee Жыл бұрын
This is just what I needed to continue with this series. I loved the first book, but was a bit hard to get into The Dragon Republic after the high of the first ending.
@musicgenius1948 Жыл бұрын
Book 2 is even better
@andrewwright64 Жыл бұрын
I read the trilogy last year and really enjoyed it! It ranges in tone wildly though, from Name of the Wind style beginnings to full on uber-intense grimdark. Gave me whiplash but I loved it.
@gongarcia8814 Жыл бұрын
It's a... hard series to read. I believe part of the reason why I like Cradle so much is because I read it right after finishing this series, and it was such a breath of fresh air (that I quite needed). Got to give it props for making me feel so goddamned bad, when it comes to immersion and making you empathize with its characters it definitely gets a 10. (Although that empathy pretty quickly leads to suffering). I do like grimdark here and there, but The Poppy War puts the GRIM in grimdark, for sure.
@bobfunkmeiser9506 Жыл бұрын
Just finished this series two days ago, the absolute timing is amazing
@jackinthebox1993 Жыл бұрын
This is actually really well done. Poppy war is one of the main series I want to dive right into when I'm really ready to start consuming adult fantasy once more 📖
@davidwilcock2416 Жыл бұрын
Hated Poppy War... But keep these breakdowns coming, the more people read, the better. I actually picked poppy war up because you recommended it. On this occasions our tastes diverge, but I also picked up malazan because of your breakdown and that... Well that is a masterpiece.
@xylonpesquera8605 Жыл бұрын
I read the first book. It was too dark for me. That city...I never want to read grimdark now.
@Ibajedi Жыл бұрын
I couldn't get through even half of the first book, the characters melded together for me and if the main character wasn't the focus I wouldn't even be able to decern her from anyone else. And the magic system was far beyond confusing.
@bakthihapuarachchi3447 Жыл бұрын
And yet inspired by true events 😥
@Ibajedi Жыл бұрын
@@bakthihapuarachchi3447 I love history and enjoy reading anything I can about historical events, but the poppy war so poorly written it seemed to be a 11th grade essay that wasn't edited even once.
@davidwilcock2416 Жыл бұрын
@@xylonpesquera8605 it was dark, but it was never real for me. The character did so many implausible, silly things. Don't be put off grimdark. Try Joe Abercrombie. He is my favourite and it's not so much dark as very, very real. The bleakness is offset by some wonderful humour.
@JasonLorette Жыл бұрын
Poppy War is one of my favourite series that I've read, no question, Kuang is a fantastic author...Babel's prose showed her growth and it was a-mazing. A series review (with book 6 slated for May) you might consider is "Red Rising".
@Silverdynamix Жыл бұрын
For me I really enjoyed the first book, book two was a step down, and book three was a step further down. I still enjoy the other two books, but there is something about the feeling of the first book that the other two cannot quite capture for me.
@Nasser851000 Жыл бұрын
Currently reading the last book in the series ;)
@BlueTypewriter Жыл бұрын
Midway through the first book and ordered the other two just yesterday! A god among men, you are 🙏🏽
@kietus Жыл бұрын
After reading the Poppy War, I had to DNF the rest of the trilogy. It just wasnt for me. I was super disappointed. I completely bought the series because of the gorgeous cover art, and it was a sad day when I decided to sell them all. I tried Babel thinking it would be different, but I felt exactly the same and DNF'd it after 100 pages. It's just me, but I just do not enjoy her writing style I guess.
@jokingswood5 ай бұрын
I know this is a year later, but I'm curious as to why you DNF? I'm halfway through Book 2, and the series hasn't fully clicked with me yet.
@tobiasgrunbaum7575 Жыл бұрын
Great idea with the tone scale! Could you make a website where you add the tone scores to the books you’ve already read? Would be really interesting to see where you rank WOT, ASOIAF, Red Rising and all the rest
@Heathennation1976 Жыл бұрын
I own the first two books in the series they may get read this year this video definitely makes me want to read them great content
@nb217 Жыл бұрын
I was looking for something new to read after I finish my current series and this video made me go to my local book store and buy the first book and order the second through them. Can't wait to get into it.
@Glokta4 Жыл бұрын
Thank you for the breakdown. I think Poppy War just jumped to the next on my TBR, just behind the Malazan series.
@joelmitchell8081 Жыл бұрын
Just bought the first book a week ago! This video is perfectly timed
@ANIMEniacReview Жыл бұрын
Minor editing error for the length of the audobook for Poppy War. It's 19 hours, not 9 hour long.
