Hi everyone! Excited to share some of my favorite Korean American and Korean authors with you in this awesome Bookavid feature. I really enjoyed “f/f recommendations with Julia Ember”, so very thrilled to be invited! Here we go:
If you love Daniel José Older's SHADOWSHAPERThen you'll love Ellen Oh's PROPHECY
Both of these books are fast-paced adventures with courageous heroines chasing after their destinies. They're rooted strongly in their settings—modern Brooklyn in SHADOWSHAPER and ancient Korea in PROPHECY. And each integrates culture into their world building in both a macro- and micro- level. For example, with PROPHECY, on a macro-level, it’s set in a fantasy Korea and has Korean names and places. But on a micro-level the details are distinct and specific. The rhythm of the language, the interactions between the characters, who the characters are—their desires and fears—all contribute to building a world that feels like ancient Korea (but with magic)!
If you love Jenny Han's TO ALL THE BOYS I'VE LOVED BEFOREThen you'll love Maurene Goo's I BELIEVE IN A THING CALLED LOVE
This pairing might be a little obvious, but I can't help myself! Other than having very long (adorable) titles, both of these books are feel good contemporaries with realistic high school experiences and just the right amount of K-drama flair to give it that extra *gochujang (this was a really bad joke, sorry). Both books were featured on the popular Korean drama blog DRAMABEANS, here and here, because of their fun homage to K-dramas. Definitely two books close to my heart.
If you love Neil Gaiman’s TRIGGER WARNINGThen you'll love Yoon Ha Lee’s CONSERVATION OF SHADOWS
CONSERVATION OF SHADOWS may very well be my favorite short story collection. Like Gaiman, Lee's writing is literary, weird, gorgeous and imaginative. My favorite short story in this collection, “Effigy Nights,” was a 2014 nominee for the World Fantasy Award for Best Short Story. The story itself is…indescribable, but in short, it’s about a city of artisans under attack by enemy starships. The only way for them to repel the attack is by summoning soldiers from books of legend by cutting them out from paper with scissors. Amazing, right? Other elements in his short stories include: mecha, necromancy, Korean history, mathematics and black holes.
If you love Lauren Oliver’s DELIRIUM
Then you'll love Gabrielle Zevin’s ALL THESE THINGS I'VE DONE
Both of these books are literary dystopias with great characters and writing. Like DELIRIUM, the world in ALL THESE THINGS I’VE DONE is similar to our own but for one disparate element i.e. love is outlawed in the world of DELIRIUM and chocolate is outlawed in the world of ATTID. Both books are written like contemporaries, but that added element gives them a fantasy-edge to keep things interesting. I've been a fan of Zevin's work since high school, but ATTID is a personal favorite. It’s set in a run-down New York where chocolate (the drug of choice) is outlawed. The heroine of the novel, Anya Balanchine, is the heiress to New York’s most notorious crime family. At the same time, she’s juggling Catholic school and nursing a flirtation with the new assistant DA’s son.
If you love Erin Morgenstern’s THE NIGHT CIRCUS
Then you'll love Ha Il-Kwon’s ANNARASUMANARA
ANNARASUMANARA is a webtoon set in Korea about Yun Ai, an 11th grade student whose hardships have left her embittered. Still, as a young girl, she used to want to be a magician. When she stumbles upon an abandoned circus, a mysterious magician appears before her and asks, “Do you believe in magic?” The story goes from there and it’s enchanting.
Both THE NIGHT CIRCUS and ANNARASUMANARA follow a loose plot with gorgeous imagery (visual and textual images in the case of ANNARASUMANARA). They both center in and around a circus and are told in vignette-like chapters. The main difference is that THE NIGHT CIRCUS is fantasy, while ANNARASUMANARA is magical realism.
Axie Oh is a first generation Korean American, born in NYC and raised in New Jersey. She studied Korean history and creative writing as an undergrad at the University of California – San Diego and is currently pursuing an MFA at Lesley University in Writing for Young People. Her passions include K-pop, anime, stationery supplies, and milk tea. She currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada with her puppy, Toro.
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REBEL SEOUL, out on September 15th 2017 with Tu Books
"After a great war, the East Pacific is in ruins. In brutal Neo Seoul, where status comes from success in combat, ex-gang member Lee Jaewon is a talented pilot rising in the ranks of the academy. Abandoned as a kid in the slums of Old Seoul by his rebel father, Jaewon desires only to escape his past and prove himself a loyal soldier of the Neo State.
When Jaewon is recruited into the most lucrative weapons development division in Neo Seoul, he is eager to claim his best shot at military glory. But the mission becomes more complicated when he meets Tera, a test subject in the government’s supersoldier project. Tera was trained for one purpose: to pilot one of the lethal God Machines, massive robots for a never-ending war.
With secret orders to report on Tera, Jaewon becomes Tera’s partner, earning her reluctant respect. But as respect turns to love, Jaewon begins to question his loyalty to an oppressive regime that creates weapons out of humans. As the project prepares to go public amidst rumors of a rebellion, Jaewon must decide where he stands—as a soldier of the Neo State, or a rebel of the people.
Pacific Rim meets Korean action dramas in this mind-blowing, New Visions Award-winning science fiction debut."
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