Ocean's Godori is pitched as Becky Chambers meets Firefly. I suppose the description fits—a strong found family, political intrigue in space, a scrappy crew upon a scrappy vessel. But Cho has crafted something far more special than a simple mashup. Her Korean-centric view of this futuristic world is a fresh take in a sea of U.S.- or China-centric sci-fi on the shelves. Crucially, the setting and culture doesn't feel like a gimmick so much as earnest exploration of thought about how science and culture might develop if its epicenter were in that region of the world. 

But the strength of Ocean's Godori is in its characters. Across the board, Cho gives her characters individuality, as well as virtues and vices—though not always in equal measure. Ocean isn't a cuddly character, but she's the right pick for the star of this story. She has earned loyalty from friends and respect from enemies through her ability to read situations, and people, perfectly, and know what each needs. That quality is one she sometimes uses at great detriment to herself, but loyalty goes both ways. The invisible threads behind the loyalty, though, and Ocean's surety about what needs to be done despite not having the authority through the Alliance hierarchy rankles her superiors. At a quiet moment later in the book, Ocean's captain grumbles about the crew and the unwavering loyalty they show to Ocean, not her. "Why does everyone take her side?" the captain asks. Haven replies, "Because she takes ours." Yet Cho doesn't just tell us everyone thinks Ocean's great, or that she's a little bit of a loose cannon—she gives us plenty of opportunities to see Ocean in action, positively and negatively.

Consequences for pushing or breaking rules, though, is welcome complexity in a media landscape that either rewards rule-breakers, even and especially in organizations like militaries that are famously anal about regulations, or punishes them until they are proven right by advancing circumstances. In Ocean's Godori, it's less a matter of who's right or wrong, and more about suitability and motivation. Ocean's reasons for joining, and fighting to stay in, the Alliance are deeply personal, even though it's clear she's not well-suited for the life inside the organization. Leaving isn't just a matter of overcoming personal demons or some other internal hiccup; this is the life for which she has trained, and without which she is largely useless. Besides a life of crime, her options outside the Alliance are limited. The majority of readers might not have to figure out where else to use their flight and marksmanship skills, but the costs of jumping out of an industry you've grown in is a familiar conflict.

There's a lot to love in Ocean's Godori, especially for such a comparatively slim space opera. It seems like there's a lot more potential in Ocean and in her world, and I hope we get to see more.

(A longer version of this review, including a synopsis, will appear on RingReads on 23 April 2024 at 3:19 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time: https://ringreads.com/2024/04/23/ocean-a-sea-of-possibilities-in-space-opera/)

My intention this year was to request titles from writers new to me. I wish I had not chosen this one. I will not be reviewing this on my website. I have nothing positive to say about it.

I saw this promoted as "Becky Chambers meets Firefly," and I was determined that I must read it. Wow, I loved this book. My only real complaint is the ending because I wanted more closure. That being said, it felt a little like it might be setting up for a sequel, which I would TOTALLY be down for. Please give us a sequel.

These characters are so phenomenal. I don't know what else to say about them. They are flawed and messy, but they are so lovable, and the chemistry they all have with one another is so well written. When Cho introduced new characters, I was bummed until I got to know them, and then I loved them too. She truly has a talent for writing characters that feel real, approachable, and engaging.

The plot was fast paced and high stakes. There was a bit of a slow start, but once you get in a few chapters, the speed ramps up and doesn't come back down until the last page. I was invested in what was happening in this story, and I couldn't put the book down. Cho's writing was so compelling that I found myself holding my breath in certain moments, desperate to know what would happen next.

This book truly has it all. If you are a fan of found family sci-fi, I would say this is a must read. There's intrigue, romance, friendship, and space bound raiders. It's everything I hoped for and more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hillman Grad Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

DNF @ 60%

I was really excited to read this when I came across it on NetGalley. I love space operas, and I especially love those that are not in Western-focused settings, so I was really looking forward to reading a Korean-based setting.

