Tiger Honor by Yoon Ha Lee

 Sebin (they/them) is a tiger spirit on one of the planets in the Thousand Realms.  He idolizes his uncle who is the commander of a Space Forces, they apply for space academy as soon as they are eligible. On the same day Sebin receives his acceptance letter, the clan leader receives a notice that Sebin's uncle has been accused of treason and is in hiding. Tiger Spirits have fierce loyalty to their clan, but when Sebin is called to choose between loyalty to his family and to his new commander and his new friends in Space Forces, it is not an easy choice to make.  He has always looked up to his uncle and has assumed he was wrongly accuse, but what if his uncle is not as honorable as Sebin always thought he was?

This is the second in the series that began with Dragon Pearl.  I liked that one when I read it clear back in 2022 and had decided to put the next on hold right away, but I guess I didn't.  When I finally listened to this one I must admit I had forgotten much of the story and characters of the first one and was a little lost starting out. B
y the end I had figured everything out and enjoyed the book, if not as much as Dragon Pearl, at least decently well.  The world building is interesting as is the magic structure, which is based on Korean mythology.  Sebin is a believable and sympathetic 13-year-old trying to live up to his family's expectations. That said, I thought the fact that Lee made Sebin non-binary and always referred to them as "them/they" was a little distracting.  Really, their sexual orientation had no bearing in the plot at all.  It seemed like it was only included in the book to pander to a publisher's pressure to create more LGBTQ literature. (256 p. 2022)