Dragon Pearl
A Rick Riordan Presents novel
Yoon Ha Lee
Disney Hyperion
Fiction, MG Fantasy/Sci-Fi
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Of all the Thousand Worlds ruled by the Pearled Halls, Jinju is one of the least habitable, its terraforming interrupted by the disappearance of the powerful artifact known as the Dragon Pearl. Perhaps that is why Min's family ended up there: fox spirits are supposed to be extinct, making the dusty backwater planet a good place to avoid notice. Even then, Mom insists they not use their powers of shapeshifting or mind-influencing Charm lest they be detected, as fox spirits were rarely welcome even when they were known to exist.
Min longs to follow her older brother Jun into the Space Force as a cadet, to see the countless marvels of the system... and she can't believe it the day the stranger comes to her house and tells her Jun deserted his post on the ship Pale Lightning, haring off after wild rumors about the Dragon Pearl. That doesn't sound like dutiful Jun at all. Something must have gone wrong - something so terrible even his fox powers couldn't get him out of it, let alone bring him home. Min sneaks off to follow Jun's footsteps and get some answers... but the stars are much bigger and more dangerous than she could ever have imagined, and many powerful people are also on the trail.
REVIEW: Dragon Pearl melds Asian mythology and magic with space opera, resulting in a fun, if sometimes frantic, adventure through the stars. It starts with Min acting immature even for a thirteen-year-old girl; her impulsive actions directly endanger her family, with little rationale other than the need to kick off the story as quickly and actively as possible. Still, despite her shortcomings, Min turns out to be a reasonably competent heroine for the most part, facing enemies who aren't always obvious. Her story leads her from her dusty homeworld through numerous space battles and necessary deceptions, plus encounters with various people and other supernaturals (most of whom are more accepted than the lowly fox spirits: Jun's former captain is a tiger man, and one of his fellow cadets is a dragon, both wearing human guise), not to mention ghosts. Asian ideas about energy lines and luck take on tangible form in this universe, as ships are designed with meridians like a living body and vengeful spirits are an acknowledged hazard that can tangibly foul one's luck - and little things going wrong, like tripping on a loose floor tile or a drained blaster battery, can build to great problems. The story moves fast, so fast it almost trips over itself more than once, building to a conclusion that feels too neat in some ways and more like a setup for a series than a finale in others, with some ideas and characters that seemed forgotten by then. By then, Min has grown up and learned more about herself, her powers, and the Thousand Worlds, though her quest to find her brother and clear his name does not go nearly as she'd anticipated. All in all, it made for a decent diversion with some nice images and refreshing ideas.
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