However, I couldn't finish this. I got pretty far in, at just under 2/3, and what is described in the synopsis only just started to happen. What?! It's wild that I read 220 pages and yet it felt like there was hardly any plot, world building, or even real characterization. My main issue with this book is that there is zero intrigue. There is no overarching plot point in the first half of the novel that made me want to read on. It was just the characters going about their daily lives really, and I didn't find them very interesting.

Starting with the characters: our first introduction to Ocean, the MC, is her accusing her boyfriend of cheating on her with someone on his ship. This seemed like such an odd choice to me since 1. we don't know anything about their relationship together or these characters separately, 2. I don’t see it having any impact on anything later, and 3. it just made Ocean seem really dramatic and immature. So she got off to a bad start with me.

We slowly got introduced to other characters, and thankfully none of them were as dramatic, but I felt like the way they acted changed on a dime and made no sense. When we first meet the captain, she seemed very laissez-faire and chill, but the second the crew went on a mission, she completely flipped and went authoritarian and didn't care about anyone's feelings. When two of the narrating characters met for the first time, one was very prejudiced and straight-up mean to the other. But then a few chapters later, there was a hint of romance from both sides? What?! I know a lot of people love the enemies to lovers trope, and while that's personally not my thing, I don't think it was executed well at all. I felt blindsided by the sudden turnaround from borderline racism to tenderness, vulnerability, and attraction between the two that even other characters were noticing and pointing out!

And lastly, one of the major characters is a dude who is belongs to a family so rich that he can afford to pay for the meals of everyone at a very fancy restaurant without a single care. I'm tired of reading sci-fi with obscenely rich characters like this. It's hard to feel sympathy for someone so comfortable in their wealth at a level that can only be obtained through the exploitation of others.

As for the world building, I thought it was pretty interesting at first. I thought I knew a decent amount about Korean culture, but there are a lot of Korean words in this that I hadn't heard before. There is a handy glossary at the back, with funny commentary, though most words are understandable via context clues. I did start to wonder what language these characters are speaking in, because they use Korean words so often but are apparently speaking in another language with a non-Korean character. But one thing that really threw me is that 22% in, there is a reference to a real life Korean astronaut, which seems to imply that this book takes place in our world. In real life, Yi So-yeon went to space in 2008, and then the Korean space program ended. But in this book, Korea is the main power of the solar system (galaxy? unsure). How did that happen? How did the events after 2008 change the power balance of space travel so drastically to the point that the United States is not even worth mentioning and Russia is only brought up once in a throwaway reference? There wasn't any explanation 60% into the book, but perhaps the history is explained more later. This may not be important to many readers, but as a lover of alternate histories myself, I can't help but get distracted thinking about it.

In addition, there were some weird prose choices for a space opera. Like why does a spaceship have a clutch, gears, and pedals? It really felt more like a stick shift car than anything spaceworthy. There was also a moment where a character goes on a space walk, and the narrative says that some tools they drop start "spinning in the air" but there is no air in space...

And then for the plot... there really wasn't any until around 55% in. And at that point I cared so little about the characters and world that even that couldn't hook me. I feel like I gave this book quite a few chances, but if a book hasn't hooked me over halfway in, I really see no reason to finish.

And as someone who loves Becky Chambers, I don't think this book is in any way, shape, or form comparable to her work. You'd at least need compelling characters for that, and this world is nowhere near utopian either, so I wouldn't recommend for Chambers lovers. I'm not really sure who I would recommend this to. This author does have some interesting ideas though, so perhaps I will check out their work in the future.

This is definitely a book that just gets better and better as you go on and more of the world and characters unfold. I loved getting to see the slow start of Haven and Ocean’s journey unfold into the found family payoff with the whole crew. I do think a bit of the politics and worldbuilding got lost underneath everything, but this is a book that is much more about the characters and their journey toward self-redemption than about the larger political plot. That said, the ending is /very/ abrupt, to the point that I thought I was missing a chapter. I don’t know if it’s a setup for a second book, but if it is, I’m definitely in.

