Review Detail

Have I had nothing but existential dread and numerous existential crises since finishing this book? YES. Will I gladly recommend this beautifully horrifying novel to anyone that dares to look at me in a weird way. Also yes, in a very loving way.

Karma of the Sun by Brandon Ying Kit Boey is a YA fantasy/sci-fy/dystopian novel that follows a world where the sun has exploded six times, and with a seventh the world will end. Because that's totally not plausible, yet still terrifying to imagine happening in our lifetime, right? Karma is a boy that lives in the last civilization on Earth, people of the Tibetan plateau (aka people that live in the Himalayans), and one days decides he is going to look for his long-presumed-dead father. Which takes him a journey to a mountain, where the physical plane is said to meet with the spiritual. All whilst the world is literally ending.

I absolutely loved the lyrical writing, as it fit perfectly with the overall theme Boey was hoping to achieve with the overall tie between physical and spiritual ties of the book. While also creating a lofty reading, despite it's heavy tones. I also found myself rooting for Karma, despite every single odd being stacked against him, There is just so admirable about a story's journey, where you already know the outcome and the character still follows through with it.

However, I did find that at times Boey was trying a bit too philosophical. Which overall made my brain hurt and lead to me having to put this wonderful book down and take a break. Which happened a bit too often for my taste.

I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for N.K. Jemisen's The Fifth Season to be geared towards a younger audience. And those that aren't afraid to stare at a wall for a few hours, will being filled with existential dread and the overwhelming need to do something important with their life. Because that totally wasn't me or anything and I wasn't the embodiment of Squidward, having a crisis over the FUTURE.