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Published by Magpie
Distributed by Simon & Schuster
Table of Contents
About The Book
The lonely worlds of three very unusual siblings collide in this breathtaking tale of what it means to be human
Three siblings. Two human, one robot. The spectacular new debut about what it means to be alive.
'Wildly and, yes, luminously emotional.' Matt Haig, author of The Midnight Library
'Searching and masterful, Park’s Luminous engrossed me completely.' Sierra Greer, author of Annie Bot
In a recently reunified Korea, robots have integrated seamlessly into society. They are our teachers, our bus drivers and policemen. They are our lovers. They are even our children.
Eleven-year-old Ruijie sifts through scrap metal in a Seoul junkyard, searching for anything that might repair her failing body. There amongst the piles of junk she happens across a robot boy: lifelike, strange and unlike anything she's seen before.
Across the city, estranged siblings Jun and Morgan Cho haven't spoken since the abrupt disappearance of their robot brother Yoyo, which shattered their childhoods and left a gaping hole in their lives. But Ruijie's discovery is about to bring the lives of brother and sister hurtling back together, forcing them to confront the reality of Yoyo's true nature, and the dark purpose their father never revealed.
At once a dazzling work of speculative fiction and a poignant family drama, Luminous is a timely, unforgettable story about what it really means to be human.
Three siblings. Two human, one robot. The spectacular new debut about what it means to be alive.
'Wildly and, yes, luminously emotional.' Matt Haig, author of The Midnight Library
'Searching and masterful, Park’s Luminous engrossed me completely.' Sierra Greer, author of Annie Bot
In a recently reunified Korea, robots have integrated seamlessly into society. They are our teachers, our bus drivers and policemen. They are our lovers. They are even our children.
Eleven-year-old Ruijie sifts through scrap metal in a Seoul junkyard, searching for anything that might repair her failing body. There amongst the piles of junk she happens across a robot boy: lifelike, strange and unlike anything she's seen before.
Across the city, estranged siblings Jun and Morgan Cho haven't spoken since the abrupt disappearance of their robot brother Yoyo, which shattered their childhoods and left a gaping hole in their lives. But Ruijie's discovery is about to bring the lives of brother and sister hurtling back together, forcing them to confront the reality of Yoyo's true nature, and the dark purpose their father never revealed.
At once a dazzling work of speculative fiction and a poignant family drama, Luminous is a timely, unforgettable story about what it really means to be human.
Product Details
- Publisher: Magpie (March 20, 2025)
- Length: 400 pages
- ISBN13: 9780861546428
Raves and Reviews
'Wildly and, yes, luminously emotional.' Matt Haig, author of The Midnight Library
'A spectacular debut, taking place in a thoroughly imagined, vividly written future. Harrowing but full of heart, a work of enormous ambition and brilliance with an ending that fully justifies the title and brought me to tears.' Karen Joy Fowler
'Searching and masterful, Park's Luminous engrossed me completely. Each broken robot, child, and warrior takes the elusive promise of family to a whole new level. I was honestly blown away.' Sierra Greer, author of Annie Bot
'Luminous is warm, expansive, and particular. Park renders the intersection between family and technology with wit and philosophical depth, but ultimately this is just incredibly exciting to read. It's utterly beautiful.' Raven Leilani, author of Luster
'Inventive, rollicking, and poetic, Luminous is a future classic novel about robots that reveals itself to be profoundly, beautifully human.' Juhea Kim, author of Beasts of a Little Land
'Luminous is full of complex characters, damaged and broken and beautiful. It's a novel full of pleasures, big and small, gorgeous sentences from which Park weaves a rich, layered story of family and work, of history and speculation, of Korea, past, present and future.' Charles Yu, author of Interior Chinatown
'It's a cold stunner of a novel. Park masterfully balances complex characters in a very creative world. The family dynamics in this future-tinged novel are brilliantly written.' Debutiful, 'Most Anticipated Debut Books of 2025'
'Extraordinary…set in a not-too-distant future, debut novelist Silvia Park's Luminous gloriously explores the unpredictable, fading lines between man and machine.' Shelf Awareness
'With Ishiguro-esque precision, Park dissects sentience and reality, as well as love and death... Lustrous.' Publishers Weekly
'A well-crafted take on the vagaries of memory and what it means to be human, with a satisfying investigative backbone.' Booklist
'A United Korea in the nearish future is the setting for Silvia Park’s deeply human take on artificial life.' CrimeReads
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High Resolution Images
- Book Cover Image (jpg): Luminous eBook 9780861546428
