Rick Riordan Presents Yoon Ha Lee’s space opera about thirteen-year-old Min, who comes from a long line of fox spirits. But you’d never know it by looking at her. To keep the family safe, Min’s mother insists that none of them use any fox-magic, such as Charm or shape-shifting. They must appear human at all times. Min feels hemmed in by the household rules and resents the endless chores, the … cousins who crowd her, and the aunties who judge her. She would like nothing more than to escape Jinju, her neglected, dust-ridden, and impoverished planet. She’s counting the days until she can follow her older brother, Jun, into the Space Forces and see more of the Thousand Worlds. When word arrives that Jun is suspected of leaving his post to go in search of the Dragon Pearl, Min knows that something is wrong. Jun would never desert his battle cruiser, even for a mystical object rumored to have tremendous power. She decides to run away to find him and clear his name. Min’s quest will have her meeting gamblers, pirates, and vengeful ghosts. It will involve deception, lies, and sabotage. She will be forced to use more fox-magic than ever before, and to rely on all of her cleverness and bravery. The outcome may not be what she had hoped, but it has the potential to exceed her wildest dreams. This sci-fi adventure with the underpinnings of Korean mythology will transport you to a world far beyond your imagination.
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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.
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An action-packed sci-fi magical adventure with just the right amount of scares and thrills for the age, and emotion to make it relatable.
Min’s mother has always instilled in her that she is to hide her fox-magic, that it’s not safe for anyone to know that there are still some of her kin in existence. But when her beloved brother Jun is believed to be a traitor, she decides to use it to slip away and find out the truth. Clear his name. Bring him home, if she can. And oh, what an adventure it becomes, all on her own two feet.
I loved how current it felt, and that it left the door open for future quests by Min (and possibly a sidekick or two–unless that’s just me being hopeful)
Who would have thought Korean mythology would make for such an intense and magical space opera! I loved every moment of it and want the next book NOW so I can explore all the Thousand Worlds with Min! This book is brilliant and gorgeous, and why didn’t I have it when I was a kid?
I was so impressed by Dragon Pearl. The story is multi-layered, the world construction is impeccable — with an awesome intersection of tech and culture — and it is totally compelling to read. Min’s nuanced feelings about her magic, her family, and her fox heritage are marvelously complicated. I loved her, and I know you will, too!
I loved the world building, the histories, the magic, and everything in between. What begins as a simple story to uncover the fate of a beloved brother, turns into a fight for not just their lives, but those of every other WORLD. Power is a funny beast…in the right hands, the possibilities are endless, but in the wrong hands, the devastation is unimaginable. Prepare for battle when you crack the spine on this one and strap in for one heck of a ride!