Rick Riordan Presents: Dragon Pearl-A Thousand Worlds Novel, Book 1 Hardcover – January 15, 2019

My granddaughter who lives 500 miles away, is a big book reader like me. During this pandemic we facetime frequently and look at books that I can order and send to her. I picked this one out for her while looking for another book in a series she was reading. I talked to her just last night and she was so excited! The book arrived last week as she was finishing another. She decided to start this one Monday and said, "Grandma! I couldn't put it down!! It was such a good book!! Look how much I read just in one night!!" The bookmark was halfway through the book. She began to tell me the whole story so far and I was amazed at how she was grasping concepts and drama! She's totally enthralled. I love her passion and excitement and hope this author continues to write excellent books that she can enjoy at such a young age.

DRAGON PEARL by Yoon Ha Lee is one of the new books on the Rick Riordan Presents imprint, but I’m here to tell you that even if you haven’t read or liked a single Rick Riordan book, you need to get your hands on this one when it releases.Now, the Rick Riordan name is strong and definitely conjures up some associations. I say this with all love, as I generally fill out his name under ‘favorite author’ when forced to choose. But, back to those associations. Generally, you’ll think of kids who are demigods that get prophecies of doom and go on quests to save the world, showering you in fun mythology of varying backgrounds all along the way. For some people, this isn’t interesting. I get it, we all have our genres. DRAGON PEARL is NOT this.The blurb I remember seeing for DRAGON PEARL was “space opera meets Korean mythology.” This encapsulates the book pretty perfectly. DRAGON PEARL is not the contemporary world meets ancient mythology - DRAGON PEARL is an entire Thousand Worlds crafted lovingly out of Korean mythological themes. The mythology is never othered in this compelling story. Rather, it is the foundation and lifeblood for the world and characters. I am not Korean and have no prior knowledge of Korean mythology (other than some commonalities that it has to other East Asian ideas, of course). Despite this, I found myself immersed seamlessly in this world.Thirteen-year-old Min comes from a long line of fox spirits, but her family avoids showing their identity to be supernatural because of prejudices against foxes. She has always lived at home on her impoverished, world of Jinju, but when word comes that her brother Jun is accused of deserting the Space Forces to search for the Dragon Pearl, Min sets off to find her brother and clear his name. Through the twists and turns of this adventure, she will find herself as well.The story is exciting from the start, and even the slower information-gathering sections of the book are still tense with the pressure of dangerous secrets. The ending was unexpected and sets up nicely for what I hope will be a series of stories, but even if this is the end, I’m very happy.Something DRAGON PEARL does well that I appreciate is that it sets up gender variance as an accepted fact of life. Characters wear pronoun pins that tell our protagonist how to refer to them, and that’s all we need. The ideas of prejudice and racism are also touched on in the tension between supernaturals (such as foxes, dragons, tigers, ghosts, and goblins) and humans. Ultimately, Min shows that ALL should be accepted and respected.

Super good story. Fun & excitement for all ages.

I only realized afterward that I'd already purchased this book for my granddaughter and she loved it. I enjoyed the read but would not give it 5 stars. My granddaughter does!

This is a story of a thirteen year old fox spirit named Min. As a fox she can shape-shift into anything or anyone. She can also use charm to manipulate peoples thoughts or emotions. For these reasons fox spirits have bad reputations so, her family doesn't use their magic. Min and her family live on a poor and unfinished planet named Jinju. Min and her brother, Jun, always talked as children about doing what they could to help Jinju and other poor planets. Jun joined the Space Forces when he was old enough hoping to be able to do just that. Min, of course, longed to join her brother. The story begins with an investigator bringing news of her brother deserting his ship for the hope of getting the Dragon Pearl. Min immediately knows something is wrong. She knows her brother and knows he'd never desert. Some things happen and she decides to run off and find her brother. She finds a ship leaving Jinju and heading in the direction she needs to go, but the captain is a gambler and could possibly gamble her ship away. Min manages to get off Jinju anyway and that's where the real adventure begins. She's on a mission to find out what happened to her brother and she's willing to go to the ghost colony to do it. Along the way she encounters pirates, a dragon, a goblin, a tiger, and ghosts.I absolutely adored this book. The sibling bond is so relatable. The magic is just awesome. And there's space and ghosts!! I got strong Guardians of the Galaxy vibes while reading this. The way you jump through space and the way the dragon pearl works just put me in that headspace. I also really enjoyed that there was gender fluid characters in the story. This is a middle grade book so, I think it's awesome to teach kids are younger ages to be respectful and accepting of everyone. I can't wait to share this story with my kids. And I would so love if this became a series.

