And she is clever with charms that distract and manipulate people. Her fox traits (like heightened hearing and scent recognition) are an immense help to her. Min is a courageous character dedicated to finding her brother and clearing his name, while risking her own life at the same time. The mythology is never explained in this compelling story, because it is the the foundation for the world and characters.ĭragon Pearl is high adventure with a lot of risks. It isn’t contemporary, but crafted out of Korean mythological themes. This is the second Rick Riordan Presents novel I’ve reviewed (even though I didn’t read his series.) The blurb I remember seeing for Dragon Pearl was “space opera meets Korean mythology.” This pretty much encapsulates the book. Using her fox-magic, she uses her shape-shifting and Charm casting abilities to navigate gamblers, pirates, vengeful ghosts and sneak onto find her brother’s ship. Min has only one option - to search for Jun. Jun wound never desert his battle cruiser, Pale Lightning, even for a powerful mystical object. When a special investigator arrives at Min’s home and informs her family that Jun is suspected of deserting the Space Force with other cadets to go search for the Dragon Pearl, Min knows that something is very wrong. Together they dream of seeing all of the Thousand Worlds and to find a way to help their own neglected, dust-ridden and impoverished planet, Jinju. She dreams of joining the Space Forces like her older brother, Jun. To keep the family safe, Min’s mothers insists that none of them use any fox magic, such as Charm or shape-shifting.

But you’d never know it by looking at her.

Thirteen-year-old Min comes from a long line of fox spirits. Themes: Brother and sister, Space adventure, Korean Mythology, Magical creatures, Ghosts, Science Fiction, Fantasy

Dragon pearl yoon ha lee