DNF - 38%

I really tried to get into this book, but every time I tried to pick it up, I wanted to put it down. I felt no connection to any of the characters, and the rising action did nothing to pull me in. I found Ocean's reason for being reprimanded so harshly a bit ridiculous and there was nothing for me to emotionally connect to with her. I did not get far enough into the book to understand Haven and his culture though the bits I did read I found slightly interesting. Teo, the last main character, was also hard for me to invest in.

There are a lot of great reviews for this novel but it just ended up not being for me.

Thank you, NetGalley and Zando/Hillman Grad, for the ARC.

As nuanced and reflective as it is exciting and fun, Ocean’s Godori is perfect for fans of Firefly (and I don’t say that lightly).

It took me a bit to get into, but by about a third of the way through, I understood what it was doing and how it functioned - it’s like a rock rolling downhill; once it starts, it doesn’t stop. This is mainly because the “Firefly crew” aspects don’t arrive until about halfway into the story, which is when I became really engaged with the story. These characters played off one another - both antagonisms and attractions - in a way that was very much like Firefly, and these interactions were very fun.

The reason it takes so long to build to these is that Ocean is very aloof (even to reader) and kind of too perfect (she’s a crack shot, an ace pilot, a graceful dancer, beautiful, brave, etc), so she’s hard to empathize with because she seems a bit flawless until very near the end, Teo is a smarmy rich kid (not a character archetype I gravitate to), and Haven’s deal isn’t really explained so it’s hard to know whether to sympathize with him or find him kind of a weirdo. As such, I wasn’t particularly invested in them, as people, for the first bit of the story. It was more so the world-building and graceful language that kept me reading until I gradually became invested in them as their backstories unfurled.

Not a lot is explained, at least in a straightforward way. We aren’t explicitly told much, so we’re left to fetter out the way of the universe and the character’s backstories from the bits and pieces we are given. The reason for this, I believe, is because the novel is attempting to show how the micro and macro facets of our existence and how we see ourselves shape our choices. So much of Ocean, Haven, Teo, Phoenix, and other’s characterizations and determinations are based on their history - not just of their actions in the past (though those also play a major role in decisions made) but their families and culture.

There’s also themes of colonialism and the exploitative nature of capitalism too.
This is another way in which the book is like Firefly, as that show also broached those themes (albeit in a different way). This book is smart and it doesn’t hold your hand, but it’s also exciting, fun, and has some great sexual tension. I did find the action scenes a bit didactic at times, almost passive in some instances, I will admit.

The book ends on a cliffhanger, both regarding a romance and the plot. I’m not sure if this is supposed to lead into a book 2 or if it was some sort of artsy ending, but either way, it was far too abrupt. When it comes to the one romance, I saw other reviewers wondering if it would progress into a love triangle, but I’m hoping it would be more of a poly thing (as love triangles are the worst!).

I did appreciate the Street Fighter and Jurassic Park references!

Overall, I very enjoyable and interesting space opera. I’d totally read the second book, if there is one, or more from this author.

🌟 5
🌶️ 0

THIS! Right here! It was the most fun I have had reading a Sci-Fi book in a while. There is lots of world-building in this Korean sci-fi, almost K-drama, but the more dangerous tale of a found family. Throw in exciting fight scenes, echoes of honoring Korean history with fashion (very cool; I was looking up items constantly and imagining what they might look like), and slow-burn romances that might go anywhere. Our heroine, Ocean, is the total package of tough but delicate, distant but yearning for closeness, and she is what we all need in this story. Throw in political machinations, big corporate greed, decimation of environments in the solar system, and really awful bad guys. You can add to this the blending of the Korean class structure that overshadows everything. Ocean's Godori (now I want to play Stop and Go) is a fast-paced book that I did not want to end, but now I have to wait for the author to give us the next one. I have to know what happens!

