THE FLOATING WORLD

Ren buried her past, Sunho’s memory was stolen from him: Together they seek to solve the mysteries of who they are in this series opener set in an East Asian fantasy world.

Ren’s happy childhood ends when a demon attacks her adoptive family of itinerant performers, and she reveals her hidden powers while trying to protect them. Ren strikes out on her own, hoping to keep everyone safe from the pursuit she’s long been dreading. A powerful general from Sareniya hires mercenaries to hunt her down, and among the hunters is former child soldier Sunho, who recalls nothing of his past except that he has—or had—a brother and possibly harbors a demon. Sunho lives in the grim, lightless Under World, a city of factories, worker housing, and gang-ridden slums; from its underside, miners extract mithril, a poisonous and valuable ore. Above lies the elegant, radiant Floating World, home of nobility. The teens meet when Ren saves Sunho’s life, a debt he repays as they flee the general and his minions. Struggling to make sense of his newly awakened memories, Sunho needs Ren’s help to contain his demonic energy, while she needs his strength to keep her safe. Tepid love story and confusing geography notwithstanding, the fast-paced plot is original and engaging. Incorporating concepts from diverse sources—Tolkien’s mithril, Japanese Buddhism’s Floating World, and the Korean folktale “The Woodcutter and the Celestial Maiden”—Oh makes them her own.

Intriguing, bittersweet, and strongly paced.