Sheri Holman

This book is written as a diary by a young Sondok, soon to be first Queen of Silla Korea, A.D. 595. Even though Sondok is heir to the throne, her father the King of Silla kingdom disapproves of her study of astronomy, believing that such academic endeavors are not suitable for females. Sondok struggles with this personally, as well as with the discordances between the Buddhist beliefs of her kingdom, the Shamanistic practices of the older generations, and the growing Confucian influence from her kingdom's "Older Brother China."

While this historical figure and period of pre-unified Korea was fascinating to read about, there was something about the voice and language weaved into Sondok's narrative that I had difficulty believing as very realistic. Also, I couldn't help but feel that Sondok had decidedly Western point-of-view of her world even though she was supposed to be a young Buddhist Korean girl. Still, it did feel like the author gave it her best effort and intent to share the culture and perspectives of Silla Korea.… (more)

2.5 hours into the audiobook and I have yet to encounter anything resembling a plot. It's a very strange narrative voice that I'm sure was aiming for quirky, but it felt a lot like the experience of an ADHD train of thought in narrative form. The omniscient narrator would enter a room, proceed to hone in on a particular person or detail, get sidetracked into a different time and/or space describing the history of the character or historical relevance of an object, eventually return to the room, and then do the same thing with every single character/object in the scene. O_O I guess this book is good if you're interested in that kind of aimless historical detail.… (more)