Sondok: Princess of the Moon and Stars

This is a book in The Royal Diaries series and takes place in Korea, 595 A.D, about 900 years before Columbus "discovered" North America.

Sondok is a Princess due to inherit a throne since her father did not have any sons. This would make her the first female to be an actual ruler in the area, and, as such, she is warned that other countries probably won't respect her country since it would have a female ruler.

She is a very intelligent girl and her passion in life is astronomy, but that does not sit well with her father, the King, or a man brought in from China to help the Korean astronomers. She's also very attracted to one boy, but the boy is not on her same social status and thus they cannot have an actual relationship.

The story is quite good, showing how Sondok tries to do the best she can but is handicapped by the attitude of the Chinese representative who represents a government which holds women to be definitely of secondary status. She tries to be herself, then gives in an tries to be what her father and others expect of her.

As with all the other books in the series, this one has a really good historical section on it and there's a lot in there, including information on Buddhism, Confucianism and Shamanism.

Definitely worth reading.

Main Index

Dear America index page

Yadult Index