Axie Oh’s The Floating World is a romantic fantasy inspired by the Korean legend of the Celestial Maidens. Blending folklore with rich prose and immersive worldbuilding, the novel delivers a beautifully written tale of love, identity, and destiny that explores the complexities of memory, belonging, and transformation.
Writing Style
Oh’s prose is lyrical and emotionally resonant, drawing readers into a richly imagined world without sacrificing clarity or narrative momentum. The Underworld, where Sunho resides, is portrayed with grim darkness, emphasising shadows, survival, and loss. This stark environment contrasts sharply with the warmth and openness of the Land Over the Mountain, where Ren’s journey begins. A quiet softness underlies the novel’s tone, reflecting the emotional depth of the characters and enhancing the impact of their choices and revelations.
Characterisation
Ren and Sunho are compelling characters, each shaped by different forms of strength. Sunho is a quiet, brooding warrior, physically powerful but emotionally closed off. Ren’s strength lies in her resilience and empathy; her love for her family and unwavering hope lend her a powerful internal fortitude. Together, their contrasting qualities create a dynamic partnership. Their growing connection feels natural and earned, revealing vulnerabilities and mutual growth without feeling too cliché.
Worldbuilding
The novel’s setting is divided among three realms: the Land Over the Mountain, the Underworld, and the Floating World. Ren’s homeland is described with rural charm, emphasising simplicity, tradition, and familial bonds. The Underworld, by contrast, is dense, urban, and harsh, with neighbourhoods and districts that illustrate the grinding realities of survival and separation. Above them lies the Floating World—a heavenly realm marked by beauty and status. Though less fully described than the other settings, its mystique and the disdain its inhabitants show toward those below suggest a layered society that may be further explored in later books of the series.
Themes
The Floating World explores enduring themes such as identity, memory, trauma, fate, and the tension between light and darkness. These contrasts shape not only the protagonists’ internal arcs but also the geography and lore of the novel. Oh weaves these ideas into the narrative with care, allowing them to deepen the story rather than overpower it. The resulting thematic richness supports both character development and world progression.
Genre and Comparisons
Firmly rooted in character-driven adventure fantasy, The Floating World will resonate with fans of emotionally grounded narratives set against mythic backdrops. The novel’s episodic structure and richly imagined world evoke the narrative style of Final Fantasy games, particularly in the way personal quests gradually unfold into epic stakes. Additionally, readers who enjoy Natasha Ngan’s Girls of Paper and Fire or Elizabeth Lim’s Six Crimson Cranes will likely find much to admire in Oh’s newest offering.
Critique
While the novel’s tone and pacing are consistently engaging, some elements of the plot may feel familiar to seasoned readers of the genre. Certain revelations and narrative beats are somewhat predictable. However, these moments do not detract significantly from the reading experience, thanks to the strength of the prose and emotional resonance of the characters’ arcs.
Final Verdict
The Floating World is a captivating beginning to a promising new series by a celebrated voice in YA fantasy. With its lush prose, emotionally complex characters, and immersive worldbuilding, the novel offers a heartfelt journey that balances romance, folklore, and action. It’s a strong choice for readers looking for fantasy that lingers long after the final page.
The Floating World is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
From Axie Oh, the New York Times-bestselling author of The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea, Final Fantasy meets Shadow and Bone in this lighthearted romantic fantasy reimagining of a Korean legend.
Sunho lives in the Under World, a land of perpetual darkness. An ex-soldier, he can remember little of his life from before two years ago, when he woke up alone with only his name and his sword. Now he does odd-jobs to scrape by, until he comes across the score of a lifetime―a chest of coins for any mercenary who can hunt down a girl who wields silver light.
Meanwhile, far to the east, Ren is a cheerful and spirited acrobat traveling with her adoptive family and performing at villages. But everything changes during one of their festival performances when the village is attacked by a horrific humanlike demon. In a moment of fear and rage, Ren releases a blast of silver light―a power she has kept hidden since childhood―and kills the monster. But her efforts are not in time to prevent her adoptive family from suffering a devastating loss, or to save her beloved uncle from being grievously wounded.
Determined to save him from succumbing to the poisoned wound, Ren sets off over the mountains, where the creature came from―and from where Ren herself fled ten years ago. Her path sets her on a collision course with Sunho, but he doesn’t realize she’s the girl that he―and a hundred other swords-for-hire―is looking for. As the two grow closer through their travels, they come to realize that their pasts―and destinies―are far more entwined than either of them could have imagined…
