SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Fox Snare by Yoon Ha Lee

Fox Snare is the third and final book in Yoon Ha Lee's middle grade science fiction trilogy, "A Thousand Worlds", which began with "Dragon Pearl" and continued with "Tiger Honor".  The series is one of the Rick Riordan presents imprint, in which Riordan lends his promotion to books that take inspiration from the mythologies of other cultures - in this case, the series is inspired by Korean mythology and history (even though this is a future science fiction world).   Reviewing Middle Grade novels is difficult because well, I'm obviously not the target audience for this series, but I genuinely liked Dragon Pearl and Tiger Honor, especially the latter, as the two novels deftly mixed sci-fi with beings of Korean myth (gumiho/foxes, goblins, dragons, tigers, etc.) and dealt with some solid themes  in age appropriate adventures.  They weren't books I'd advise adults to read, but for kids they were definitely excellent material and that's what they're for.  

Fox Snare seems to be a conclusion to this series and as such, features both the protagonist of Dragon Pearl (gumiho Min) and the protagonist of Tiger Honor (tiger Sebin) as co-protagonists, as they (eventually) get forced together on another adventure.  This story seems clearly to take inspiration from the historical emnity between Korea and Japan, with sci-fi versions of both nations meeting to discuss a peace treaty only for bad things to happen.  The result is solid, but a number of minor issues - the main plot taking forever to get moving, the antagonist being so incredibly obvious - made this one a bit of a disappointment honestly, especially after I liked Tiger Honor so much more.  But it's possible to be fair that kids will have less problems with these things.  

Note: As with the prior books in this series, this is a very queer-friendly novel, with a queer non-binary protagonist in Sebin, and other queer characters whose queerness is just treated as ordinary.  So this series remains an excellent choice for those looking for queer friendly kid-lit.  


Plot Summary:  

After years of fighting, the forces of the Thousand Worlds and the Sun Clans are about to embark on a new era of peace.  Fox Spirit (Gumiho) Min knows very little about the conflict between the Thousand Worlds and the Sun Clans herself, but as the bearer of the Dragon Pearl she is assigned to a symbolic role in the ceremony that will result in the signing of the peace treaty between the two nations, with a potential role for her afterwards in using the Dragon Pearl's terraforming powers to cement that peace.

But two things go wrong with that plan: first, Min discovers another fox hidden among the Thousand Worlds delegation, one whom she's afraid to out but who she also can't quite trust, and second, someone attacks the delegation right as it gets to a contested planet between the two nations.  And so Min finds herself stranded on a deadly planet along with Sebin the tiger spirit and Haneul the dragon spirit, with the only hope at survival - and preventing a war - being a trek to a long lost warship....with history of its own.  

Fox Snare is told in chapters that alternate between Min and Sebin's perspectives, but really this is Min's story - none of Sebin's own plot points on their own really amount to anything and once they wind up marooned with Min, there's really little added from their perspective as opposed to Min's (especially as Min becomes aware of a secret Sebin doesn't know).  Sebin's plotline is really just wrapping up their story from the last book as to how they go further as a cadet in the end. And that's not necessarily bad - readers who liked the last book will want to see more of Sebin and Min is a plenty a good enough protagonist on her own to carry the book.  

That said, the book itself has two major frustrating problems that I think even the intended audience may be annoyed at.  First, the book is described and promoted as having a plot based upon Min, Sebin, and Haneul being marooned together on a "death planet" and having to survive with their wits, training and abilities...but this doesn't happen until just over halfway through the book and what happens before then isn't super interesting.  It just takes an awful long time for the book to get to its main plot. 

This leads into the number two issue: Min comes across another fox named Miho who is hiding among the Thousand Worlds diplomats and spends the entire book covering for her true identity when it is obvious that she's up to no good.  On one hand, you can get the point here: Min is one of only a few foxes left, and finding one outside her family is shocking and thus you can see her not wanting to "out" the hidden fox in Miho to others if Miho has a plausible reason for her actions, and themes of loyalty to one's kind vs one's duty are a major part of this series.  But on the other hand it is just so so obvious that Miho is actually an antagonist and I think even the 9-13 year olds this book is meant for are going to be frustrated with how long it takes for Min to realize that.  

Which is not to say that Fox Snare isn't enjoyable at times - Lee's writing is really good, his protagonists are excellent, and well the action and conflict that we see here are written well enough to entertain and fascinate younger audiences.  There's even a bit of a theme of the struggle to get over old wrongs committed by enemies (the Sun Clans are clearly "Japan" and clearly acted as Japan did towards "Korea", which is explicitly the predecessor to the Thousand Worlds) which would be a nice touch if the book really dealt more with it (it does not).  And while the book takes a while to get to its main adventure, it's still a short book so it doesn't really outstay its welcome either.  Readers who enjoyed the first two books in this series will almost certainly enjoy Fox Snare, even if it doesn't carry much to recommend itself on its own.