It's fun, action-packed, and uplifting. I admit the ending didn't grab me from the beginning but as I continued to read, the story and characters grew on me. I'm not a fan of romance, so I wasn't crazy about the fact it played a significant role here. This, though, can be good news for fans of romance. Anyway, a good read and well-worth a shot.

Thank you to NetGalley, Elaine U. Cho and publisher for sending me a free ARC in exchange for an honest and fair review.

2/5*

This shall be a negative review in general, however by this I mean no disrespect to Cho and am still thankful for the ARC.

Overall this book was not for me. Initially it seemed perfect, a space adventure with a bagasse female pilot and a found family trope to top it all off. However I just couldn't get into it. For nearly 5 months I tried to get through this book but eventually I gave in and DNFed at 64%.

Each time I tried to read it I just couldn't concentrate and would wander, and nothing in the plot actually made me want to continue. I will give it the caveat of I had an ARC copy with very weird formatting which would have made any book more difficult to read, but I don't DNF a book easily. The plot itself seemed pretty bare bones, and predictable. I personally have nothing against predictable plot when there's interesting characters, but this had niether.

My main issue was that I just found the main character Ocean annoying. I found her to be whiney and unable to make any character progression, and the bits she did make seemed out of nowhere. The initial crew which is ament to be very close to Ocean don't get a lot of background rather than the basics. I didn't connect with any of the relationships and they all seemed to be very surface level, with little to dig into. The characters we are later to introduced to such as Pheonix are a bit more interesting, but not enough to save it.

Onto the things I did enjoy though. I really liked the representation of Korean culture throughout the book, however as someone who isn't Korean I cannot comment on the realism of it. The set up to the plot was intriguing, but for me didn't deliver. Teo (the main male character) was the only one who felt fully fleshed out to me. I enjoyed all the scenes with him in, and through those did find myself connecting more to Ocean than I originally would have done. I would also love to give a shout out to the cover art as it is absolutely stunning.

Overall, this was not the book for me. I found the characters too 1 dimensional and the plot lacking. There was bits of the plot and characters that were intriguing though, so I would like to keep an eye on the author in the future when they have written a bit more. If you really like Korean culture, and are new to found family trope this could be a book for you as a more simple version, but this isn't a book I will personally be recommending.

StoryGraph Catogories:

Mood of the Book:
Adventurous
Tense
Reflective

Pacing:
Medium

Plot or Character Driven:
Plot

Is there strong character development?:
No

Do you find the characters loveable?
No

Is there a diverse cast of characters?
Not really

Are the flaws of the main characters a part of the book?
Yes

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity!

This was such an interesting debut! I loved the protagonist, it was such an amazing experience to live in this sci-fi world and to live through this story. I’m so glad I gave this debut author a chance.

We have K-Pop, we have K-Drama and now Elaine U Cho gives us Ocean’s Godori - K-Space Opera – science fiction inspired by and powered by Korean culture, food and traditions. In Cho’s future the two Koreas have united to become the Alliance which has become a leading power in the solar system. Cho creates a found family of misfits to play in this sandbox.
Ocean Yoon has been significantly demoted to a Class 4 freighter as a result of not following orders. She also maintains a close relationship with Teo Anand, second son of one of the richest men in the galaxy and she has the respect and loyalty of everyone on her crew except her captain. Readers get a little time to get to know the crew (through newcomer Haven) before they are on the run from just about everyone as they get in the middle of a plot to frame Teo and bring down the Anand family.
Ocean herself is a great character to anchor this book (and possible sequels?) around. Ocean is descended from the haenyeo women freedivers, a tradition from the Korean island of Jeju, a birthright that comes in handy at one point. She is very good at what she does, being shooting a gun or piloting a spaceship but is headstrong and takes risks. But Ocean is incredibly loyal to her friends and crew and it is this connection that drives the story and its resolution.
Ocean’s Godori has the feeling of a space-set K-drama, with a focus on character and action over particularly detailed world building. In fact much of the opening section, set in Seoul, feels like present day Seoul with some space craft added for good measure. But it is refreshing to read space adventure stories that draw on something other than Western culture and tradition. And the K-drama/K-pop vibe is a fun one. In this register, Cho delivers great action sequences anchored around an engaging crew of characters and even manages to throw in a little bit of romance. With plenty of elements of this universe unexplored and an open ending, Ocean’s story is definitely left wide open for a welcome sequel.

