Dragon Pearl

Three-time Hugo Award finalist Yoon Ha Lee returns to science fiction with a swashbuckling space opera about fighting against an evil empire trying to erase history.<BR><BR>> The Censorate is ruled by its Peacock, Aurelia, feared for the power of panopticon: she can look through anyone’s eyes. Moreover, Aurelia’s mastery of lingua rubra lets her force anyone who can understand her to follow her orders. Valentina, sold to Aurelia’s family as a child to be Aurelia’s oath-sister and companion, is its Swan, responsible for extracting useful information from foreign texts, then destroying them as well as entire languages through arcane arts. Valentina is assisted in her work by lower-ranking linguists and AI assistants who accept temporary contamination by foreign languages as a necessity of their work. But this isn’t enough for Aurelia. She wants to control and deploy the Censorate’s thousand-year traitor and prisoner, the Basilisk, a man with a gaze so lethal that he destroyed its fleet of old through camera feeds. Unfortunately for her, the Basilisk gave himself a form of aphasia that makes him immune to her commands.

FINALIST FOR THE NEBULA AND LODESTAR AWARDS • LOCUS AWARD WINNING AUTHOR • "MASTERFULLY CRAFTED."—Axie Oh, New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea<BR> <BR> * "THRILLING." —Booklist, starred review <BR> <BR> EVEN GRAVITY COMES AT A PRICE. <BR> <BR>In a society where conformity is valued above all else, a teen girl training to become an Imperial pilot is forced to return to her rebel roots to save her world in this adrenaline-fueled sci-fi adventure—perfect for fans of Iron Widow and Skyward!<BR><BR>Hwa Young was just ten years old when Imperial forces destroyed her rebel moon home. Now, six years later, she is a citizen of the very empire that made her an orphan. <BR><BR>Desperate to shake off her past, Hwa Young dreams of becoming a lancer pilot, one of an elite group of warriors who fly into battle using the empire’s most advanced tech—giant martial robots. When an attack on their boarding school leaves Hwa Young and her classmates stranded on an Imperial space fleet in dire need of pilot candidates, she is quick to volunteer. <BR><BR>But training is nothing like she expected, and secrets—like the ominous fate of the fleet’s previous lancer squad—are stacking up. And when Hwa Young uncovers a conspiracy that puts their entire world at risk, she’s forced to make a choice between her rebel roots and an empire she’s no longer sure she can trust.

Best-selling author Rick Riordan presents Yoon Ha Lee's space opera about thirteen-year-old Min, who comes from a long line of fox spirits. <BR><BR>But you'd never know it by looking at her. To keep the family safe, Min's mother insists that none of them use any fox-magic, such as Charm or shape-shifting. They must appear human at all times. <BR><BR>Min feels hemmed in by the household rules and resents the endless chores, the cousins who crowd her, and the aunties who judge her. She would like nothing more than to escape Jinju, her neglected, dust-ridden, and impoverished planet. She's counting the days until she can follow her older brother, Jun, into the Space Forces and see more of the Thousand Worlds. <BR><BR>When word arrives that Jun is suspected of leaving his post to go in search of the Dragon Pearl, Min knows that something is wrong. Jun would never desert his battle cruiser, even for a mystical object rumored to have tremendous power. She decides to run away to find him and clear his name.<BR><BR>Min's quest will have her meeting gamblers, pirates, and vengeful ghosts. It will involve deception, lies, and sabotage. She will be forced to use more fox-magic than ever before, and to rely on all of her cleverness and bravery. The outcome may not be what she had hoped, but it has the potential to exceed her wildest dreams. <BR><BR>This sci-fi adventure with the underpinnings of Korean mythology will transport you to a world far beyond your imagination.<BR><BR>Endorsed by Rick Riordan, author of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, soon to be a series on Disney+.

* WINNER OF THE 2026 LOCUS AWARD FOR BEST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL *<BR>* NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR *<BR><BR>'There are elements of the worldbuilding I love' - LOCUS<BR>'Will resonate with readers who straddle cultures themselves' - BOOKLIST<BR>'Continues the high-tech intrigue' - KIRKUS REVIEWS<BR><BR>DO AS OTHERS DO. STAY WHERE OTHERS ARE. UNITY IS SURVIVAL.<BR><BR>It has been two months since Hwa Young and her lancer squad turned on the Empire and joined the clanner rebellion, at a terrible cost. Hwa Young is desperate to rescue her dearest friend, left in the Empire's clutches when the squad fled, but that goes against the orders of her commanding officer in the rebellion-who is also her long-lost heart-mother, Aera.<BR><BR>Loyalties are strained and battle-lines blur when an enemy lancer pilot reaches out to Hwa Young in secret, revealing deeper forces at work both in the Empire and among the clans. When a saboteur wrecks one of the lancers, Hwa Young wonders: is there anyone, Empire or clan, she can truly trust?

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