BOOK CLUB REPORT - Feb 2026
KCCNYC Dosan Hakdang January Meeting - Blood of Old Kings
By Sharon Stern
Wow, what a journey this month! For January, the Dosan Hakang Book Club read the book Blood of the Old Kings by Sung-il Kim, translated by Anton Hur. This was a very different genre (fantasy fiction) than we have tackled thus far and it was an adventurous read. Instead of redescribing the plot, I will quote the official synopsis:
“There is no escaping the Empire.
Even in death, you will serve.
In an Empire run on necromancy, dead sorcerers are the lifeblood. Their corpses are wrapped in chains and drained of magic to feed the unquenchable hunger for imperial conquest.
Born with magic, Arienne has become resigned to her dark fate. But when the voice of a long-dead sorcerer begins to speak inside her head, she listens. There may be another future for her, if she’s willing to fight for it.
Miles away, beneath a volcano, a seven-eyed dragon also wears the Empire’s chains. Before the imperial fist closed around their lands, it was the people’s sacred guardian.
Loran, a widowed swordswoman, is the first to kneel before the dragon in decades. She comes with a desperate plea, and will leave with a sword of dragon-fang in hand and a great purpose before her.
In the heart of the Imperial capital, Cain is known as a man who gets things done. When his best friend and mentor is found murdered, he will leave no stone unturned to find those responsible, even if it means starting a war.
Step into a world of necromancy, murder, and twisted magic. A world in need of a hero.
The chapters alternate between what happens to Arienne, Loran and Cain. They all play different, but significant roles in an attempt to bring down the Empire.”
The book was intended to be the first episode in a trilogy. It was first published online as a web series. By the time the second book was written, the original publisher no longer existed, but the second book has just been translated into English and printed, even though it remained available only online in Korea. The third book may never come into print, but we will have to wait and see. We all agreed that the book definitely left you hanging and left the characters in unresolved situations.
There was a definite allegory to the occupation of Korea by Japan. A weapon of the Empire existed that was reminiscent of a nuclear bomb. However, we didn’t think that the fictitious world seemed particularly Korean in any way, except, perhaps, in the overwhelming desire to fight back.
Even though two of the main characters are strong women, they both had a lot of self-doubt, which was frustrating.
As always, there was quite a bit of discussion about language and translation. The chapter sub-titles were dropped in English and we wondered why that would be, because when Eun told us what they were, they would have been helpful to have. The dead sorcerers that generated power for the city were called Power generators in English, but in Korean, the translation comes out more like Magical Moving Machines, which ties to other magical moving machines characterized in the book that the Empire used against citizens.
It seemed like the heroines were supposed to be unifying leaders, but it was pointed out that they seemed to only be fighting for themselves. This is something that might be developed in the other books. Certainly, they were fighting their own battles. The book does emphasize that change doesn’t always happen rapidly, nor during any, single lifetime.
Overall, we thought it was a fun read, but left you wanting more character development and loose ends tied together, but that may have very much been the intention, since the book was created to be part of a series. It has won a number of awards and been selected in English as an outstanding fantasy
March DOSAN HAKDANG:
We Do Not Part
We will be pausing the book club for the month of February so that we can prepare for the Gala.
Please join us March 19th at 2:00 PM when we will discuss Han Kang’s book, We Do Not Part, which deals with the Jeju 4.3 massacre. This will be a powerful discussion, not unlike the one we had last year about Han Kang’s book Human Acts. We hope you will join us. The signup form is here.
On April 26th, we will be talking about the book The Second Chance Convenience Store by Kim Ho-yeon. The book centers around a convenience store owner and a homeless man that finds her wallet, the return of which prompts her to offer the man a meal. The Second Chance Convenience Store has been called a moving and joyful story about a woman fighting for her community and a man who has lost everything, except the will to try again.
We look forward to seeing you for both of these upcoming Dosan Hakang book club meetings!
