Thursday, May 12, 2022

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Tiger Honor by Yoon Ha Lee

 




Tiger Honor is the second book in Yoon Ha Lee's middle grade "Thousand Worlds" series, a science fiction series under the banner of Rick Riordan's imprint that is inspired by Korean mythology.  The first novel, Dragon Pearl (my review here) was enjoyable middle-grade SF/F featuring a universe filled with supernatural beings, and a delightful gumiho (Korean fox spirit) protagonist who desperately went on an adventure to save and redeem her brother.  It was enjoyable stuff*, although a bit too short for all of the stuff contained within to really make too much of an impact besides the lead character.  

*For those who are interested in Lee due to his adult work, be advised that this series is very firmly meant for middle-grade audiences and isn't the kind of book to make too much of an impact beyond that age group.  So if you go into this looking for more of the theme examination of his adult works, you'll be disappointed, and that's not the book's fault.*

Tiger Honor is technically stand-alone, but will work better if you've read Dragon Pearl, and works rather well by flipping the script of that book.  The book starts on what seems to be a similar scheme to the last book, with the protagonist Sebin - a 13 year old from a family of Tiger spirits - discovering that their relative has been accused of treason, and hoping to clear their family name.  But this time, as the family member was the antagonist of the last book, the accusation is true, and Sebin is thus forced to choose between the honor and wishes of their family and doing the right thing, and the result is a well done Korean myth inspired middle-grade Sci-Fi story.  

Note: As with Dragon Pearl, this is a setting featuring Queer characters, particularly non cis characters, throughout without it being anything remarkable.  The protagonist in this story is non-binary and is not the only such character for example.  So this is an excellent book for those looking for Queer friendly kid-lit.

------------------------------------------------Plot Summary---------------------------------------
Sebin is a thirteen year old tiger spirit from the Juwang Clan, a clan led with an iron fist by its matriarch.  Sebin hates being treated as a child by the matriarch and older members of the clan and is desperate to follow in their Uncle Hwan's footsteps by becoming a starship captain in the Thousand Worlds Space Forces.  And so they check the mail constantly in hopes of having their application to the Space Forces approved.  

But when the approval comes, it comes also with the news that their hero, Uncle Hwan, has been declared a traitor.  And so Sebin resolves themself to join the Space Force and redeem the family name.  

But things soon go wrong for Sebin's maiden voyage on the starship Haetae, with the trip being accompanied by a mysterious special investigator Yi and Yi's assistant, a girl named Min.  A trip that is immediately jeopardized when Uncle Hwan boards and acts to take over the ship with unauthorized forces.  And so Sebin will be forced to figure out whose orders - those of the Space Forces and those of his honored Uncle - they should follow, as their choices will determine the future of not just their career, but the crew of the Haetae themselves....
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If you only vaguely recall the plot of Dragon Pearl (like I was coming in), Tiger Honor may start in a way that gives you a feeling of deja vu. One more time, a young kid from a family of supernatural spirits gets news that their beloved family member in the Space Corps. is accused of treason and one more time that kid goes off into the Space Corps to try and redeem their family name.  

But the difference is this time the accusation is true, as Sebin's uncle Hwan was the power hungry antagonist of Dragon Pearl.  Also different this time is that Sebin's family isn't a loving poor one, but a proud and ambitious one, with Sebin's personality being one of the odd ones out.  

And so this story is very different from Dragon Pearl, which featured a naive and innocent heroine going on an adventure to a number of places to find and save her brother; here, Sebin's story takes place entirely on a single location, the ship Haetae, and features another naive and innocent hero struggle not with not knowing what they're doing necessarily - Sebin has dreamed of being in the Space Force and has studied the Manuals up and down so they know everything about the ships they could be assigned to - but with what is the right thing to do.  After all, on one side you have the uncle they've always idolized, while on the other side they have a fox spirit/gumiho who possesses the terrifying power to charm/manipulate other people in last books' protagonist Min, a power that Sebin has always been taught to fear (and really, it's very understandable from a new perspective to see why they do fear such).  

The result is a story that works pretty well as Sebin is forced to reevaluate their choices and beliefs about their family, the world and others in it, and to take action to make up for what they consider their ignorant mistakes.  Sebin is a very enjoyable protagonist, and while the side characters are very limited because the book doesn't last long enough to give them much characterization, they work well enough.  And for those who read the first book, Min is a familiar face to have as a new side character, and the antagonists here are very well done in their acts, their traits, and their quirks, leading to a plot resolution that may surprise a little but fits honestly pretty well as the story deals with the idea that family may not be the blood you were born into, and that your blood family can betray you, but that you can find a new family elsewhere.  

In short, enjoyable middle-grade SF/F, well worth reading for a younger reader, to go along with Dragon Pearl.  




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