@twheeler198011 ай бұрын
I read the first book like… meh. The second book like… huh. And the third book.. ouch. BUT when I finished the trilogy I looked back and realized I was hooked and bamboozled from book one. Great trilogy. She’s quite talented. Subversive and brutal.
@zanleuxs Жыл бұрын
I'm almost finished 'The Burning God', one of the best books I've read in a long time
@jaredjjacobs Жыл бұрын
Yeah the Poppy War kicks ass. Kicks my ass emotionally
@muharathataron873110 ай бұрын
Oh crap! When you looked into the camera and said "I am watching the video at 1.5 speed". You really got me and I laughed out loud. Imao.
@AyushGupta-qs5xw Жыл бұрын
Masterpieces, simply put, you give them a special place in your heart Another kind, idk what to call it, but they make a special place in your heart without you wanting to, poppy wars is the latter
@masoninho8 Жыл бұрын
Great series. Burning God's ending was a bit abrupt but apart from that, I loved it
@readingwithrebeccanicole Жыл бұрын
I'm just finished book 1, and if the the rest of the books are like this it's well on its way to being my favorite series
@KurseDHero Жыл бұрын
Great, now i want a nice adaptation
@TheOnlyWay2Go. Жыл бұрын
I loved the first half of the first book. The intense academic drive of the MC, to the point of sheer insanity, and that being paid off was the ultimate catharsis for a college student like me. But the later half completely ruined the book for me. To avoid spoilers I'll just say this: It was a dramatic shift in pacing and tone, trying to cram some dense real world history ON TOP of an already complex drug magic system exploring themes of addiction and recovery. It felt like one book that would have been better split into two. The time skips, the landscape changes, the new characters, the graphic war scenes, all would have had time to breathe and hit home further. I've debated reading the second book, but not if it can make up for the failings of the first
@admiralepic1357 Жыл бұрын
I'm genuinely not sure how critics can ignore all these glaring flaws. Half of the book doesn't make sense (either characters forget what their motivations are and do what the author wants or forget information that's been told to them multiple times) and the other half has pacing issues. I'm not sure how Daniel can claim it has "few flaws" when it's got these massive issues that break immersion an make the book really hard to grasp. That's what annoys me at least: the critics that seem to just not see that the book isn't perfect.
@viinaart Жыл бұрын
The tone is SO weird in the first book (which is the only one of these I'll ever touch), it honestly kinda reads like Kuang forgot she was trying to write grimdark for the first half and then just decided to squeeze every bad thing ever into like two chapters
@losgann Жыл бұрын
The first book is the best of the three, if you weren't sold by the end of the first book probably don't bother.
@nokaroundgy8674 Жыл бұрын
I just finished reading the first book and I definitely feel this (though I did end up enjoying it a lot). The Sinegard and Khurdalain halves of this novel should definitely have been 2 novels. It would have flowed better and allowed for deeper characterization of the academy students and the Cike. We could also have explored the characters of Feylen, Dr. Shiro, Tearzen, and the Empress much more. As it was , all of these characters have big impact on the first book story without really being included outside of their one chapter.
@noraeld5020 Жыл бұрын
This video is super well made with the epic music doing justice to the series! I love the goblin breakdown series
@AqsaMaryam-zo7kz22 күн бұрын
I can say about this book that not everyone has a taste of this type. But this type is the best
@TimdeWouter Жыл бұрын
Just want to let you know I love these (new?) little effects that you use between shots. Fun, but in line with the tone of the video and also subtle enough. Great job (also love the video's content and I will definitely go read this series now!)
@devinallen6534 Жыл бұрын
Rin just got so many demons it can be hard to hear about them over and over and over and over and over but its a gripping story nonetheless
@sarahkendall5714 Жыл бұрын
I will one day read the 'The Poppy War' trilogy, but I am still in recovery from 'Babel' I loved Babel, but it also emotionally destroyed me.
@drex8891 Жыл бұрын
I won't be watching this video yet since I'm 1/3 with The Poppy War, and I own the other 2 books. But I'll have this on my watch later so that I can enjoy it after I'm done
@fredfrond6148 Жыл бұрын
Rin’s childhood is terrible and then her life gets difficult. What a great synopsis.
@KalNertea Жыл бұрын
I listened to the audiobook after you have recommended this on your channel. That was a ride, indeed. I like grimdark, but man, that was daaark. Loved it. Additionally, Rebecca won totally legit and official Tolkien Jeopardy here on Daniel Greene channel, which shows how enlightend being she is.
