After HarperCollins emerged victorious in its heated battle to publish R.F. Kuang's The Poppy War (2018), they moved quickly to publish the novel, which they thought would be an overnight success. The novel, which is set in 20th-century China, follows a poor orphan named Rin, who tries to escape her arranged marriage and eventually, a career selling opium, by going to a military academy called Sinegard. After spending a year learning and exploring herself (with the help of shamans and psychedelic drugs) at the school, Rin joins her fellow classmates to defend the school against an attack from the Mugen Federation. After successfully navigating several tricky situations involving the enemy and her personal life, Rin and her classmates ultimately become dedicated to destroying the Mugen and in time, destroying their homeland.
Few authors are able to credibly claim that publishers were engaged in a bidding war to publish their book at the young age of 20. Kuang is one of those authors. And publisher's faith in Kuang and his novel was rewarded handsomely, as the novel received exceptionally positive reviews and quickly became a bestseller. Wrote Publisher's Weekly in the review of the novel: "The book deftly explores dark themes and imagery with a surprisingly light, sometimes humorous tone."