This book was fantastic! Cho’s writing is descriptive and beautiful, and I was immediately pulled into the story. In the grand scheme of things, not much happens until the end of the book, but it never felt like it dragged. I enjoyed discovering the complexity of the characters and their personal stories.

The book’s premise is that Ocean Yoon is a spaceship pilot in the Alliance. She’s clever and brilliant, but people erroneously call her cold, rude, and standoffish because of her intellect. However, she cares fiercely for her shipmates. There’s a lot of build-up, learning backstories, and such. The central conflict is when Ocean’s best friend Teo arrives at her ship after he has been framed for murdering his family. There are outlaws, chameleons, romance, death rites, and hovercraft bike chases.

This was such a beautiful book, with many references to Korean history and culture. I cannot wait for the sequel (based on how it ended, there has to be a sequel!!)

Thank you to NetGalley and Zando for the ARC! I look forward to reading more by Cho.

This is a super-fun adventure about a Korean-led future in space, a pilot trying to figure out who she is and wants to be, corrupt officials and power brokers, and found family. While the end feels abrupt and sets up a sequel, I enjoyed the way Cho slowly doled out information about this universe, its people, their customs, and more, always giving the reader just enough context and explanation to keep up and figure things out on their own. The characters are well-developed and continued to develop through the book, something I particularly like. Fans of K-drama, SFFH, and Korean culture will love this.

Ocean's Godori is a refreshing, character-driven space drama with a really intriguing (if underdeveloped) cast - would definitely recommend for fans of Battlestar Galactica or Becky Chambers.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review!

First, the good: It's strengths really do lie in the complex character interactions (dynamics between Ocean and Haven and Ocean and Teo had me frothing at the mouth at parts I'm not gonna lie). Ocean is just all around a fascinating lead. You don't see a lot of female characters like her, and I feel like her god-level pilot skills and cool, analytic demeanor were offset nicely with her actually being a bit of a train wreck who makes impulsive decisions that frequently come back to bite her. Haven's relationship with his father and his religion were also *chef's kiss.* I want to know so much more about Prometheus!

I could go on about our main three for a while. This book excels in the quiet moments. For a relatively action-packed novel, the two scenes that stood out the most to me were the quiet grocery run Ocean and Teo take near the beginning, and a later conversation between she and Haven as they pass a soda back and forth.

Which brings me to a couple disappointments: I do honestly wish we'd gotten this much time and detail with the side characters. The supporting cast was interesting, but flat and a bit one-dimensional. And just as you're starting to get familiar with one group, BAM. Another is dumped in and mixed with the main cast in dramatic fashion. Both sets of characters have potential, but they're all introduced too quickly and I don't really have any emotional attachment to them.

I think this book could have benefitted from some extra length - tell me more about the world, I'm so curious! Give me more scenes with Ocean's brother, with her mother and her home community, give me more snapshots of this intricate world. Certain plot points happened that had me asking "wait, is that normal? Are there aliens/tech that can do that commonly? Why don't people have some sort of vetting process for this?" etc. Give me more quiet moments on the ship with side characters DOING, not just telling us things. I think beefing up the exposition and cutting the first book at the moment Phoenix's crew boards the Ohneul would have made more sense, taking us into the second book to meet and integrate with this new crew. The slight pacing issues and awkward blocking in a few action scenes took me out of the story a bit.

