Caramel reviews Tiger Honor by Yoon Ha Lee

A while back Marshmallow reviewed Dragon Pearl, a book involving various themes from Korean mythology, written by Yoon Ha Lee. Today Caramel reviews a second book by the same author, Tiger Honor, published in 2022. As usual Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, today you wanted to talk about another book with some Asian themes. 

Caramel: Yeah, but this one is a novel, and it is called Tiger Honor. It is a really good book.

S: It must be. You read it rather quickly. So what is it about?

C: It is about this person named Sebin who wants to join the Space Forces of the Thousand Worlds and maybe become a captain like their uncle Hwan, but then Hwan is named a traitor. Sebin is shocked of course, but they join the Force nonetheless, hoping that they can perhaps clear their uncle’s name. 

S: There is something special about Sebin, right?

C: Yes, they are a tiger spirit, and so you get the ”Tiger” in the title of the book. And their tribe the Juhwang Clan has a strong honor code. Again, that is the second part of the title of the book. Honor is very important to Sebin. Sebin wants to save their family’s honor by clearing Hwan’s name. 

S: I see. What is a tiger spirit? Does it become clear in the book?

C: Yeah, it is explained in the first chapter. Sebin is a human but can shapeshift into a tiger and is exceptionally strong. 

S: Are there other kinds of spirits in the book? 

C: Yes, there are foxes, and ghosts, and I think others, but I’m not sure. But from what I understand these kinds of spirits show up in Korean myths and that is what inspired the author.

S: Oh, yes, in the first book of this series, the main character was a fox spirit. In fact, as far as I understand, that character shows up in this book, too. Her name is Min. 

C: Hmm, yes, Min does show up. She is an important character here actually. But I did not read that first book. 

S: I have not read the book yet, but again from what I understand from everything I read about it, even though Min shows up here, too, and both books involve the Dragon Pearl and the Space Forces of the Thousand Worlds, they are actually independent stories. So I think it is okay that you did not read that one before reading this one. 

C: That is good to know. I might still go ahead and read Dragon Pearl at some point though. This world is interesting!

S: Can you tell me more about this world then?

C: Sure, there are mostly human-like people, like the tiger and fox spirits, and some mercenaries.out-of-galaxy mercenaries fighting against the Space Force. There are a lot of planets and civilizations that came together and signed a treaty to form the Thousand Worlds, which is kind of like the United Federation of Planets in Star Trek. And the Space Force is basically Starfleet. 

S: Okay, that is cool. It sounds like a neat mixture of science fiction and Korean mythological themes. So then tell us a bit more about what happens in the book. 

C: So, Sebin joins the space force, and then the ship they join is sabotaged, and by Uncle Hwan no less. And it gets more and more exciting and a lot messier from there on, but maybe in order to really see this, one should read the book. And it is a good book so it is very much worth it.

S: Sounds like it. So maybe this is a good place to end this review

C: And maybe I should go and read Dragon Pearl next. 

S: Makes sense to me. What do you want to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!