Sci-Fi Bulletin: Exploring the Universes of SF, Fantasy, Horror and Spy-fi!

Starlight Media have optioned the rights to RF Kuang’s fantasy novels, combining the history of twentieth-century China and a world of gods and monsters.

The Poppy War started the sequence in 2018 with The Dragon Republic and The Burning God following annually. It follows Rin, a war orphan from southern China, who aces the national talent exam and is accepted into an elite military academy, Sinegard Academy. Under the guidance of a seemingly crazy and mysterious master, Rin soon discovers a long-lost shamanic power inside her. As the Third Poppy War approaches, Rin may be the only one who can defend her country and its people, but she fears that winning the war may cost her more than she can afford.

Starlight Media’s Peter Luo told Deadline, “The combination of a strong female teenager protagonist, an inspiring theme of an outcast fighting for recognition, and a compelling historical military fantasy grounded in the history of China make this an epic TV package with inbuilt charm that plays universally. We are excited to be adapting the rich and fantastical world that R.F. Kuang has so vividly created.”