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valkyrisms 's review for:
Dragon Pearl
by Yoon Ha Lee
Dragon Pearl is part of the Rick Riordan Presents imprint, joining a slew of books that are diverse, funny, and fast-paced, and this novel fits right in. Yoon Ha Lee weaves Korean mythology into a narrative that is equal parts sci-fi and fantasy, taking place in both the mystical realm and among the stars. Dragon Pearl ultimately didn't hit all its marks for me for a few odd reasons, but overall I thought it was a fun romp with a protagonist that is original and unusual even among RR Presents usual interesting leads.
Min lives in the Thousand Worlds, an extensive solar system linked together by various methods of space travel. While other worlds in this system are terraformed lushly, giving their inhabitants an easier life and a path to riches, her homeworld was never terraformed properly and now she lives close to poverty, closed in with a multitude of relatives who love her but never give her any peace and most importantly require her to hide her fox magic. Min's true form is a fluffy fox, and she can Charm people into doing what she wants, shift into anyone, and also turn into inanimate objects. Her brother Jun also has this ability, but hid it as he entered the Space Forces to explore the Thousand Worlds. It's when her and her family are accosted by a Space Forces agent who claims that Jun has made off with a missing artifact, the Dragon Pearl, which has the ability to terraform planets to peak inhabitability. Knowing her brother is innocent but unable to work through the official channels, Min begins a journey of deceit, bravery, and magic in order to clear her brother's name and find the Dragon Pearl.
Yoon Ha Lee does a great job here of mixing sci-fi and fantasy; magic and futurism play parts in equal measures. Min is a character right out of a high fantasy novel, she's ultimately not a person at all but rather a spirit that's shaped like a fox. Her powers are heavily influential; her Charm abilities allow her to gently push her way through the narrative, convincing everyone around her to look the other way when she engages in illegal and hilarious antics. I loved the fact that she couldn't only transform into other people but inanimate objects. You get some amazing scenes when your protagonist is a table and can't express herself. But this is ultimately a sci-fi epic, complete with warp drives and massive space armies and pirates among the stars. Rarely do we see sci-fi and fantasy blend together so well: we don't really see elves piloting starships, but Min fits right into this immersive landscape. She isn't the only supernatural element in the narrative, not by far, and the way Lee has woven the fantastical into every seam of this speculative narrative is original and refreshing.
My main issue with this novel is that it felt like it desperately wanted not only to be several books, but also either young adult or adult books. I wasn't immediately familiar with Lee's other work and felt the writing style seemed a little off, and upon learning he wrote a series of adult military sci-fi novels I wasn't shocked. The world of Dragon Pearl is massive, with a heavy mythology that again encompasses a large number of both sci-fi and fantasy elements, and has a number of concepts that were a little complicated for a middle grade novel. A lot of these things were unexplored, giving the novel the feeling that tons of explanation went cut out, or that deeper meaning was just beyond the horizon. There were a lot of mature concepts that were introduced but only spoken about briefly then forgotten about: hypnotic trances while workers merge minds with their starships, sciences of the warp drive, the existence of traumatized ghosts, and virtually everything about the terraforming and movement between the Thousand Worlds. Not everything has to be so involved in a middle grade novel, but this book definitely had the style and aura of something amputated, like there was a much more immersive world and plotline that was missing. Often I felt like things didn't make sense, like a complicated concept had been developed and then shorn off, so we were only receiving part of the story. On the brighter side, it definitely made me want to check out Lee's other novels to get more of a taste of these brilliant worlds he obviously has a talent for writing.
It feels unfair that Dragon Pearl only got one book, a standalone as opposed to the usual RR Presents series, as a lot of my issues with this book could've been fixed by longer explanations or an expansion of this crammed world. However, for a standalone it accomplished a lot. I was very attached to our uniquely-powered protagonist and equally original setting. Min's journey revolves around no romance, rather her deep and abiding love for her brother, her goal to make life not only easier for her family but for all the other settlers on her homeworld, and a goal to have others accept her for the fox she is. For a small book, it has a big heart, and I recommend it for anyone looking for a quick read that packs a wallop of worldbuilding.
Min lives in the Thousand Worlds, an extensive solar system linked together by various methods of space travel. While other worlds in this system are terraformed lushly, giving their inhabitants an easier life and a path to riches, her homeworld was never terraformed properly and now she lives close to poverty, closed in with a multitude of relatives who love her but never give her any peace and most importantly require her to hide her fox magic. Min's true form is a fluffy fox, and she can Charm people into doing what she wants, shift into anyone, and also turn into inanimate objects. Her brother Jun also has this ability, but hid it as he entered the Space Forces to explore the Thousand Worlds. It's when her and her family are accosted by a Space Forces agent who claims that Jun has made off with a missing artifact, the Dragon Pearl, which has the ability to terraform planets to peak inhabitability. Knowing her brother is innocent but unable to work through the official channels, Min begins a journey of deceit, bravery, and magic in order to clear her brother's name and find the Dragon Pearl.
Yoon Ha Lee does a great job here of mixing sci-fi and fantasy; magic and futurism play parts in equal measures. Min is a character right out of a high fantasy novel, she's ultimately not a person at all but rather a spirit that's shaped like a fox. Her powers are heavily influential; her Charm abilities allow her to gently push her way through the narrative, convincing everyone around her to look the other way when she engages in illegal and hilarious antics. I loved the fact that she couldn't only transform into other people but inanimate objects. You get some amazing scenes when your protagonist is a table and can't express herself. But this is ultimately a sci-fi epic, complete with warp drives and massive space armies and pirates among the stars. Rarely do we see sci-fi and fantasy blend together so well: we don't really see elves piloting starships, but Min fits right into this immersive landscape. She isn't the only supernatural element in the narrative, not by far, and the way Lee has woven the fantastical into every seam of this speculative narrative is original and refreshing.
My main issue with this novel is that it felt like it desperately wanted not only to be several books, but also either young adult or adult books. I wasn't immediately familiar with Lee's other work and felt the writing style seemed a little off, and upon learning he wrote a series of adult military sci-fi novels I wasn't shocked. The world of Dragon Pearl is massive, with a heavy mythology that again encompasses a large number of both sci-fi and fantasy elements, and has a number of concepts that were a little complicated for a middle grade novel. A lot of these things were unexplored, giving the novel the feeling that tons of explanation went cut out, or that deeper meaning was just beyond the horizon. There were a lot of mature concepts that were introduced but only spoken about briefly then forgotten about: hypnotic trances while workers merge minds with their starships, sciences of the warp drive, the existence of traumatized ghosts, and virtually everything about the terraforming and movement between the Thousand Worlds. Not everything has to be so involved in a middle grade novel, but this book definitely had the style and aura of something amputated, like there was a much more immersive world and plotline that was missing. Often I felt like things didn't make sense, like a complicated concept had been developed and then shorn off, so we were only receiving part of the story. On the brighter side, it definitely made me want to check out Lee's other novels to get more of a taste of these brilliant worlds he obviously has a talent for writing.
It feels unfair that Dragon Pearl only got one book, a standalone as opposed to the usual RR Presents series, as a lot of my issues with this book could've been fixed by longer explanations or an expansion of this crammed world. However, for a standalone it accomplished a lot. I was very attached to our uniquely-powered protagonist and equally original setting. Min's journey revolves around no romance, rather her deep and abiding love for her brother, her goal to make life not only easier for her family but for all the other settlers on her homeworld, and a goal to have others accept her for the fox she is. For a small book, it has a big heart, and I recommend it for anyone looking for a quick read that packs a wallop of worldbuilding.