Dragon Pearl

Delightful from start to finish. Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee is a middle grade science fiction fantasy space opera romp that is infused with Korean lore. Min lives with her mother and her aunties on a frontier planet, Jinju. They are all fox spirits but per her mother's wishes, she doesn't use her shapeshifting abilities or her ability to Charm except when absolutely necessary. Now the family has gotten word that eldest son Jun has deserted his post a space cruiser. A letter from Jun to Min gives her the clues she needs to know he wasn't a deserter. He was on a mission to find the Dragon Pearl. She decides to go after it herself to clear her brother's name (and hopefully find him). Of course doing this means using all of her fox spirit magic and Charm to the fullest of her abilities. FFCC99 - orphan uhoria labyrinth http://pussreboots.com/blog/2019/comm...

Actual rating: 3,5 stars.

Entertaining and enjoyable read. I really liked the world (universe?) building. It was very complete and I appreciate that in my science fiction. Has a bit of a pacing problem. I was really shocked to find that the story was complete and not just the first of a trilogy. I can see how it is set up for sequels, but at 3/4s of the way through this book, I was certain that the search for the brother and the pearl was not going to be concluded by the end. The book makes me want to read more of Yoon Ha Lee's other works, but I doubt that I will bother reading the sequels to this one if/when they come out. My kids really enjoyed it though, and they will likely read any sequels that show up.

An uncomplicated story about Min, a clever, plucky girl who's also a fox spirit. Her fox magic lets her shape-shift and Charm other people. She uses her abilities to slip away from home to look for her missing brother, Jun, and the Dragon Pearl, a magical artifact that is key to terraforming her own world, and other worlds as well. She has to battle a tiger-captain, lots of ghosts, and various other impediments. But nothing slows her down for very long. Not much conflict or tension here. Probably best for young kids. The story moves quickly.

Disclaimer: I bought this book. Support your authors! All opinions are my own. Book: Dragon Pearl Author: Yoon Ha Lee Book Series: Thousand Worlds Book 1 Rating: 5/5 Diversity: Chinese MC and characters and inspired setting Recommended For...: middle grade readers, sci-fi, mythology, own voice, Chinese inspired and mythology Publication Date: January 15, 2019 Genre: MG Sci-Fi Recommended Age: 11+ (violence, gore, death, prejudice) Explanation of CWs: There is some violence, including some explosions and spaceship crashes, and very slight gore. There is also death mentioned, but it is not sad as ghosts can be around and do things. There is also some talk about the prejudice that the MC experiences as a gumiho. Publisher: Rick Riordan Presents Pages: 310 Synopsis: THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD MIN 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. Review: This was my first reread of the year and I absolutely loved it! The book is even better the second time around with the twists and so many little details that the author hides throughout the book. The character development is great, the world building is amazing, and the plot is so intriguing it’ll have you on the edge of your seat. Yoon Ha Lee is the go-to author if you’re looking for epic sci-fi books! The only issue I had with the book is that the pacing is a bit fast and it can get a little confusing, but it’s still a wonderful read. Verdict: Highly recommend!

I’m usually not much of a middle grade reader, so this book wouldn’t have even been on my radar if my friend Dini had not recommended it to me for one of my 2020 yearly challenges, as well as it being chosen as a BOTM for our Stars and Sorcery book club. So, I was very excited to start this and have some fun, and that’s exactly what happened. Like any MG novel, this one too was very easy to read and I just breezed through it in a few hours. The writing style is pretty lighthearted despite some of the deeper themes being explored, it’s very fast paced and everything happens so quickly that you never want to put the book down. The world building is also just perfect, giving us enough information about the different lands and star systems as well the government, without ever overwhelming with too much detail. As someone who is pretty new to the sci-fi genre, that’s very important to me and I was happy that all the scientific terminology and elements didn’t go over my head. And as always, one of my favorite parts of the book was how the author was able to integrate both Korean mythology and culture into the story and how seamless it was in context of the story. The representation is also quite amazing and very matter of fact, which is how it should be, and I just love that younger readers will get to read books with non-binary characters as well about the importance of using correct pronouns. Min is such a delightful character to follow. She is a sweet girl who is a bit annoyed that she has to do so many chores at home and is bullied a bit by her aunts and cousins, but she also loves her family and will do anything to find her brother. The literal journey she goes on turns into a metaphorical one, with her finding herself, realizing what’s important to her and thinking about her future. In the meantime, she uses her intelligence, resourcefulness, wit and magical abilities to get through many tricky situations and I was just cackling at most of her shenanigans. She is just thirteen, so she does do impulsive and reckless things but she also quickly accepts her mistakes and figures out how to do better. This journey is also about her making new friends outside of her family and it was nice to see her form such important relationships and planing trust in others. Both Sujin and Haneul are fun to be around and I loved the camaraderie between them. Even the characters we assume are bad guys are written with nuance and there is always hope for redemption. In the end, this is a fun space adventure with characters you fall in love with and root for, and a world that you want to explore more of. But ultimately, it’s also just about friendship, family and having hope. If you love middle grade adventure novels or space operas, I think you’ll love this one. It’s also a Nebula award nominee for this year, so its a perfect choice if you enjoy reading highly acclaimed books.

* I got this book for review for my honest thoughts* I really did enjoy this read. I really loved the main character in this story. I found this book to be such a refreshing read. I found this book to also be a super diverse read and really liked the pace of this novel of this as well. I also really liked this space adventure themed novel. I really was impressed by this read. It was such a fast pace read. I did think the ending was a bit rushed. I also really enjoyed the korean mythokolgoy system that we had in this novel. It was quick read and i hope we get more books in this series eventually.