I really struggled to get in. It was too long to make a clear point about what this was all about and I really didn't care about all the alcohol/sex/drama at the beginning, which didn't help me to stay focused for what followed.

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ocean's Godori is an adventurous yet initimate space opera debut set in a future where Korea is the preeminent power in the galaxy and follows a spaceship crew as they try to uncover the conspiracy behind the mysterious murder of the one of the galaxy's most influential conglomerate families. This is one of the most enjoyable debuts I have read in a while - I loved reading about a world where Korean culture is intrisically woven into society, the distinct but counterpointing character perspectives and the natural gradual unfolding of character backstories. I do agree with the comparisons to Becky Chambers' 'The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet' both genre-wise, synopsis-wise and emotionally. Ocean's Godori creates a similar initimate atmosphere where you can watch the tender relationships between crew members develop but I preferred the higher stakes and the more direct influence characters had in galaxy-spanning events in Ocean's Godori.

The story is told through the perspective of three characters: Ocean, Teo and Haven. Each are forced by the circumstances to go through their own interesting journeys of (reluctant) personal growth - Ocean processing her personal tragedies, Teo dealing with murder of his family and being framed for it, and Haven who has unwillingly left his sheltered religious life for the wider galaxy. The murder of Teo's family only happens halfway through the book and as it is such a critical event for the story it makes the first half feel slow and meandering.

Ocean was my favourite pov, she's a more quiet subdued protagonist with an air of lingering tragedy and I enjoyed seeing her passions unfold as she deals with her trauma and the understated way she cares for her friends. I especially liked her connection to the haenyeo (I do wish this was more present throughout the book rather than popping up near the end) and part on her connection to swimming was such a lovely piece of writing.

I also unexpectedly really liked the romantic subplot, Cho is able to create some sweet romantic tension and genius decision on her part to include a physical touch taboo for one of the characters.

I seriously hope a sequel is in the works because this book ends very abruptly. I personally don't mind cliffhanger endings as long as there has been some emotional resolution which I think Cho could've achieved if she had extended the final scene for just a few more pages. But more than that, the adventure's not over and I very much want more.

DNF 37%

Received an arc from NetGalley in exchange for honest opinion, thanks!

My dislike for rating media without fully discovering the story is pretty strong; I believe it's unfair, as you lack a whole picture. But in the same time I must be true to myself, and boomeranging from and to "Ocean's Godori" in span of few weeks is more tiring than hopefull. The story was a miss, despite that fantastic premise – murder, space, journey of self-discovery? Sign me up!

And then I am moving like a snail during reading. Unability to find one element that would keep me going was the last nail for me – I don't think it's a bad book. It's not a book that made me regret having eyes, it was absolutely okay, but because of this okay-ness it become bland. Sadly, not my cup of tea.

DNF p73, chapter 5... 20% of the way through the book and nothing happened yet. I think it's definitely too slow of a.start for a sci-fi.

This story is a great K-Space Drama. It was a tad difficult to get into because Cho begins with a prologue set in Iceland that won’t make too much sense until you’ve read the entire book. Chapter one moves to future Seoul, where Ocean is breaking up with her steady, Haven is seeing a beautiful girl dance to music only she can hear across the platform of a busy subway station, and Teo is wining and dining a celebrity and a fancy restaurant. Once Cho has finished the brief introductions and her characters move into space, the story progresses rapidly into an action-packed sci-fi adventure. This could be the next best Netflix series, if only Netflix had the ability to pay homage to the Korean snacks and food that Cho lovingly features. Cho’s characters are intriguing. It’s important to put Cho’s writing into the cultural context that it embodies, albeit in a future sci-fi realm. K-Drama’s are all about the intersecting stories and the wow factor of surprise plot twists, and feature tropes that Cho sprinkles throughout Ocean’s Godori. The characters in Ocean’s have a glossy, anime feel to them, resting in archetypes: Ocean is the ace pilot known for her ability to hit difficult targets; Teo is the rich pretty boy; Dae is the grumpy Alliance pilot taking cuts on the side. However, Cho manages to pair archetypes with additional facets (i.e. Ocean is a diplomacy school dropout), and this creates winning combinations. There are lots of ways the story can go, and I can’t wait to read the next installment.

