Pachinko

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee is a family epic based on four generations of a Korean family in Japan beginning in the early 1900s.

Sunja, the daughter of an innkeeper in Yeongdo, a small fishing village in Korea, falls for a stranger at the market. She assumes he will marry her, but when she becomes pregnant she discovers that he is already married.

Isak is a minister traveling from the north of Korea on his way to Japan. He seeks out the boarding house that his brother stay in years ago. There he meets Sunja and offers to marry her and take her to Japan with him.

When they arrive in Japan, both are shocked to discover it is not the promise land they were lead to believe. Koreans are required to live in the ghetto. Prejudice controls every part of their lives.

As time passes, the family faces many obstacles. They succeed as well as their station allows. During WWII they find help from a surprising source. Sunja and Isak's sons continue the struggle as the generations continue.

Pachinko is a wonderful book about a minority family in a homogenous country. An instant classic beautifully written. Read it now.

Lee, Min Jin. (2017). Pachinko. New York: Grand Central Publishing.

Crier's War (Automae #1)

Crier's War by Nina Varela is the first book in her fantasy series set in the land of Rabu, ruled by the Automae.

When Queen Thea could not have children she offered a reward to anyone who could make her a daughter. This is how the first Automa was Made. She was more than a human - stronger, faster, smarter. Soon Automae where being Made to serve humans all over the land. The came of the War of Kinds, where Automae took over and keep humans as servants.

Now Lady Crier, the daughter of the king is about to be wed to Kinok. This is a political marriage. One designed to pull the power Kinok is growing under the king's control. The king is a believer in Traditionalism - structuring their lives as the humans did. But Kinok's Anti-Reliance Movement wants Automae to stop following the ideas of the weaker humans.

Ayla wants revenge on the king for killing her family. Her goal is to kill his daughter Crier to hurt him. If she can work her way into the castle from her position in the fields, she can get close enough to do it.

Varela has written a great first novel in this fantasy series in the style of classic fantasy. I am excited to continue this wonderfully queer series.

Varela, Nina. (2019). Crier's War. New York: HarperTeen.