Poppy War and Shogun

R.F. Kuang: The Poppy War. First volume of a trilogy, I'm told. If the Radiant Emperor duology was an fantasy take on the end of the Yuan and the beginning of the Ming dynasty, this one is a fantasy take on first half of the 20th century China, though the title and the whole backstory aft first misled me to place it in the 19th tcentury (well, in a fantasy version of same). ( Spoilery observations ensue. )

Shogun, episodes 1 - 3: the new tv version which in my part of the world is available on Disney +. The book is my Aged Parent's favourite novel of all times, I'm fond of it myself, and I like the 1980s tv series, so I was both curious and looking forward to finding out how the new version handles the tale. (I was also annoyed by a positive review which betrayed its writer can't have read the novel and probably was working from vague memories of not even the 1980s tv series but from confusing it with the Tom Cruise vehicle "The Last Samurai", because pretty much everything they praised as being original to the new version is actually from the novel.) So far, so good, with a few very little nitpicks which are more due to personal foibles of mine: ( Spoilers for the first three episodes ensue. )

In conclusion: I'm enjoying this new version, and look forward to the remaining episodes.