@lsdeann_3293 Жыл бұрын
I have this on my shelf, but I've actually heard mostly bad things about it, so it's very low in my TBR list. It did have an interesting premise that immediately grabbed me and got me to buy the book, though, so I'm sure there's something worthwhile there! :)
@duckynine9713 Жыл бұрын
i started the first one a few days ago, i genuinely did not know anything about this book going in to it and it has shit beyond my comprehension of dark. I’m 17 and never in my life have i ever read a book this dark but i literally cannot stop reading. I don’t really know what to expect with the next two but i’m just about finished with the first
@katieamarsh Жыл бұрын
Dude, review her next book, even if it’s not fantasy. We will watch it.
@AqsaMaryam-zo7kz22 күн бұрын
You cant find Rin and Kitay's love for each other in this world now.
@Noahbudoa Жыл бұрын
please review more Vinland Saga
@Ashtiel Жыл бұрын
Read the first two and could not finish the third. It was too dark and depressing and I tried to read it during a time where the real world was too dark and depressing. Unfortunately I probably won't finish it. It did cement into my brain that I am not built for grimdark, so at least it was a learning experience about my personal tastes as well.
@zhazhagab0r Жыл бұрын
I had the same experience, but I think I would have liked it if there had been a different character arc for Rin. Watching her make the same mistakes page after page was the most brutal part.
@carmineknight9123 Жыл бұрын
These videos are such good advertising, I really want to pick this series up
@unseenasymptote49766 ай бұрын
“What if Mao was a teenage girl…” was what convinced me I need to read this. 😭 Once I’m caught up on the Cosmere this very well might be my next read
@samtheactualkenku6205 Жыл бұрын
If I could make a suggestion for the next Breakdown, it would be for some old school fantasy I don't see many people talk about, and that would be the Dying Earth series from Jack Vance (aka the author and series that inspired the Greyhawk setting, magic system, and one of the biggest baddies of D&D, since Vecna is an anagram of Vance)
@stephencruickshank3868 Жыл бұрын
I found it interesting that by the end of the series, the colonist absolutely have the moral high ground. Not what I was expecting.
@me.and.armini Жыл бұрын
I ended up DNFing the first book right BEFORE chapter 21 and after hearing what happens in that chapter I think I made the right choice. I loved the writing style and everything, but it was just a little too dark and disturbing for me.
@itsgonnabeanaurfromme10 ай бұрын
Good for you. Not everyone needs to think or be challenged by reading.
@IsomerSoma8 ай бұрын
@@itsgonnabeanaurfromme If you want to be challenged/think read a book on real analysis. No seriously your comment here is just off.
@Dekken88 Жыл бұрын
The Poppy war... I hate this book. I think the reviews should absolutely warn people of the incredible amount and detail of gore this book contains in its second half - also dont forget multiple genocide's. And I didnt go further than the first book. I would have been very grateful if I have been spared the experience. So thanks Daniel for starting with that! If these are not things you want to read about this is not for you!
@jp-st8vn Жыл бұрын
That tonal scale thing is really cool. Can you make a video about 1 - 10 tonal scale for every series. Btw, love you Daniel 💓💓
@pizza6464 Жыл бұрын
It’s a crime that Dresden Files breakdown isn’t here yet.
@cookejoe935 Жыл бұрын
This video led me to read The Poppy War and I have no regrets.
@PrincessNicEssus Жыл бұрын
The grittier the better for me. Loved this series!
@virginia905 Жыл бұрын
Unpopular opinion: Poppy war is one the most underwhelming and unsatisfactory trilogies ever written. The protagonist is insufferable and accomplishes nothing, the side characters all die or just disappear. The main conflict is left unresolved. The third book is a train wreck that should have passed through a strong, determined editor before being publish. Truly a shame a trilogy with such a good premise fell so short of actually telling its own story.
@mahchenlay1 Жыл бұрын
Will there be anything darker than berserk?
@shooglechic-pi4kz3 ай бұрын
I greatly regret not reading the reviews before being sugfested this book series. I wish I was emotionally and mentally prepared.
@theantihero420 Жыл бұрын
Daniel, you sweet summer child. My old ass doesn’t have time for 1.5x, we have BOOKS TO CONSUME!! 2x for unfamiliar series, or ones with complex dialog or plots to follow, and 2.5x for rereads, non-fiction, and YA or below-level literature.
@joshthompson8506 Жыл бұрын
Given that so much of the Poppy War is based on Asian and Chinese history I'm kinda disappointed it hasn't been released in Mandarin yet. I suspect it's probably because a lot of it is pretty critical of the regimes and ideals of the era, many of which are still held by the Chinese population today. A shame, I'd love for my wife to read it - she's a huge reader but her English isn't quite fluent enough to tackle something this dense.
@ObamaMpreg Жыл бұрын
I sat through the torture scenes in 1984 barely blinking, but I can’t even re-read the part where they get to Golyn Niis.
