Synopsis:
When you emigrate, you leave a version of yourself behind. Literally. One instance crosses the border; the other instance stays trapped behind it.
Some instances keep in touch, call each other daily, synchronize their lives and minds in the hopes of reintegrating and resuming a life as one person. Other instances, like Soyoung Rose Kang, leave home at age ten and never speak to their other selves again.
With a life of her own in New York, Rose never imagined she’d return to Korea. Then her grandfather dies and Soyoung, her Korean instance, summons her home for the funeral. But Soyoung’s motives aren’t as innocent as Rose imagined, and the consequences of Rose’s return to Seoul will change her forever.
Sublimation is a story of doppelgängers and corporate intrigue, heartbreak and betrayal. Nebula Award-winning author Isabel J. Kim has written an immigrant tale like no other, capturing the longing for another life and twisting it into a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse.
Review:
An interesting thought experiment that unravels rather than playing on the emotional drama.
Emigration literally splits a person into two versions: one travels to the new country, while an “instance” remains trapped in the home country.
Soyoung Rose Kang moved to the U.S. at age ten, but also still lives in Korea. Neither instance has contact with the other until Rose returns to Seoul; Soyoung informing her of their grandfather’s death. The same person, different identities, two instances.
This is told in the second person, creating this weird mirror effect where *you’re* reading about two different selfs. The what-if’s branching off from one choice.
How similar, how different are we based on the decisions we make and the environment we live in, the life we lead?
Artificial or not, the knowledge of existing borders delineates the world. They are a social technology that creates emotional reality, that creates a physical reality.
Alongside doppelgängers, there is corporate intrigue as the more technothriller elements create greater tension and stakes in the latter half through the bureaucratic, social, and technological realities of this bizarre world.
I think the plot overtook the insightful and compelling character study. The latter half changes in tone and purpose. The speculative is less interrogative as the thriller element is amped up.
Similar to my thoughts on other books in this vein (particularly The Merge), the shift in plot and focus didn’t quite work for me, but I’m sure will appeal to fans of suspense and techno thrillers.
It’s not a bad thing, to instance. But it means that you were of two minds. It shows a desire beyond wonder. It suggests a desire for escape, an understanding that either the world outside is so beautiful it must be permanently inhabited or the world inside is so terrible that it should be escaped.
The sci fi is light. You won’t get explanations that make sense, but it will make you think about our current definitions of identity, borders, and the role of corporate vs government.
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