Rebel Seoul

August 7, 2017
Oh debuts with an engrossing SF thriller that combines giant robots, Korean culture, and dystopian themes. In 2199 in the divided city of Neo Seoul, Lee Jaewon, an ambitious young soldier, is recruited to pilot a God Machine, one of the “massive, human-piloted machines of modern warfare” that operate on the front lines of the decades-long Great War of the Pacific. After Jaewon partners up with Tera, who is part of a project to take the God Machines to a frightening new level of destruction, he discovers that the Neo State of Korea holds devastating secrets. Caught between the establishment (as represented by the tyrannical Director), a rebel faction, and an influential criminal syndicate, Jaewon has to decide where his loyalties rest. The worldbuilding and backstory are left somewhat vague, but Oh balances the story’s action sequences with plenty of moral and philosophical quandaries for readers to consider. It’s a gripping, satisfying tale on its own, and the ending leaves room for further exploration. Ages 12–up. Agent: Patricia Nelson, Marsal Lyon Literary.

Starred review from September 1, 2017

Gr 7 Up-It's the year 2199, post the Great War that left East Asia divided. Living in the slums of Old Seoul, Lee Jaewon wants a better life and enrolls in the Apgujeong Academy in Neo Seoul to secure a high-level position in the military. After surviving a crucial simulator placement test, Jaewon is placed in the Tower to monitor a secret military weapon-human killing machines. As the rebels become stronger, the military must hurry to prepare their human weapons for battle. There's just one problem: Jaewon has fallen in love with his assigned killing machine, Tera, and must make a tough decision between love and war. The theme of fathers and sons is multilayered and engaging in this stand-alone novel. Alex Kim, a friend of Jaewon, desperately seeks his father's approval while his other friend Park Young has made peace with his father. Jaewon's own parental issues fall somewhere in between as he struggles with abandonment and identity. This debut has a large cast of characters that includes teens and adults, and heroes and villains. Jaewon is the most fully developed, but those around him help to shape this appealing young man and to help him grow and decide which side he is on in the impending civil war. VERDICT This action-packed sci-fi novel, with deeper explorations of empathy, humanity, and the capacity to love, is a great choice for most collections.-Dawn Abron, Zion-Benton Public Library, IL

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 15, 2017
In a militaristic future Korea, a boy and girl meet.It is 2199, and Korea, China, and Japan no longer exist as separate countries but as members of the Neo Council (conveyed to readers in infodumps). Five decades of war have yielded many innovations, such as the God Machines (riffing on the tradition of Japanese mecha movies and Pacific Rim). Preparing to take his military placement exam before graduation from an elite academy, Jaewon is isolated: his father is dead, his mother abandoned him, and his former best friend has turned his back on Jaewon to gain power in one of the Old Seoul gangs. Jaewon's military posting is to the Tower, the kilometer-tall building in Neo Seoul that serves as headquarters, where he is assigned to supervise Tera, a girl whose strength has been enhanced with drugs in order to pilot a new kind of God Machine. With war still raging and rebel nationalists seeking to make Korea an independent nation again, will two young people be able to find love in this plot-heavy story? While Jaewon is an effective character, much of the supporting cast is relatively flat and the dialogue occasionally stilted, which jars against the mostly colloquial flow. The setting is well-captured, but it's slow going in this sci-fi adventure. (glossary) (Science fiction. 14-16)

COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from September 1, 2017
Grades 8-11 *Starred Review* In her brilliantly crafted debut, Oh brings us to the year 2199. The planet's East and West have been consumed by war for the past 50 years, and the newly formed Neo Alliance (Korea, Japan, and China) are ruthless in their ambition to control the world. Enter Lee Jaewon, fresh off his military placement exam from one of Neo Seoul's elite military academies and assigned to the Towerhome of the government's most top-secret project. Here Jaewon meets Tera, a teenage girl who has undergone years of military testing to turn her into a supersoldier with the ability to pilot one of Korea's advanced God Machines, a weapon capable of leveling a city block in one blow. Abandoned by those who were meant to love him the most, Jaewon is committed to doing his part to contribute to the war effort. But as he and Tera grow closer, and the mystery of his father's death comes to light, Jaewon begins to question his loyalties. Will love for another open his eyes to the true nature of war? Equal parts K-drama (Korean drama) and sci-fi blockbuster, Oh blends futuristic tech, authentic Korean culture, and romance in this complex, utterly engrossing, and wholly fresh story that is sure to entice a wide array of readers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)