Reader Advisory: Go and watch some K-Drama, and look up the Korean words that Cho sprinkles around. She ties future Korea to its past. Look up “Seonbi” for sure. Finally, go back and read the prologue once you’re done. You may have an aha moment like I experienced. Enjoy the trip!

Thank you to Zando and Netgalley for access to this ARC. All opinions stated here are my own, and I don’t receive any remuneration for my review.

3.5 stars, rounded up. An uneven but promising science fiction debut, this is a book of two halves for me. For the first half, I felt somewhat disinterested and bored. Had this not been an ARC, I likely would have DNF'd it. Around the 50% mark, the story really picked up and I became fully invested. A found-family ragtag band of misfits setting out to right a terrible wrong is a very popular trope at the moment, but that also means you need to do it really well to stand out in the genre. Cho's world-building is very good, as is her writing. She envisions a future where a unified Korea is the dominant force in the space industry, so the book is filled with Korean words, foods, and cultural references. Where this book could have used more depth is in its characters. The many side characters needed much more depth to flesh them out, as they came across as very one-dimensional. I also would have liked the plot pacing to be spread out better, not all bunched up in the second half. That said, though, this novel was still enjoyable enough for me to continue on when Cho writes her next book. Thank you to NetGalley and Zando/Hillman Grad for a digital review copy.

It took me longer than it should have to get into this book. On the one hand, there was all this excitement and all these intriguing characters, the kind I'm familiar with from action novels. On the other hand, this book is set in space and there are a lot of foreign words and names. This combination made the experience more fun but it took me a few chapters before I felt like I was in the story.
Once I was in the story, I did not want to get out. There were a few characters I loved a lot, but Ocean especially, paying for the mistakes from her past while keeping her loyalty. I really really hope I get to read more books with her as a main character.
The book has a satisfying ending but there is room for a lot more to happen in this world. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this and introducing me to this author.

I'm fascinated by the world (or universe really) that's built in this novel. It was so interesting to me. I feel like the advertisement of similar to Firefly was actually accurate for once.

4.5 stars, unfortunately rounded down (which I’ll get into in a moment)

I love a wholesome spacefaring crew facing an unknown but very sophisticated enemy.

All of the individual relationships were lovely and felt incredibly real. This book said interesting things about morality and capitalism and culture. And I totally loved how immersive the world-building was, and all the pieces of Korean culture that weren’t just weaved into the story but were at the heart of it.

So, why four stars rather than five? I hate to say it, but this is half a book. I don’t mind when books end with loose ends untied, and I don’t even always mind cliffhangers. But this was worse than that: this basically ended out of nowhere, seemingly randomly. I wouldn’t have picked it up if I’d known, and I’d have waited for the next book to be published.

Thank you to NetGalley and Zando!

I received a copy of this from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This book had some great strengths, but I also had some issues with the way the plot was executed. I like to break up my SFF reviews into parts, so I'll start with worldbuilding.

I thought that the setting was the strongest part of this book. This space opera is set in a future where Korea is the dominating force in space. Korea is a fairly small country when looking at where we are currently, especially in terms of space exploration. When I think of space exploration and who is dominating currently I always think of the US's NASA and Russia's RSA. I looked into South Korea, and they do have an agency called Korea Aerospace Research Institute. So this future world that Cho created was very cool to read about. Not only was space travel operated by Korea, but the culture itself had a very heavy Korean influence, from food to music to clothing.