That being said, I did really appreciate how the book doesn't baby the reader with the Korean terms and culture references. I'm white, Korean readers might have had a different experience, but I felt like the author allowed you to learn and pick things up from context clues without over-explaining.

Overall, 3.5/5 stars for potential, I couldn't put this down once it picked up, and I'll definitely be reading the next one!

This had everything I want from a space opera. Action, romance, colorful characters, comedy, drama, betrayal, more drama, queer people and moderate amount of world building. I really enjoyed all the Korean culture references.

However the ending felt very abrupt. I changed the page and suddenly I was reading the acknowledgements. I assume the author has plans to continue the story in a sequel, but I wish this would have had more concrete end.

Still extremely enjoyable and I'm anxiously waiting to read more about the adventures of the characters from this book.

While I generally like the space opera genre in science fiction, there's something about "Ocean's Godori" that never quite pulled me in to the story. It centers on young firebrand Ocean Yoon who is seeking to find her path forward after a mission she was involved with for the Alliance went sideways. A crack shot, she gained a seemingly well-deserved reputation as being too reactionary and therefore dangerous in the wild west of the far galaxy. Ocean (confusingly, sometimes called "Ocean" and other times "Yoon" for extended passages, as are all the characters) bounces from ship to ship with various motley crewmates, ending up a prisoner/new pilot on a pirate vessel (or rebel ship, or...?) with her friend Teo, who has been framed for the murder of his family through complex and poorly explained means. The stakes are increasingly high, the chaos keeps increasing, and characters go from standoffish to intimates in the blink of an eye. This leads to a rather confusing narrative that while colorful and interesting, never quite came together for me. Your experience may differ, of course.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the review copy!


Ocean’s Godori takes place in a future world where South Korea is a dominating power with its Alliance (space exploration and military type of power) at the forefront. Ocean Yoon, one of the Alliances best pilots is spending her career on a low-class ship doing small jobs and mostly staying out of trouble until a longtime friend is in need of her help.

The simplified version of the plot is that Teo Anand playboy heir to the Anand Empire is framed for murder, and his good friend Ocean, steps up to the plate to help him out. The complicated version involves politics, eco-terrorists, and some crazy face-stealing tech!

On the whole, the plot sounds rather light when you write it out like that. And in some ways, it is because Ocean’s Godori seems more like of jumping off place to begin a series, than it feels like a complete story.
Which was fine (depending on your expectations) because while the main plot progresses and ends on a bit of a cliffie, it was the relationships building throughout that kept it interesting and had me quickly flipping the pages.

So, if you’re looking for sci-fi action- you’re going to get a little of that but it’s the relationships that are the driving force of this tale.

***
The cast are likeable and varied and I liked that they could be as selfish at times, as they could be generous.
Most of the events revolve around three key players (Ocean, Haven and Teo) with the rest moving in and out of focus as needed. Later we have a few new faces added, that will likely be key in the next book and add some fun dynamics.
It did take me a few chapters to settle in due to the largish cast and the setting-things-up, but it all gets a lot easier as the focus narrows to the crew of the Ohneul and we get to know everyone and the world they live in a little better.

While I was expecting this to be more sci-fi/pulpy leaning, I ended up being pleasantly surprised that there was a little more to it then just shoot ‘em up action. (That title gave me the idea this was going to be a heist story- probably word association on my part because of Ocean’s in the title, and knowing Godori is a strategic card game.)

I really enjoyed the relationships building between the characters- the bonding over family expectations, food, and even their losses and raw grief. I especially appreciate when an author can produce choke-you-up moments of grief, over characters we haven’t even had a chance to get to know outside of the people speaking about them.


Ocean’s Godori has a strong relationship story at is core but that doesn’t mean it’s lacking in action.
There were plenty of exciting action sequences, some very cool fights; especially the face-off with the baddies- I loved that moment of slow-motion focus feeling to that fight!
The end sequence goes from 0 to 60 in a heartbeat and when Ocean finally gets to show us her stuff- I was ready for her to bring it on!



