BY NOAH FONTANESI
STAFF WRITER
Disclaimer: This is not a spoiler free review.
When it comes to Asian representation in the media, it can be quite mediocre or not even exist. That was probably the first thing that drew me to Dragon Pearl as well as the interesting mix of science fiction and mythology based fantasy. Besides, everything that has a dragon is automatically good in my opinion.
Dragon Pearl is from the “Rick Riordan Presents” series, and was one of the first to be published. The “Rick Riordan Presents” series is a branch of the Disney-Hyperion Publishing family and their main goal is to tell stories from underrepresented cultures.
Dragon Pearl is based off of Korean mythology, and it was written by Yoon Ha Lee. The novel was published in 2019, and was one of three books (the other books being The Storm Runner by J.C. Servantes and Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi) that kicked off the series.
So Dragon Pearl is about Min, a fox spirit or Gumiho, who lives on the impoverished planet of Jinju. Gumiho are shape shifting fox spirits, and, like in most folklore, they are tricksters who often seduce people. Gumiho are thought to be extinct, and Min’s mother insists that their family pretend to be human.
However, when an investigator comes to their home one day to deliver some news, Min’s older brother, Jun, has been accused of deserting his position. Jun got into the Thousand Worlds Space Forces, but seemingly vanished to find the Dragon Pearl, a lost McGuffin that can create and destroy entire worlds. Min knows that this is untrue, and decides to try and figure out what actually happened. She leaves her house that night, and heads to the spaceport to get off-planet. Min uses her Gumiho powers to make a new identity and uses the name Bora (courtesy to her most annoying cousin) Kim.
Min plans to Charm her way through the officers to get onto the Pale Lightning, the ship that Jun was assigned to. Charm is a power that Gumiho have to basically persuade their way through anyone, but it can be detected sometimes.
Anyways, Min passes through the Market District. After running into an officer, Min gets roped in with some drunk officers who eventually drag her to a restaurant. The officers are clearly trying to dig some dirt on Min with her unusual amount of emerald, the planet’s currency. Despite the uncomfortable situation, Min is actually able to find out that some strange stuff is going on in the Ghost Sector. The Ghost Sector is infamous for it’s infestation of ghosts after a planet called the Fourth Colony was wiped clean of life because of a raging disease. Since the Ghost Sector is where a bunch of the Space Forces’ ships are heading to, Min deduces that the Pale Lightning might be there.
After getting away from the officers but losing all of her stuff in the process, Min gets to the spaceport. There’s a non-commercial ship called the Red Azalea which is willing to go to the Ghost Sector, but the captain, Captain Hye, is often found gambling at a place called Nari’s. So Min goes to Nari’s, hoping that she can find the captain and get a trip to the Ghost Sector. However,once Min gets to Nari’s, she is dragged into the office of a mysterious woman. The woman reveals that she knows Min’s a Gumiho because of her Charm. But it’s okay because she’s also a Gumiho. The Gumiho is Nari and runs the place. She’s also another one of Min’s aunts, but she never knew about her.
Apparently, Min’s mom and Nari used to run Nari’s together before she left. Because of this family connection, Nari offers Min to work at Nari’s and to basically ditch her old life. While it is a tempting offer, Min notices the red flags, and decides to say that she will think it over. She decides to try out serving for the night, and is appointed as a greeter, with a bouncer named Yong to show her around.
Min eventually indirectly asks about Captain Hye, and Yong tells her that she is at a high stakes table and might even gamble away her ship. Luckily, Min is able to get to the captain by offering her a glass of gukhwaju, and she proposes an offer to her. Min tells Captain Hye that if she lets one of Nari’s colleagues use her ship, all of her debt will be erased. The captain obviously agrees, and Min thinks she is slick before Captain Hye gets drunk and loses the Red Azalea. Captain Hye tries to counter this with the “deal”, and gets thrown out. With the Red Azalea likely going to be taken, Min immediately concludes that she needs to get the heck out of there.
She rushes into the bathroom and changes into spacer clothing to sneak out of there when she bumps into Yong. Min apologizes, but Yong says that he’s sorry and that Min looks like she was in a hurry. Min replies with, “Yes. I’m running late. Must go.”
Yong tells her to go while she still can and addresses her as Min. He’d seen through her Charm, but Yong escorts Min out of Nari’s, saying that she is too young for that life, fox or no fox.
