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A review by bethniamh
Red Sword by Bora Chung
4.0
Many thanks to Honford Star for sending me a physical ARC in exchange for a review!
I read this in two sittings over a single afternoon; we are dropped straight into the story, with a mostly nameless woman held prisoner on a spaceship forced to fight a war by the Imperials for a mysterious white planet. Her and her fellow prisoners want nothing more than to return home; however, their sense of who they are is being uprooted by the Imperials' use of newly developed technology. This story, translated from the Korean by Anton Hur, draws on real events dating back to the 1600s, where Korean soldiers were forced to fight against the Russians on behalf of the Qing dynasty. I enjoyed the way the story moved between chapters in the 'present', detailing the war and the woman's attempts to survive, and brief interludes filling in the backstory and the technological advancements that led to this point. I'll be interested to see others' views on this book upon its publication.
I read this in two sittings over a single afternoon; we are dropped straight into the story, with a mostly nameless woman held prisoner on a spaceship forced to fight a war by the Imperials for a mysterious white planet. Her and her fellow prisoners want nothing more than to return home; however, their sense of who they are is being uprooted by the Imperials' use of newly developed technology. This story, translated from the Korean by Anton Hur, draws on real events dating back to the 1600s, where Korean soldiers were forced to fight against the Russians on behalf of the Qing dynasty. I enjoyed the way the story moved between chapters in the 'present', detailing the war and the woman's attempts to survive, and brief interludes filling in the backstory and the technological advancements that led to this point. I'll be interested to see others' views on this book upon its publication.