Other notes-

- If you’re a Korean drama fan you’re going to enjoy this one! Ocean’s Godori is like a book version of a k-drama! It has a lot of those tropes you’ll find in dramas- the chaebol’s family conglomerates doing wrong things, strong women, strong friendships etc. it’s just a lot of fun in that regard!

-The cover is fabulous! Sci-fi pulpy but the style/colouring/cherry blossoms reminding me of a muted version of the backs of the godori cards (which I have only ever seen in drama’s so ymmv but I am assuming it was intentional considering the title.)

-There were a ton of little tidbits of South Korean culture, that my numerous years of drama/movie watching and colossally slow attempt at learning the language allowed me to enjoy on my own. But if you’re unfamiliar with the terms etc. there is a handy dandy (and quite funny) glossary at the back.

I wanted to like this more than I did. I struggled on two fronts: characters and accessibility.

There are a lot of characters. They are introduced in bits, pieces, pairs, and different combinations. All characters are routinely referred to sometimes by their first/personal names, and sometimes by their last/family names (when the character has a two-part name; not all do). There doesn't seem to be any consistency in when which part of the name is used; this made it feel like I was having to juggle and remember twice the number of characters.
<spoiler> The first two characters introduced seem important, as there is a somewhat violent action scene. These characters are never seen again as such, but I kept waiting for them to reappear. This scene is more important in setting up the multi-book arc than the this-book plot.</spoiler>

The book sets up a series, as the reader doesn't have time to learn much about the bad guy. The scale will be a sort of space-opera-within-the-solar-system, with spaceships, pirates, rebels, evil corporations, fighting, sneaking, and so on, but just within one planetary system.

I also struggled with following a lot of the details. The book is set in a future in which Korea dominates space, so Korean culture and terminology are used heavily to set the stage. Terms for snacks, curses, slang, and other cultural vocabulary are present throughout. I'm not familiar with these, so it was a lot of guesswork on my part. There does turn out to be a definitions list at the end of the book, but reading the eBook, this wasn't at all apparent-- no footnotes or indications to refer to the back matter were included. Readers should be aware of this before choosing a format, as it definitely affects the reading.

eARC from NetGalley.

Pirates, space ships, and flying action. A cozy found family space fantasy.

Years ago, Ocean saved a crewmate's life and lost her job & high level piloting license as a reward. Now the only job open to her is on a cheap ship with an even cheaper captain. Ocean finds herself drifting passively through life, her introverted personality not helping matters. When her closest friend's life is in danger, Ocean finds herself in the middle of a political conflict. With bullets flying and a mysterious enemy attacking her friend & his family, Ocean needs to decide if she's willing to get involved in another fight.

It took me some time to puzzle out the direction and pieces of this book, and I still don't understand over half of the Korean words thrown in, but once I caught onto the flow of the story, it turned out to be pretty good. The book starts off flipping between different characters, and I didn't have enough time to read it in a single sitting, so by the time I picked it up again, I'd half forgotten who was who. But the story and characters became clearer after the first couple of chapters, and i ended up learning a few Korean words. There's a (humorous) glossary at the end of the book that i should've referenced while reading.

The book focuses on Ocean, but it also gives some of her friends and crewmates their own subplots.

Ocean is a highly talented pilot who was demoted to the lowest possible license level, forcing her to accept a job with a cheap, lousy captain who cares more about making cash than about the lives of her crew.

Teo, one of the side characters who occasionally gets his own POV, is the spoiled son of a famous wealthy family. He's always depended on his friends and family, but after escaping an assassination attempt, Teo realizes that he can't keep relying on others to solve his issues.

Haven comes from a strict religious background. Having never left his planet before, Haven finds himself exposed to new ideas, forcing him to question and expand his boundaries.