This is a Rick Riordan Presents title and it more than lives up to his recommendation. Set in a universe where magic and science both work, the reader gets an introduction to Korean mythologies and beliefs. This is a fantastic read and I can't wait to give it to my nephew.

Super excited to read the book, I love everything by Rick Riordan, and “Rick Riordan Presents” books tend to be just as good! However, the book arrived with water damage. It was mostly to the outside of the book, but I still asked for a replacement. It was quick and easy, no fuss! I’d still recommend this, I doubt it is common to get a damaged book. Mistakes happen!

The book was fantastic. Such a good combination of korean mythology,culture and space adventures. I couldn’t stop reading. I wish it could have more pages to read.

Purchased for my 9 y/o with the hope to encourage her to read more. It has been difficult to find chapter books that appeal to her as she prefers graphic novels. She loves this book and hasn't been able to put it down. I wish there were more books in the series as she would likely read them all.

Ok

This book is amazing. I recommend it to everyone. This is great. Korean Mythology made the book wonderful

RESENHA @BLOGTRIVIA"Ler a história da Min me trouxe aquela sensação nostálgica, aquele sentimento que só "Percy Jackson e os Olimpianos" me deu no passado. Passei por todos os capítulos querendo saber como ela ia escapar, como seus amigos iam se sentir se descobrirem quem ela era, se ia encontrar o irmão e a Dragon Pearl. O livro é extremamente fluido, nunca fica parado em uma missão ou tarefa, não me deixou cansada apesar das 320 páginas em um idioma não nativo.Confesso que eu leria muito mais do mundo que Yoon Ha Lee nos apresentou, e fiquei contente ao pesquisar e descobrir que terá mais um livro nesse universo extraordinário. Acredito que ainda tem muito suco nessa laranja. É um livro ótimo para todas as idades, principalmente para crianças que podem saber um pouco sobre as lendas coreanas, se divertir pelo espaço e pelas descrições de uma galáxia desconhecida, além de compreender e respeitar a identidade de gênero de cada um (que é de longe um tópico principal abordado, apenas existe assim como no nosso mundo, é introduzido da maneira natural da forma como deveria ser tratado).Se eu pudesse dar nota para esse livro seria 10/10, simplesmente por me transportar para uma época única da minha vida, a história não deixa a desejar (apesar de não se aprofundar na mitologia), cria um mundo vasto e instigante. Eu não sabia que necessitava ler algo leve até mergulhar de cabeça e sair chorando em algumas partes de puro amor fraterno (e olha que não tenho irmão), mas com coração quentinho e ansiosa por mais."

Yoon Ha Lees Ninefox - Gambit gehörte für mich zu den absolut besten SF-Romanen der letzten Jahre (zusammen mit Broken Earth). Da wollte ich auch einmal dieses Buch ausprobieren, auch wenn es "nur" ein Young-Adult-Roman ist. Aber na gut, dass sind Harry Potter und die Panem-Bücher auch und die habe ich auch gelesen.Entsprechend hat Dragon Pearl natürlich nicht die Tiefe eines Ninefox Gambits, sondern ist ein klassischer Abenteuer(jugend)roman: Die 13ährige Min läuft von zu Hause weg, um ihren Bruder zu finden. Dabei stürzt sie von einem Abenteuer ins nächste - und das ziemlich wortwörtlich. Das Ziel zwar irgendwie im Blick, verbringt die Protagonistin den größten Teil des Buches damit, sich aus unliebsamen Situationen zu befreien. Das ist nicht tiefgreifend, aber das muss es auch nicht immer sein: Das Buch hat unheimliches Tempo und ist fast durchgehend spannend.Originell ist das Setting: Zwar nominell ein SF-Roman, gibt es hier auch Magie und Geister und sowas, also eher Science Fantasy. Das ist schon ungewöhnlich, aber vor allem handelt es sich um koreanische Science Fantasy, das heißt das Pantheon richtet sich einmal nicht nach der westlichen Mythologie und das ist erfrischend. Auch die Familienstrukturen, Essen usw. sind klar diesem Kulturkreis entlehnt. Und das ist dadurch auf jeden Fall lesenswert mMn - wer "Disney" und "Rick Riordan" - Logos auf dem Cover ignorieren kann, findet hier eine schöne Ablenkung vom Alltag für zwischendurch!