Fantasy Writers Week, 2023
“Wow wow wow to R. F. Kuang’s interview. She is just bubbling over with enthusiasm, personality, and intellect. It’s amazing that she’s delving into such different settings and characters. I love how she describes her process – writing the scenes she feels passionate about then going back and interlacing them to make the plot, how she has to love what she’s working on to write it. And the 3-part structure with many small points of tension and resolution within. I like her ideas of magic as a metaphor for nuclear weapons or DNA technology – “everyone is a bit afraid because no one can control it perfectly.” The interviewer had great questions and was able to optimize the time with Kuang. Thank you for making this happen.”
Wesleyan University, 2023
“I thought the event was a great success, there were many people all very eager for the Q&A portions as much as the book signing. I loved seeing just how excited the attendees were to have Rebecca with us! You could tell she was connecting with the audience and that they were super engaged. Rebecca was an amazing speaker, and always gave incredible in-depth responses to the questions Steve asked that really blew us all away!”
Oxford Review of Books
“The true magic of Kuang’s novel lies in its ability to be both rigorously academic and consistently welcoming to the reader, making translation on the page feel as enchanting and powerful as any effects it can achieve with the aid of silver.”
Kirkus Reviews
“It’s ambitious and powerful while displaying a deep love of language and literature…Dark academia as it should be.”
Booklist (starred review)
“Kuang follows her award-winning Poppy War trilogy with an engaging fantasy about the magic of language. Her richly descriptive stand-alone novel about an ever-expanding, alternate-world empire powered by magically enhanced silver talismans scrutinizes linguistics, history, politics, and the social customs of Victorian-era Great Britain.”