Ellen Oh: King
Jun. 1st, 2018 01:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bibliogrammaKang Kira is the Dragon Musado, a hero foretold in prophecy destined to be the protector of a king who will unite the seven kingdoms and restore peace and prosperity. But it seems as though the prophesy is doomed to failure. The foretold king, her cousin Prince Taejo, has been kidnapped by a dragon who demands the return of a talisman that Kira has taken from him, as part of the fulfillment of the prophecy. The dragon has taken the prince to a temple filled with Kira’s adversaries, and surrounded by the enemies of Prince Taejo’s kingdom. If she goes there to return the talisman, Taejo will never achieve his destiny - and she will likely be killed. Yet if she does not go, Taejo will die.
Thus opens King, the third volume of Ellen Oh’s YA fantasy cycle The Prophecy, set in a secondary world based on Korean history and myth.
Kira sets off on a mission to rescue the prince, accompanied by Kim Jaewon, one of the supporters she has gathered during her quest to fulfil the prophecies. Their plan is to sneak up on the temple while the remains of Prince Taejo’s navy create a diversion. The early part of the mission is almost lighthearted, as Jaewon teasingly presses his suit and Kira pushes him back, but with some reluctance. It’s a nice touch, the reminder that simple things like courting the girl you like can co-exist with momentous prophecies and dangerous deeds.
The journey to the temple where the prince is being held has all the tropes of the fated journey - Kira and Jaewon encounter one situation after another, some requiring compassion, some requiring fighting, meeting with tests and allies who give them information about what to expect. It is very much in the style of legendary journeys, but peppered with the humour of human situations. Kira must navigate the dangers of the temple alone, facing still more tests, but not only does she save the prince, but fulfils the final requirements of prophesy, and is confirmed as Dragon Musado by the ancient king of dragons himself.
Next comes the hard part - facing and defeating the Demon Lord, driving out the Yamato, and uniting the seven kingdoms under the rule of the young prince.
This was a good end to an enjoyable story about belief, sacrifice, compassion, courage, and becoming at peace with ones’ self - all excellent ideas to be wrapped up in an adventure about a young girl finding herself, and finding true love, in the midst of chaos and turmoil.
Thus opens King, the third volume of Ellen Oh’s YA fantasy cycle The Prophecy, set in a secondary world based on Korean history and myth.
Kira sets off on a mission to rescue the prince, accompanied by Kim Jaewon, one of the supporters she has gathered during her quest to fulfil the prophecies. Their plan is to sneak up on the temple while the remains of Prince Taejo’s navy create a diversion. The early part of the mission is almost lighthearted, as Jaewon teasingly presses his suit and Kira pushes him back, but with some reluctance. It’s a nice touch, the reminder that simple things like courting the girl you like can co-exist with momentous prophecies and dangerous deeds.
The journey to the temple where the prince is being held has all the tropes of the fated journey - Kira and Jaewon encounter one situation after another, some requiring compassion, some requiring fighting, meeting with tests and allies who give them information about what to expect. It is very much in the style of legendary journeys, but peppered with the humour of human situations. Kira must navigate the dangers of the temple alone, facing still more tests, but not only does she save the prince, but fulfils the final requirements of prophesy, and is confirmed as Dragon Musado by the ancient king of dragons himself.
Next comes the hard part - facing and defeating the Demon Lord, driving out the Yamato, and uniting the seven kingdoms under the rule of the young prince.
This was a good end to an enjoyable story about belief, sacrifice, compassion, courage, and becoming at peace with ones’ self - all excellent ideas to be wrapped up in an adventure about a young girl finding herself, and finding true love, in the midst of chaos and turmoil.
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Date: 2018-06-04 10:43 am (UTC)Short story told from the POV of John Lennon. Someone had come back in time to pull him out just before he was assassinated. Definitely not Get Back: Imagine… Saving John Lennon by Donovan Day.
Please help if you can. Thanks!
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Date: 2018-06-04 12:58 pm (UTC)