Despite how this is a small moment that I didn’t need to over explain, this honestly highlights my favorite thing about how Lee writes characters. No character is automatically considered good or evil and they have a somewhat layer of depth to them. This nuance and exploration of the characters adds suspense with Min being constantly thrown into situations we have no idea how she’s going to get out. Simply because we can’t immediately trust the characters.
Anyways, Min gets to the Red Azalea and tries to call for someone. She finds Byung-Ho, Captain Hye’s copilot. Min explains to Byung-Ho that Captain Hye sent her to tell him that they need to leave immediately to prevent Nari from getting the ship. Byung-Ho, unsurprised, doesn’t need persuasion, and they head to the Ghost Sector.
The trip goes along smoothly except for Min hallucinating about her father, but overall they’re just fine. That is until the next morning they are attacked by mercenaries. The two of them are able to hold off the mercenaries for a little while until they endure a hit that causes them to lose their engine and simply drift.
With only a blaster and a rifle, the two of them hide from the mercenaries until Min misses her shots and almost gets obliterated herself. A grenade eventually goes off and Min blacks out until waking up on a different starship. She finds herself on a cot with a ghost next to her talking about how he died in such a stupid way. The ghost is Jang Bae, a now dead cadet. While Min was out, one of the Space Forces’ battle cruisers was in the area and picked up on the Red Azalea’s help singal. Jang died during the mission, and he reveals that they’re on the Pale Lightning.
But because Jang died during the mission, Min owes Jang. Despite this, Min is able to strike up a deal with Jang. Jang would let Min impersonate him to stay on the ship and continue Jang’s training cruise. Min would then be able to find out about Jun. Jang agrees, and we get the most of the middle of the story with Min trying to adjust to life on the Pale Lightning.
Min meets a dragon and a non-binary dokkaebi or goblin. Their names are Sujin and Hanuel, and they were Jang’s friends. The three of them are the main trio while being indirect guides for Min.
I also want to add how relieving it is to have a supernatural non-binary character who is not non-binary because they’re a shape shifter or anything like that.
Anyways, the weeks are filled with constant toilet scrubbing duty, a lot of worldbuilding, and investigating. Min is gradually getting more used to the cadet life as she tries to dig into the Jun situation. In fact, the first time that Min tries to ask Sujin about Jun during toilet scrubbing duty, she gets interrupted by the captain of the ship, Captain Hwan. He’s there because Min has been distracted, but the important part is how he talks about the recent activity with mercenaries and pirates trying to get to the Dragon Pearl. We also learn that Byung-Ho survived and that “Bora” died.
Min eventually asks Captain Hwan about Jun and he tells her that it is none of her business, so obviously he’s hiding something.
By the time Min’s first week was over, she had gotten used to life on the Pale Lighting, but she still has punishments but it’s not toilet scrubbing this time. Min, Hanuel, and Sujin had to report to Hydroponics (basically space biology) to help with an inspection, and Min learns that there is a damaged meridian. A meridian helps control the ship’s gi, a kind of life force that’s basically good luck and bad luck flowing through every room. Min also learns that because Jang is sticking around, he’s causing a disturbance with the gi and creating bad luck.
So, Min goes to the damaged meridian and thinks that disturbing it would be her best way of getting off the Pale Lightning as a distraction, but is interrupted by Captain Hwan. Min luckily hides in a closet before she’s spotted, but unfortunately overhears that Captain Hwan concludes that there is a ghost on the ship.
Once the other officers leave, Hwan tells Min to come out, and they talk. Min luckily gets let off without punishment.
After Min learned where Captain Hwan’s quarters were, ten ships attacked the Pale Lightning. Despite how Min’s perspective is not in the front lines, her own contribution to the battle is honestly really suspenseful and well written. The worldbuilding set up a system that we understand, and we get the intensity of the situation already as the battle goes on. The battle shows Min’s character growth, and it gives us another example of how dangerous Min’s situation can be.
Sujin ends up injured, and Min wakes up in Medical again. While the rest of the crew was dealing with the attack, Min took the opportunity to get into Captain Hwan’s quarters. She does get in after using his fingerprints, and finds Captain Hwan’s logbooks. She learns that Captain Hwan is after the Dragon Pearl himself, and has used the “deserters” to try and retrieve it by sending them to some sort of planet with a lot of ghosts.