I thought I was going to hate this book, but it really surprised me. I say that because right at the beginning, the MC made some very bad decisions that annoyed me. I decided to keep reading, and she more than redeemed herself in my eyes. I really enjoyed this one.

3.5*

3.75* This was a hard one for me to rate. When I sit back and think about the story alone, I really did like it. But it took me nearly two whole weeks to read a 300 page middle grade book…something just doesn’t add up. I liked that this was described as a space opera- it definitely had some serious Star Wars feels, from the descriptions of the worlds, down to the fight scenes, but still felt unique and authentic on it’s own. I loved the Korean mythology! I loved the presence of the different kinds of spirits and their different abilities. It was difficult for me at times to accept the limitations of this aspect of the story, but after a little while, it felt more natural. It definitely was done much much better than the other two books published under this imprint so far. I didn’t really get attached to many of the characters though, and I felt like that might be why I had such a hard time picking this up. That, and the pacing of the story was very slow to me. It was definitely written like a movie for sure, but I just felt like some things could have been cut out, which made the story drag. Over all, story-wise, I feel like this has been the strongest out of Rick Riordan Presents. It was unique and rich. The mythology worked well within the story’s limits, and really complimented the story as a whole. But the characters, overall enjoy ability, and readability? I say it was the most difficult one for me to pick up. I genuinely don’t know where that leaves me. I think I want another swing at it later down the line. Maybe when I am less distracted, or not in a slump. For more on my thoughts, you can see my full review here: https://modernwitchsbookshelf.wordpre...

3.5

Disclaimer: I received an e-arc of this book and then bought my own copy! Thanks! All opinions are my own! Book: Dragon Pearl Author: Yoon Ha Lee Book Series: Standalone Rating: 4/5 Diversity: This is Asian based! Publication Date: January 15, 2019 Genre: MG Sci-Fi Fantasy Recommended Age: 10+ (some violence and death, scary moments) Publisher: Rick Riordan Presents Pages: 312 Amazon Link Synopsis: THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD MIN 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. Review: Overall, I really liked this book! It was parts fantasy and parts sci-fi! I loved the combo that Yoon Ha Lee came up with and it was fun to read! The characters were well developed and the writing was well done. The plot was also intriguing and kept me interested all throughout the book. However, the book felt circular a bit. The pacing was slow and the characters repeated the same info multiple times. The book was a bit too simple for middle graders in my opinion, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The book just felt really slow and I kept wondering when we would get to the point. I also felt like we needed more world building. Verdict: It was a good book, but had some slow moments.

I appreciated the characterizations and the cast but for a space opera sci-fi, the action fell short for me.

Ahhh, Dragon Pearl. I’ve been wanting to read this book for awhile, so when it was chosen as the October read for Middle Grade Marvels, I was excited! I didn’t know much about it other than it was a fantasy with sci-fi elements that had aspects of Korean mythology woven throughout. The story centers around a young gumiho named Min, who lives on a dusty, boring planet but dreams of becoming a space cadet just like her older brother. But then a mysterious man comes to her home, claiming that her brother has gone AWOL in search of a mythical artifact known as the Dragon Pearl. Min knows her brother, though. She knows he would never willingly abandon the position that he worked so hard to obtain. So she decides to go and find him herself so that she can clear his name. This was such an interesting story! I absolutely loved the Korean mythology that was peppered throughout and I loved watching Min become more in tune with her gumiho powers. I will say that the book started off pretty slow to me. I actually didn’t even finish it until November because I kept getting a bit bored and putting it down! But, once I hit about the halfway point, when Min is well and truly on her way to find her brother, I go completely sucked in. I adore Min! She is such a solid and well-rounded character and her journey is a beauty to behold. I also enjoyed the world-building and the glimpses we got of life as a space cadet. All in all, this book had a slow start, but it wow’d me in the end! I loved the world, I loved the characters (mostly Min), and I loved the overarching journey. I kind of wish this wasn’t a standalone, tbh, because I want to follow Min on all of her adventures!

It's really juvenile but not bad. Definitely reads like simplistic middle grades work. No complexity, but it was at least moderately entertaining

This was a fun book about family, loyalty, and finding your place in the universe. Min is a fox spirit, a shapeshifter who can shift into any form she might want to - animals, other humans or even inanimate objects. She lives in her family in a poor planet called Jinju, a part of the thousand worlds, who unfortunately has not been properly terraformed, so its scenery is dusty and its population is mostly hungry and lacking in resources. Things change for Min when an investigator comes to her home, searching for information about her brother Jun. He accuses Jun of having deserted the Space Forces - which Min also wishes to join - in search for the elusive Dragon Pearl, a mystical object that can terraform planets, which most people are unsure even exists. But Min knows in her heart her brother would never desert and that he must be in danger somewhere. She flees and shapeshifts and deceives her way into his former space station in order to try to uncover what truly happened with him and whether or not the Dragon Pearl is real, which could save her home planet. I had fun listening to this audiobook. Min is an interesting character, though she makes typically impulsive and not so smart decisions throughout the story. But that is because she is a kid and she is kind-hearted, wanting to help those she encounters. Learning about the world - which is based on Korean mythology was also really interesting and the plot was entertaining enough. However, I felt something missing when it came to the other characters and their interactions - there was a lot of investment in worldbuilding and plot, but character development felt a little stalled and forced. Still, a sweet read, great for kids or anyone who is interested in a spacial and magical adventure.* I am interested to read more from this author and I know he has an adult sci-fi series, so I might jump into that. *I know a lot of people are calling this sci-fi, but just because something is set in space, doesn't make it sci-fi. This has too much magic, and I think of it as fantasy.