@MantleNotMouse Жыл бұрын
The timing of this! I'm about 90% of the way through the first book
@diehard7517 Жыл бұрын
Yeah, the reception of Poppy War was really polarized and I’m definitely on the negative side of that. I see a lot of people calling it disturbing because of its’ dark tone. And I certainly find it disturbing. Mostly, due to the abundance of cliches, derivative worldbuilding, main heroine that is about as interesting as a piece of wet carton and weird mishmash of historical references and allusions that really don’t go well together. I had to drop the first book after reading a little over a half when it started to resemble a third-rate young adult fantasy novel with tropes and humor lifted from some mediocre shonen manga/anime. So, for a good Asia-inspired speculative fiction series, I’d probably have to stick with The Green Bone Saga. Or Liu Cixin, honestly. He does a better job at incorporating Chinese history and culture into his work, even though it’s not the main topic of his books.
@wizardunionizer Жыл бұрын
Couldn’t agree more. Kuang’s “what if Mao was a teenage girl” concept is written with as much grace as can be expected of a 19 year old Georgetown graduate whose family emigrated to the U.S.
@diehard7517 Жыл бұрын
@@wizardunionizer Yeah, before reading the book, i was surprised how young Kuang is and, to be fair, being a published author at 26 with 4 successful novels under your belt is really impressive, however, Poppy War reads pretty much like something a person in their early 20's would write.
@MrChria5k Жыл бұрын
FYI, The poppy war has also been translated to Indonesian, but isn't on the list in 4:08. And actually you've already shown the cover of indonesian version in 01:12 and 08:28
@lordgalosh11 ай бұрын
coincidentally, breakdown is the exact word to describe how i felt after finishing this series
@bretter2479 ай бұрын
I read the very first one all the way through (okay listened at 2.5 speed, sue me) and every minute of it hurt my heart. I recognized the real world corollaries though, and similar to the harder scenes in Malazan, used it as a mirror to some of the worst humanity can offer. But yeah, was NOT strong enough to go straight into the second, will try it once my mind has refreshed...
@alexm-e4910 Жыл бұрын
I had a lot of issues when I read the Poppy War series around it’s depiction of racism and genocide because it felt as though the story was justifying both so long as the “right people” were doing it. Maybe that’s my own First Nation/ descendant of residential school (look it up) survivor’s perspective but it’s not unreasonable. I don’t think. Shé:kon
@oc4025 Жыл бұрын
So happy to see this, love your channel and love The poppy war seris
@liveadhdtv Жыл бұрын
My personal peeves regarding the poppy war. 1. Poor prose and pacing. Dan showed crossed check boxes but did not elaborate. The prose is a little on the clunky but forgivable side. The pacing is noticeable side because of the use of time skips. 2. This wasn't a problem for me, but it's something to note. Like Dan said this is a corruption arc. The main character remains compelling, but increasingly unlikeable. 3. Kuang of course has to talk about the real life parallels, but she toes the line between informative and preachy. That said, it is a brutal mess you can't peel your eyes away from. The world is vibrant, the characters are compelling, and the story makes sense as long as you understand that this is a flawed grimdark world where people make terrible decisions.
@radiosilence3657 Жыл бұрын
Excited to watch this, thank you so much for the video, Daniel! ✌️🤎
@Jonas-ke4ib Жыл бұрын
Just finished the burning god. Daniel is a mind reader :o
@BMHume Жыл бұрын
I know I'm part of the minority on this one, but I couldn't get myself to like this trilogy. I appreciated the setting and the premise of the story, and I really enjoyed the first half of book 1. However, by the end of The Poppy War, a couple of nitpicks with regard to the protagonist and the world itself gave rise to pure annoyance that accompanied me all the way to the end of The Burning God. If I weren't so stubborn when it comes to finishing a series that I've started, I'd probably have left halfway through The Dragon Republic, at the latest. But hey, that's just how it is, not everybody likes the same stuff and that's ok 😉 Still love you for getting me into WoT a couple of years back and many novels since then, Daniel 😘
@magotti14 Жыл бұрын
So I just started reading again and I got myself into fantasy books that don't deal with knights, kings and lords. But instead with other countries mythology such as poppy war and black leopard red wolf. Poppy war is culture and grim dark fantasy at its finest
@rheeaaa2211 Жыл бұрын
It was on my tbr for a while now, deffenetly gonna pick it up soon!
@BrianMyOtherPants Жыл бұрын
Hehehe. Listening to Daniel complain about fast listeners while I'm watching at 2x speed. I'm a monster. :)
@winterwoodbooks Жыл бұрын
The "9hours" on the screen contradicting the "19hohrs" spoken will bug me for the rest of my life.
