Monday, November 22, 2021

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Rogue Heart by Axie Oh

 


Rogue Heart is the sequel to Axie Oh's YA Science Fiction novel Rebel Seoul (my review here).  That book was a dystopian YA story set in a future version of Korea, in which a conglomerate of governments, the Neo States, have taken power in the world, in a supposed attempt to end all war (which of course is a lie), creating a two tiered Korea of inequality and injustice among other things.  I really liked Rebel Seoul, especially for how its hero Jaewon didn't fit the typical mold for a hero in such a setting - he wasn't a rebel, and didn't want to be even as he saw how shitty things were, but rather just wanted to survive in a world where he felt all those close to him (his dead father and alive best friend) had betrayed him...even as he fell for the artificially enhanced woman he was supposed to mind.  Oh and there were also giant mecha too, but really that was beyond the point.  So after finishing it, I reserved this sequel from the library.  

And I enjoyed Rogue Heart, although it's not quite as interesting as Rebel Seoul.  The story switches to following Ama, the other artificially enhanced human from the last book (with the power of Telepathy), as she first attempts to hide from the government that created her, and then joins the Resistance only to wind up spying upon the man she once fell in love with.  It's a well told story with a solid lead character, but the story feels a bit more predictable, and the love interest doesn't quite get handled as well as I'd like.  Still, it's well done, so if you liked Rebel Seoul, you will probably be interested in the sequel.  

Spoilers for book 1 are inevitable here:

-------------------------------------------------Plot Summary-----------------------------------------------------
Prior to the Battle of Neo Seoul, Ama was raised in the Tower at Neo Seoul to be a humanoid weapon for the Neo State - along with her sister Tera and her brother Su.  Ama, taken at the age of two from her home, was biologically enhanced, through tortuous experiments, so that she had mental powers such as telepathy and telekinesis, at a level far greater than her brother Su, who also shared Tera's physical gifts (to a lesser extent).  All Ama cared about for most of her life was her siblings...until Alex Kim came into her life as her handler, a human boy with whom she fell in love....before he betrayed her. 

Then the Battle of Neo Seoul occurred, the tower was destroyed, and Ama was forgotten as dead. 

Now, Ama lives under an assumed name in Neo Beijing, working in a cafe and always watching her back.  She wants nothing more than to survive incognito, and to never really use her powers...but when the resistance group PHNX finds her, she can't help but throw in with their cause against the government that once created her.  Ama's telepathic abilities give PHNX opportunities for espionage that they badly need if they are to have a chance, but overuse of those abilities is taxing physically on her.  And then there are Ama and Tera's successors, whose abilities will allow them to catch her out if she's not careful...

But when the resistance's latest mission is to spy on Alex Kim, now a prestigious pilot commander for the Neo State, Ama takes the biggest risk she possibly can - to join up with his squadron and try to get close to the boy who betrayed her, who she still somewhat loves, and who for all she knows might betray her again......
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Rebel Seoul focused upon Jaewon, a human caught up in the middle of the conflict between the resistance, the Neo-States, and gangs of the country as he just wanted to survive with the biologically enhanced girl Tera he fell in love with.  Jaewon didn't want to resist or rebel, he just wanted to survive.  He does wind up in the resistance in the end, but it was something he was essentially forced into.  

Rogue Heart's protagonist, the psychic Ama, starts off just like Jaewon, trying just to survive incognito, but quickly winds up fully involved with the resistance, after she can't just do nothing when they contact her and quickly wind up in over their own heads.  Ama isn't a firebrand sure, but she's a rebel due to what the government did to her, and what Alex seemingly did to her in betraying her.  

This has both positive and negative effects on the novel honestly.  On one hand, it makes Ama a little less interesting than Jaewon, as Ama's internal thoughts about betraying Alex by spying on him feel more like she's protesting a bit too much (not least because we know Alex is on the wrong side).  The internal conflict she feels for most of the book is a bit weaker as a result.  At the same time, she's still an incredibly likable and understandable character, as she now has no one to rely on, despite always having at least her sister at her side since she gained her powers (the flashback to how that happened is heartbreaking).  Oh makes you really feel and care for Ama, even if her story isn't quite as interesting.  And well at the very least the ways the Rebels work, from agreeing to set battles instead of guerilla ones to try and stave off their seemingly inevitable defeat, to their espionage efforts, etc is a bit interesting.  And then of course there's Ama's brother Su/Tsuko, who appears with his own plans on ending the war in as destructive a way as possible, who also works really well here.  

The biggest issue I have with this book is that for the second straight book, Alex basically gets off easy.  It's obvious from the start that Alex's betrayal, seemingly choosing his father and his career over Ama, was an attempt to save Ama's life (this is even more obvious if you remember how Alex helped Jaewon at the end of Rebel Seoul), and not the denial of love she thinks it was due to her telepathy.  But well, Alex's actions since then - working for the Neo State for the next two years, despite all he knows and how awful his father is - is just sort of excused away as the autopilot actions of a heartbroken man who still cares, and well...that isn't really good enough for me?  It's just like Alex's betrayal of a friend during training, which got that friend killed in Rebel Seoul - the book just sort of elides all the pain and destruction he caused to non-major characters, and it kind of is a problem since we're supposed to in the end want him to be with Ama?  I kept hoping he'd wind up having been secretly working with the rebels, but nope.  

Others may not find that to be a major issue, and it's really the biggest one for me, but otherwise, Rogue Heart is a story that reads well, is nicely paced, and makes a nice conclusion to this setting, resolving things in a very satisfactory way.  So at the very least I'll be looking forward to Axie Oh's next SF/F work, which comes out in 2022.  

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