“The Lady Who Fell Beneath the Sea” takes a special strategy to those self same themes.
Oh’s story doesn’t comply with Shim Cheong however moderately Mina, a lady from a Korean village that’s ravaged by storms and dying. The villagers imagine that the Sea God is indignant and solely his true bride can finish his wrath. So every year, a younger lady is sacrificed to the ocean. The novel opens with Shim Cheong chosen because the yr’s sacrifice — however Mina, understanding her brother loves Shim Cheong, throws herself into the ocean as a substitute.
Mina doesn’t die. As a substitute, she descends into the Spirit Realm. Connected to her hand when she wakes is the magical Pink String of Destiny, a ribbon believed to tie an individual to his or her future. Mina’s results in the Sea God, who, it seems, will not be a merciless deity however moderately a boy-god beneath an enchanted sleep. Earlier than Mina can wake him, nonetheless, three mysterious figures lower the Pink String of Destiny and steal Mina’s voice. Now, Mina has to determine how you can get her voice again, wake the Sea God and save her individuals. Except she will be able to accomplish these duties in 30 days, she’ll die and develop into a spirit herself.
What hooked me immediately in “The Lady Who Fell Beneath the Sea” was its wealthy world. Oh, who has beforehand written each modern and sci-fi younger grownup novels, describes the Sea God’s metropolis vividly and evocatively, with its “lots of, 1000’s of individuals wearing vibrant jewel-tone colours, as if the town have been a fantastic reef and the individuals its coral”; the “labyrinth of buildings” that spreads out earlier than Mina “like a painter’s canvas”; the brightly coloured fish that “swim alongside the breeze, as if the sky have been an ocean”; the gold mild that shines from lanterns “like sails of ships caught on hearth.” Upon seeing the Sea God’s metropolis, Mina thinks, “I’ve by no means seen something extra lovely. I’ve by no means seen something extra terrifying.” I had the identical thought whereas studying. On each web page I discovered one thing marvelous and new, and I used to be keen to maintain studying as a result of I needed to additional discover this wondrous new world.
After which there’s Mina herself, a personality who ranks amongst our nice Y.A. heroines. She’s good, she’s rebellious, she’s assertive and, in spite of everything she and her individuals have been by way of, she’s mad. Why do women should sacrifice themselves? People hand over a lot to honor the gods, and for what? “The gods have chosen to not grant our needs,” she thinks. When she lastly sees the Sea God, it’s not love that Mina feels. “It’s darker, hotter and infinitely stronger. I hate him.”
Hers is the righteous anger that comes when confronting injustice. However critically, Mina is rarely blinded by her fury. She tries to assist whomever she will be able to, at any time when she will be able to. “I didn’t run to the seashore to develop into the Sea God’s bride however to save lots of my brother. However I’m right here now, and if there’s an opportunity I can save not solely him, however everybody, then I’ve to attempt.”
