Rick Riordan Presents: Dragon Pearl-A Thousand Worlds Novel Book 1

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.

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.

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.

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."

this book is a grate blend of si fi migic and all arond grateness it definitely deserves its plase in ric reoden presentsi strongly recomend this book to all over the age of 10 or 9i hope that the auther will write a second book so we can all enjoy this series more from a fan

Dragon Pearl já começa nos introduzindo ao universo dos Mil Mundos e a mitologia que envolve o livro. E logo já embarcamos na jornada de Min.Na maior parte da história acabamos acompanhando os afazeres da jovem raposa na nave, enquanto tenta descobrir um pouco mais sobre o paradeiro de seu irmão. Neste meio tempo, vamos conhecer alguns personagens bem interessantes, incluindo Haneaul e Sujin, ela é um dragão e elu um goblin, que se tornam amigos da nossa protagonista.A Min é aquela personagem que poderia ser mais velha do que é pelas suas ações, aparentando ser bem madura ali no contexto da história, mas que acaba sendo nova pelo público alvo, o que é algo um tanto quanto comum em livros infantojuvenis, tirando o fato de que achei ela muito segura de si o tempo todo.Por ser um volume único eu esperava que coisas acontecessem logo, mas só vamos ter um verdadeiro avanço mesmo mais para o final e mesmo assim achei que as coisas foram um tanto quanto convenientes. Acho que eu esperava um pouco mais da grandiosidade de The Storm Runner que foi um livro do mesmo selo que me ganhou desde o começo.Além disso, a reta final acabou sendo um pouco bagunçada para mim, talvez um tanto quanto corrida. Com os personagens se mostrando um tanto quanto volúveis e as coisas se resolvendo facilmente.Mesmo assim, eu gostei muito da construção da história, do universo com várias criaturas mágicas pertencentes à mitologia coreana e da representatividade não binária. É uma história bem legal de ser lida, perfeita para um público mais novo.

good