@crazybiogeek Жыл бұрын
In my audiobook stats for listening on Libby, I had 23:46 for Dragon Republic and 23:47 for The Burning God.
@mioof15 ай бұрын
The one thing that really bothered me about the books was actually the covers. In the story, it is incredibly important that the main character Rin is dark skinned. So why on earth does the cover art show her being pale??
@MEGASPAZ Жыл бұрын
3:50 audio length 9h27min. Not unless you listen at 2x
@dustinraiguel3982 Жыл бұрын
Okay about the audiobook 1.5 speed thing, there are narrators who sound better faster, and stories that feel better faster. But there are also those that really do need to be heard at standard speed. I personally never speed up a Sanderson, as I need time to piece together the implications and callbacks myself.
@Sirithre Жыл бұрын
Meanwhile I'm over here on 2x trying to get through a Sanderson audiobook before I have to return it to the library and wait another 6 weeks to finish it. 😅
@am3703 Жыл бұрын
"Can't be reviewed here on the channel" Review it anyway! We like cool books! If you want to anyway, the channel has grown and changed from just booktube to more of a general fantasy/scifi kinda vibe, even with manga! Nothing wrong with trying new things, succeed or fail.
@JesseTate Жыл бұрын
This may be an unusually critical take but I honestly felt like the emotional impact of the story, and my investment as a whole, was just slowly diminishing the entire time. I haven't thought about it enough to suggest that it's an inaccurate portrayal, or a flawed story, or anything like that . . . . but I have been thinking about it these days and I'm ever more inclined to say it's a flawed story. It started to feel very repetitive after Book I, even perhaps a bit sooner. Kuang clearly thought a lot about this and wove a lot of real-world stuff into the story. She's a smart author and I like her as a person, and I definitely respect her vision here. . . . I did just honestly feel that there wasn't enough depth, richness, redemption . . . . wasn't enough of SOMETHING to connect me with the characters as they all just devolved further and further into hopelessness. It wasn't even necessarily that they got progressively darker or more evil; they pretty much plummeted to darkness all at once and then just never managed to climb out. Maybe it's my own perspective, or failure to understand, which numbed me to the journey--but I don't think so. I think it just failed to 'come to life' because I never felt convinced of the character's emotions. It felt like I was just constantly having these dark angry traumatized things 'described' to me or 'asserted' AT me, without really feeling them. It felt like there was a lot of simplistic explanation of emotions and motivations that a reader shouldn't need to have explained. If you have drawn your reader in and conveyed a true and compelling journey, the reader should be right there with you, resonant, feeling things organically, ALL ALONG. With Poppy War I felt like we were just constantly reminded, essentially every single page: "remember, she's bitter and angry and vengeful and she doesn't know how to feel about that, and she keeps just embracing it and going deeper. Remember, now she feels guilty about THAT, but she doesn't want to feel guilty, so she'll numb the guilt by going deeper, and now she's guilty about THAT, and now THAT, and now THAT . . . ." It felt like someone was just thrusting an endless reminder into my face and asking me to feel or believe it, and I just . . . . didn't. I kept at it and I cared about the character as much as I could, but there just wasn't much redemptive after a while. It felt too repetitive. I had already absorbed all I could absorb of the emotional message, and my investment became more purely rational or academic. (As in: hmm, would this happen this way? What would it be like? Why do I not feel invested anymore? Is that some bad or blindness on my part? Hmm . . . .) And so on. It started feeling like a constant drain without offering any real reward, or any new complex idea. It's a pity because I really wanted to like it. I also felt like the prose itself was fairly frustratingly simple.
@Dannsenman Жыл бұрын
Not just you, you've very aptly described how my other half and I felt reading it
@friiky2008 Жыл бұрын
Yeah, you describe my feelings for Poppy War pretty accurately. A pity, since I was looking forward to it a lot.
@JesseTate Жыл бұрын
@@friiky2008yeah same. If you have any other non-European fantasy to recommend, alt-history, or something, I'm looking for recommendations. I've tried like 15 new series in the past two years but didn't feel gripped by most of them, didn't finish most of them. I just keep reading Rothfuss again and again lol. Other things I've enjoyed in the past couple years: Tigana/rereading Fionavar; Fire and Blood/rereading ASOIAF; Brandon Sanderson's secret projects (I think he does better with shorter stories, less bloated); Spinning Silver; Neil Gaiman And then some scattering of sci fi.
@Alcatratz Жыл бұрын
no shot this video dropped now. im currently reading the first book and im halfway through :D