This book was magnificent. I had never heard of Isabel J. Kim before the Hugo nominations came out last year, but I really enjoyed her nominated short story "Why Don't We Just Kill the Kid In the Omelas Hole". It was clever and well written and I enjoy works in conversation with other works like that. I also thought she was a witty and engaging panelist when I saw her at Worldcon and I resolved to look out for her work in the future.
Sublimation is her debut novel, and I was excited to get an eARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. It is set in a world in which people can split into two versions when they cross a border, like when they emigrate. The protagonists are Korean - one split when her mother moved them to America when she was a child, leaving copies of themselves in South Korea, and the other is her childhood friend who split in college.
The world building is fascinating. The author includes tidbits about how, in this world, the Odyssey and the Book of Genesis are different because Odysseus left behind a duplicate when he went to Troy and Adam and Eve left behind copies of themselves in the Garden of Eden.
This book did not always go where I expected. Corporate espionage and tech bro jerks were far more important to the plot than I had anticipated, but everything proceeded logically from the world building. I enjoyed this book from beginning to end.