The characters were where I struggled. There were a few main characters that had a lot of time yet I felt like the side characters were extremely one-dimensional like cardboard. I could not distinguish between them other than the job that they served, and other that they blended together. I really tend to dislike when side characters don't feel real, because it's like they were an after thought. It causes the character interactions to feel less genuine and leads me to be confused about who is who. I really enjoyed Ocean as a character, although I did start reading certain chapters and got confused when she was being called a different nickname. I thought they were two different characters for a short bit and had to go back and reread. I did appreciate that the romance subplot was not a major focus in any way. It was slow build, felt very natural, and didn't cause me to cringe at all.

Now for the plot. Nothing happened for a vast majority of this book. Then came the end and finally something happened, and I didn't even realize there was so little left to read. I do understand that this is a setup for a sequel, but I was quite disappointed in the way this book ended. From the description, I was expecting more of a found family and fun space adventure with a murder mystery thrown in, but with this being marketed as Becky Chambers meets Firefly, I feel like this was a very bad way to describe this. Firefly is one of my favorite shows ever, and while Ocean did have a curmudgeonly way about her like Mal, there was no comparison between the two plots, vibes, and story. I do see how it is similar to Becky Chambers' Wayfarer's series, but that is probably why I was expecting really strong character work.

The writing itself I have no issues with. I feel like Cho is very talented and the prose was easy and quick to read. I really liked the way she described settings as I am a very visual reader and was easily able to place myself within the book. I would have loved some heavier sci-fi elements, but overall, this book will definitely find its audience.

Thank you NetGalley, Zando/Hillman Grad, and Elaine U. Cho for the free ebook.
“Ocean’s Godori“ by Elaine U. Cho ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Sci Fi Space Opera. Location: Reunified Korea (geocentric hub of the galaxy), and across space. Time: 23rd Century.
In this book’s world, Korea runs the Alliance space agency which dominates the solar system. Ocean Yoon is a disgraced Alliance space pilot-a mission went sideways and she was a little too quick with her gun. When her friend,Teo Anand, is framed for murdering his family, Ocean and her misfit crewmates from the “Ohneul” Class 4 Transporter end up in a high-stakes ideological conflict, dodging bullets and space pirates to save Teo. Ocean is the XO/pilot. She comes from a long line of haenyeo (Jeju Island, Korea’s female divers). There’s Medic Haven Sasani, a Mortemian (“death hands”) from Prometheus; Captain Dae Song who makes ship decisions based on her personal needs; Maggie Thierry, hoverboard skater/mechanic (with 3 wives and a husband back on Venus); and loyal Von Kent (xenobotonist). When they run into the notorious Phoenix and his smuggler crew, you know they’re in for a wild ride.

Beneath the space opera antics, Author Cho reminds us that prejudices and privilege are often encouraged by capitalism and colonialism, no matter the century. It’s a space adventure full of action, with a bit of romance and a whole lot of quirky characters with varying morals and integrity. We can relate to her characters’ complicated pasts, presents, and futures, even if ours don’t take place on space ships across the galaxy. Cho includes scifi/pop culture references, and it’s fun to see which references have survived in this 23rd Century world. You might want to tag “Maggie’s Glossary” at the end so you can refer to it as you read. It’s Becky Chambers meets Firefly, and that’s just what I like! It’s witty, fast-paced, it’s clearly set up for a sequel, and it’s 4 stars from me🌵📚💁🏼‍♀️

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with an ARC of Elaine U. Cho’s debut novel.

I must admit that the beautiful cover art caught my eye first, but the description of a space opera is ultimately what captured me. I am a sucker for spaceship pilots and Ocean is my new favorite FMC. I also love the “found family” trope, the action sequences, and plot line. I’m rating this 4 stars because I very much enjoyed the book. My only wish is that it did not end so abruptly.

For fans of space operas, spaceship pilots with great taste in music, quirky characters, and snarky banter, pick Ocean’s Godori up on its release in April. You shall not be disappointed!