Rebecca F. Kuang’s (2019, MSc Contemporary Chinese Studies) trilogy of fantasy novels, which begins with The Poppy War, is being adapted for television after Peter Luo’s Starlight Media optioned the rights. Starlight Media has previously backed Crazy Rich Asians and Midway.

The trilogy follows Rin, a poor orphan, who secretly trains to test into the elite Sinegard Academy. Shocking everyone, she gets into the Academy but her journey is far from easy as she is targeted by her classmates for her colour, poverty and gender. Then Rin discovers she has an aptitude for the art of shamanism, which will be much-needed in the war that is coming to the Nikara Empire.

The Poppy War was named book of the year by The Washington Post and the Guardian. The sequel, The Dragon Republic, was published in 2019 and the final book in the series, The Burning God, was published in 2020. The Poppy War and The Dragon Republic were included on Time magazine’s list of the 100 best fantasy books of all time.

Rebecca is currently pursuing a PhD in East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale University. She previously studied at Georgetown University and the University of Cambridge. She has won the Compton Crook Award and the Crawford Award, and was a finalist for the Nebula, Locus, Campbell, and World Fantasy Awards.

You can read a profile of Rebecca here. You can follow Rebecca on Twitter and buy The Poppy War trilogy at Blackwell’s.

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