Saturday, January 22, 2022

Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee

 Min lives on a poor planet that is part of the 1000 Worlds confederation.  She has been raised to hide the truth about her family, that they possess ancient fox magic that allows them to both shape shift and influence other's feelings with charm.  She has always been proud of her brother Jun who was accepted in the Space Forces, so she is at first devastated, and then suspicious when a government inspector comes to tell the family that her brother has deserted his post. Min leaves home to find out what has really happened to her brother and uses her fox powers to impersonate a cadet on the same ship her brother was on.  As she investigates what happened to Jun, she finds a conspiracy concerning the fabled Dragon Pearl that threatens the security of all the 1000 Worlds.

This is a original and strange addition to the Rick Riordan Presents imprint, but I enjoyed it for its novelty. It was like Korean mythology meets Star Trek.  While the subject matter is a little odd, Lee totally pulls it off with strong world building, interesting and likeable characters, and an engaging mystery plot.  I also thought the ending was clever, but I won't say more about that.  The second in the series just came out this month, and I will definitely be putting a hold on it. (2019, 320 p)

No comments:

Post a Comment