After feeling like she’s going to throw up, Min slips back into Medical and dozes off for a while. She wakes up, and finds out from one of the physicians that Sujin is alright. Min also sees Byung-Ho, still healing and learning that Min had “died”. Min does tell Byung-Ho that she’s fine, but painfully uses her Charm to make him forget.
A couple of hours later, the battle is over, and it is announced that they have captured some of the attackers. However, now that the ship’s damaged, they need to go to a shipyard in the Abalone Spire, away from the Fourth Colony.
Min is freaked out by this, obviously, and gets out of Medical. She immediately sneaks into where the captives are after persuading two soldiers, and finds the interrogation in progress. The person who’s being interrogated is a thin man, and a man and a woman are in the cells next to him. The man and interrogator are talking about what is presumably the Fourth Colony and how the pox spirits (ghosts who died from disease) there are no ordinary ghosts. The man also isn’t really a pirate, he’s more of an information guy. Apparently, his commander was the only person he could turn to after he had made up an entire ancient chronicle. The act was meant to establish his reputation as a scholar, but he was caught and basically lost just about everything, including his husbands and children.
The scholar eventually confesses that his commander was hired by a rival of Captain Hwan, Councilor Choe-Won of the Pearled Halls. She wants the Dragon Pearl to reallience the Dragon Society, and promptly recreate the Thousand Worlds she sees fit.
The scholar explains how dangerous the Fourth Colony is, and Min gets worried that Jun might not even be alive.
She leaves after the interrogation is about up, and ends up having to do paperwork because of her lateness in reporting in. Min doesn’t find Haneul or Sujin until the meal that evening, and Sujin is doing just fine.
The next day, Min comes up with a plan to use the captives in the brig to get her off the ship when they docked at the Abalone Spire. Jang luckily agrees with this plan, and two nights later, the plan commences that night.
Min steals a blaster and sneaks to find the damaged meridian. She convinces the guards to leave, shoots the meridian, and runs. Min turns into Captain Hwan with her Gumiho powers to get into the brig and be alone with the captives. She finds the three people from the interrogation again, and she reveals herself to them. Min strikes up a deal with them, saying that if she gets them and their ship out of there then they would take her to the Four Colony. They agree and after Min turns back into Captain Hwan, they run off with the ship.
Unfortunately, right as they get to the Fourth Colony, they get recaptured by the Pale Lightning. Min’s identity is revealed, and Jang leaves her since he is going to haunt the mercs. The exchange is more emotional, I swear. Min is taken into solitary confinement, and the next day, Captain Hwan and Min talk.
Captain Hwan tries to get Min into helping him find the Dragon Pearl like Jun did, but Min refuses. Captain Hwan also says that Jun is somewhere else, but we still don’t know.
After Min falls asleep again, she is woken up by the call of Sujin. Both Sujin and Haneul frankly disagree with Captain Hwan and decide to help Min. Sujin gets Min out of her cell, and they meet up with Haneul at an escape pod. They use the escape pod to get onto the Fourth Colony.
They start their search for the Dragon Pearl, but it is Min who starts hearing voices. A strange masculine voice that Min originally thinks is Jang tells her that they can help her and that she’s in danger. It isn’t long before Sujin and Haneul find out, and Min demands the ghost to show themselves.
The ghost shows themselves as Jun, what a surprise. Jun explains that he worked with Captain Hwan to get the Dragon Pearl, but when he and a landing party from the Pale Lighting were sent to the Fourth Colony, none of them made it. So none of them were deserters, and Jun is pretty chill with the fact that he is dead.
He takes them to the crash site for shelter, and Min realizes that they are now at the mercy of the dead landing party. Luckily, the dead Lieutenant Seo-Hyeon is hospitable to them. But after conversing, it is realized that the group is just Captain Hwan bait so the ghosts can have a “friendly” chat with him. This twist gets even more shocking when Sujin pulls out a comm device and reveals that they told Captain Hwan to stay away from that spot.
So yes, Sujin has been communicating with Hwan, wow.
Seo-Hyeon bursts into a silhouette of fire, literally, but doubts Sujin because Captain Hwan would inevitably meet them no matter what. Min uses the bathroom as an excuse to talk to Haneul and Sujin, but they immediately bail with only a survival kit to help them.
Sujin explains that they kept an emergency comm on them since Hwan was their only escape from the Fourth Colony. They also hadn’t told Hwan to stay away and that it was all a bluff. The group trusts Sujin again, and they set up camp.