There are a couple of other crew members, and each one has a unique personality. Ocean was burned the last time she stepped out of line to help someone. With her crew at her back, Ocean will need to decide if she's willing to do so again, and to hopefully bring some meaning back into her life.

A fun space-opera set in Korea. I will have to wait for the next book to see what happens next.

I just reviewed Ocean's Godori by Elaine U. Cho. #OceansGodori #NetGalley

This book is exactly what you would expect, dazzling adventurous. I won’t lie I was requesting this one because of the description that I assume will be on the dust jacket, and that summarizes it best. Can’t wait to read more from this author.

I'm not sure why I was expecting this to be a stand alone story....it's not! This book ends just as the action really gets going and some of the pieces of the story start falling into place, but absolutely nothing is resolved. I was not mentally prepared to have to wait for another book to find out what happens to these characters. That being said, by the end I was starting to get attached to these characters, and I absolutely want to find out what happens to them, so there better be another book, and I better not have to wait too long for it!

Writing: 3/5 Characters: 4/5 Plot: 3.5/5

A decent space opera set in Alliance space where the Alliance is Korea’s solar system dominating space agency. Honestly, the plot isn’t that important — suffice it to say that there is plenty of action and a lot of interesting characters (most of whom match to well known tropes but are still attractive in the reader-grabbing sense). Each character comes with his or her own backstory immersed in cultures that I can see as futuristic evolutions of various cultures today. I loved all of the embedded Korean language and references — a glossary is at the back though obviously Google will suffice. Something about it made me visualize the Blade Runner world — don’t ask me why. The best part of the writing (for me) were the action sequences which I thought were quite well done. I found the interpersonal scenes to be a little stilted, with evolving romance / relationships that I think will appeal more to a younger audience (under 30). Equal time given to both heterosexual and gay romances. While it didn’t end with a cliffhanger, it did end rather abruptly, and it is easy to imagine it launching a series which I would probably read because I find myself wondering what will happen to these people …

gorgeous, must read sci-fi space novel that i would absolutely recommend to everyone in sight! thanks so much for the arc, would recommend.

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free book!*

I absolutely *LOVED* "Ocean's Godori". It gave me a Becky Chambers vibe with its found family, queer love, and character driven storylines. While I had a somewhat hard time immersing myself, I later really did not want to leave the world again. This Korean space-opera debut by Cho is one of my reading highlights of 2024 so far and I really want a sequel, please!

5 stars

Ocean’s Godori

Thank you to the publishers at Zando, Hillprint Grad for the chance to read Ocean’s Godori by Elaine U. Cho!


A space western with a murder mystery for good measure, Ocean’s Godori is a fun ride. The book comps bring up Firefly, and while the vibe is right, this is a high sci-fi/fantasy story that is adamant about its protagonists being people of color. If anything, it imagines a universe in which Korea became *the* Earth’s premier space nation and features a disgraced protagonist who comes from deeply Korean roots.

There’s no handwringing here or big soliloquies about generational trauma or how homophobia ruins everything. It’s a fun jaunt through space that happens to have queer characters of color interacting with each other in fun and interesting ways.

I’m actually really hopeful this is the first of many books in this world because just when I was getting into the world, the book just.. ended without much fanfare. This speaks more to my desire to keep reading about Ocean and her crew of misfits and a bit of a let down with the ending. The prologue implied a lot more political intrigue that just didn’t end getting resolved and even if there’s plans for more books in this universe, it just feels a bit like a let down.

Regardless, it’s a romp through the universe with layered protagonists of color that will hit the spot for any Star Trek/Firefly/band-of-misfits-becomes-chosen-family buffs out there. Excited to see what comes next from Elaine U. Cho!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book!!! As most people know by now, I really like sci-fi. Especially criminal sci-fi with a side of romance. This has both plus a side of action and chasing. I really like the errata at the end as well. Read this for a good hero turned criminal plus a side of internal espionage.