Alexia’s Reviews > The Poppy War > Status Update

curiously, i'm becoming less interested in the book as it grows into the war itself. it reads like it's lifted straight from the 2nd sino-japanese war, just with technology wired way back so the magic actually has a place here. and here the lack of characterization really kicks in: with no loyalty to either nikara or the characters, there's no urgency to know what happens next: all this has already happened.

um okay so there is another fictional country that can be matched with its historical counterpart... the ethnical characteristics and regional motifs are unsurprisingly tit for tat.

even the belief systems completely reflect their real country counterpart, bruh. some parts of the world-building feel straight-up derivative, 'this fictional country is like this because this is how they were in world history.' also are we basically using the real world map?

i am liking it so far, but i also take issue with the 'world-building' outside of the magic/lore. it isn't just 'inspired' by history, you can find very direct counterparts for these 'fictional' countries. i'd have much preferred less specific parallels, or just straight-up use the actual names. this feels sneaky, borrowing settings: taking what you like while not needing to be mindful of what really went down.