Overview

What would you sacrifice for a different life? 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. 'One of the best debuts of the year. Sublimation speaks to our moment in ways we could not have expected' - John Scalzi, New York Times bestselling author of Starter Villain 'A dazzling parable of connection and isolation' - Scott Westerfeld, author of Uglies

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9781035065530

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Reviews

One of the best debuts of the year. Sublimation speaks to our moment, in ways we could not have expected -- John Scalzi, <i>New York Times</i> bestselling author of <i>Starter Villain</i> In this dazzling parable of connection and isolation, Isabel J. Kim's vividly crafted characters navigate identity, belonging, and the weight of a divided history. A richly imagined alternate reality that serves as a perfect allegory for our own world, where the borders of our fragmented selves are increasingly shaped and policed by corporate technologies. -- Scott Westerfeld, author of <i>Uglies</i> and <i>The Mortons</i> Sublimation is an odyssey of choices and regrets, of people who would be and never were but also are, all at once, exploring immigration and separation, diaspora and the resulting split identities of cultural interweaving — both willing and unwilling. Kim masterfully blends the experimental and straightforward, jarring yet familiar, philosophical and theoretical, while examining placelessness and fractured identity through multilayered narratives. I have never felt more seen by a book in my life -- Ai Jiang, author of <i>A Palace Near the Wind</i> Sublimation is modern science fiction at its best and most relevant, articulating a metaphor that speaks to one of our world’s greatest and most ubiquitous crises—the border—with the terrible precision of open-heart surgery -- Vajra Chandrasekera, Nebula Award-winning author of <i>The Saint of Bright Doors</i> A heartrending and mind-bending novel about our slippery sense of identity and desire – essential reading for understanding today's reality. -- Stephanie Feldman, author of <i> Saturnalia </i> Beyond candescent . . . after Sublimation, the immigrant story will never be the same. Kim is a nerve-wracker and a heart-render, a Seoul-lighter and a world-raveler; she also happens to be one of the finest writers working today. The tigers are smoking again — read about it here first -- Junot Díaz, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of <i> The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao </i> Sublimation is an unsettling and suspenseful narrative about the borders that cross us and the selves we subsequently leave behind -- Anton Hur, author of <i>Toward Eternity</i> Isabel J. Kim is the most exciting new voice to hit speculative fiction in years. In a world desperately in need of new narratives around immigration and identity, Sublimation is the big bold brilliant book we have been waiting for -- Sam J. Miller, bestselling author of <i>Blackfish City</i> Sublimation is one of the most powerful debut novels I've ever had the pleasure to read. It began blowing my mind from the first page as it explores self and the way memory and experience shapes us. Becoming an instance is like quantum mechanics in human form -- Mary Robinette Kowal, bestselling author of <i>The Spare Man</i> Sublimation delivers doubly on its knockout premise, combining a compulsive page-turner with a keen meditation on fractured selves and the opacity of desire. Tremendous -- Scott Alexander Howard, author of <i> The Other Valley </i>

In this dazzling parable of connection and isolation, Isabel J. Kim's vividly crafted characters navigate identity, belonging, and the weight of a divided history. A richly imagined alternate reality that serves as a perfect allegory for our own world, where the borders of our fragmented selves are increasingly shaped and policed by corporate technologies. -- Scott Westerfeld, author of <i>Uglies</i> and <i>The Mortons</i> Sublimation is an odyssey of choices and regrets, of people who would be and never were but also are, all at once, exploring immigration and separation, diaspora and the resulting split identities of cultural interweaving — both willing and unwilling. Kim masterfully blends the experimental and straightforward, jarring yet familiar, philosophical and theoretical, while examining placelessness and fractured identity through multilayered narratives. I have never felt more seen by a book in my life -- Ai Jiang, author of <i>A Palace Near the Wind</i>

One of the best debuts of the year. Sublimation speaks to our moment, in ways we could not have expected -- John Scalzi, <i>New York Times</i> bestselling author of <i>Starter Villain</i> In this dazzling parable of connection and isolation, Isabel J. Kim's vividly crafted characters navigate identity, belonging, and the weight of a divided history. A richly imagined alternate reality that serves as a perfect allegory for our own world, where the borders of our fragmented selves are increasingly shaped and policed by corporate technologies. -- Scott Westerfeld, author of <i>Uglies</i> and <i>The Mortons</i> Sublimation is an odyssey of choices and regrets, of people who would be and never were but also are, all at once, exploring immigration and separation, diaspora and the resulting split identities of cultural interweaving — both willing and unwilling. Kim masterfully blends the experimental and straightforward, jarring yet familiar, philosophical and theoretical, while examining placelessness and fractured identity through multilayered narratives. I have never felt more seen by a book in my life -- Ai Jiang, author of <i>A Palace Near the Wind</i> Sublimation is modern science fiction at its best and most relevant, articulating a metaphor that speaks to one of our world’s greatest and most ubiquitous crises—the border—with the terrible precision of open-heart surgery. Does it hurt more to be the one who leaves or the one who stays behind—and what if you had to be both at the same time? -- Vajra Chandrasekera, Nebula Award-winning author of <i>The Saint of Bright Doors</i> A heartrending and mind-bending novel about our slippery sense of identity and desire – essential reading for understanding today's reality. -- Stephanie Feldman, author of <i> Saturnalia </i> Sublimation is an unsettling and suspenseful narrative about the borders that cross us and the selves we subsequently leave behind -- Anton Hur, author of <i>Toward Eternity</i>

Author Information

Isabel J. Kim is a Korean-American speculative fiction writer based in New York City. She is a Shirley Jackson Award winner, a Hugo, Nebula, and Astounding Award finalist, and her short fiction has been published in Clarkesworld, Lightspeed, and Strange Horizons, among other venues. Her work has been reprinted in the Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2023 and 2024 and translated into Chinese and Japanese. Sublimation is her debut novel.

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