That night, Min is met with Jun. Jun says that he had distracted the other ghosts to help Min and that he was on her side. The only reason why Jun had led them into the trap was because he wanted to seem like he was on the side of the ghosts. Turns out, the longer you’re dead the more you resent the living.
Jun knows where the Dragon Pearl is, and once learning that they immediately go to find the McGuffin. On their way, they are confronted by ghosts. A huge wall of ghosts encases them, and a robed woman steps forward to speak to them. That is until she addresses the tiger. Hwan has them cornered, and that’s when you know it’s climax time.
Luckily, Min remembers from a hand drawn map in Captain Hwan’s quarters that the pearl is nearby. She turns into an enormous hawk and Jun shows her where the pearl is. But she is interrupted when she sees soldiers pouring out of the shuttle with Captain Hwan and a blaster in his hand pointing at her. Min gets her right wing shot and plummets to the ground with the Dragon Pearl. She survives the fall, but her right shoulder is damaged.
The robed woman tells Min it was a bad idea to bring more living, and she reveals her name as Eui. She shows the group a great shaman named Hae coming down to the Fourth Colony. Apparently, Hae was the reason why the Dragon Pearl was there because she was going to get rid of the Fourth Colony and basically use the Dragon Pearl to gain power. This didn’t happen because she was driven insane by the spirits, dropped the pearl, and eventually flung herself off the cliff.
Min offers to help the ghosts with the Dragon Pearl, but Captain Hwan interjects. Min threatens to use the Dragon Pearl against him if he hurts Sujin and Haneul, but she realizes that the cadets were just there to lead Hwan to the Dragon Pearl.
Min argues with the fact that Jang wanted her to continue his training cruise and find out who killed him. It’s doubted until Jang reveals himself and tells everyone that what Min said was true.
Hwan is still very much not going to leave without the Dragon Pearl, but Min holds the Dragon Pearl up, and tells it to create a propur tomb for all of the ghosts there. They convince the Dragon Pearl to follow through by swearing on the bones of their ancestors (a very serious thing like swearing to God), and the entire planet changes into its former glory and becomes a very large tomb.
After that, the ghosts from the landing party attack Hwan and he falls off the cliff and pretty much dies. Oddly enough, Jun is still there, but it’s because he still hadn’t explored the Thousand Worlds with Min yet.
Min is sent back to Jinju and leaves on good terms with Sujin and Haneul. Before Min gets to go home, she meets the investigator who came at the very beginning of the book, Seok. He explains that despite how she did a lot of good, she committed various crimes. Lucky for her, it was possible that an alternative could be made with her being hired in the Domestic Security Ministry who would not only protect her but make use of her. Jun does tag along, being a ghost and stuff like that.
So yeah, that’s kind of how the story ends.
Not going to lie, the ending kind of sucked. The story did a really good job at keeping nuanced characters up until the end where it just felt like the characters made very impulsive decisions that didn’t make sense to them, such as Sujin. The whole, betraying Min to lead Hwan to the pearl felt forced and was pretty much resolved once done.
Jun also felt forced. While I did like his character, he had a very awkward place in the story. First, we have no prior knowledge of him as a character, and it’s only until we find out after he’s dead his actual personality. That contradicts the whole being dead thing and we don’t feel as much of an impact as Min does.
In fact, the characters that are dead are honestly not handled that well. The point of a character death is that you permanently get rid of the character so there is no room for more development or involvement with the plot. The story brings back those dead characters through ghosts, but because we don’t feel the weight of the initial loss, the character might as well be alive. It’s why we can only agree with Sujin and Haneul when they betray Min from a moral perspective, not a, “Min was totally wrong to lie to them” kind of way.
This also felt contradictory with Jun because he was kind of the only ghost who kept his sanity in a way. Like, he wasn’t obsessed with revenge because of family, and it’s just a little nitpick I have with these unrealistic tropes and plot devices.
There was also how poorly handled Hwan was with his less than nuanced character, not to mention his not very satisfying death and defeat.
The whole ending felt really skewed like it was forced to end. The earliest sign of it was when Min basically became a cadet. Setting up expectations and a premise for our characters to unnaturally fall out of is not the greatest idea, and it didn’t work that well for this novel.
But believe me when I say that the world building in this novel is immaculate. There was a lot of world building information I had to cut out for the sake of length, but Lee really does craft an interesting and unique world that I need more of, honestly.
The story overall was pretty good but not at its fullest potential I think it could have been.