“The Shaman”

18x24 inches

Original acrylic and oil on black canvas

Made in Seattle, WA, 2026

From The Poppy War Trilogy, by R.F. Kuang, © 2018. Artwork by Carrington Moore. Created with permission of Liza Dawson Associates acting as agent for the author.

"The air behind Jiang was warping, shimmering, turning darker than the night itself. Jiang’s eyes had rolled up into the back of his head. He chanted loudly, singing in that unfamiliar language that Rin had heard him use only once before. 'You are Sealed!' the general bellowed. But he backed rapidly away from the void and clutched his halberd close. 'Am I now?' Jiang spread his arms. Behind him sounded a keening wail, too high-pitched for any beast known to man. Something was coming through the darkness. Beyond the void, Rin saw silhouettes that should exist only in puppetry, outlines of beasts that belonged to story. A three-headed lion. A nine-tailed vixen. A mass of serpents tangled into one another, its multitude of heads snapping and biting in every direction. 'Rin. Nezha.' Jiang didn’t turn around to look at them. 'Run.' Then Rin understood. Whatever was being summoned, Jiang couldn’t control them. The gods will not be called willingly into battle. The gods will always demand something in return. He was doing precisely what he had forbidden her to do."

-R.F. Kuang, The Poppy War