Award winning novelist Chang-rae Lee is known for his historically based novels that pull from the Korean American experience.
For his fifth novel, he’s going in a whole different direction. He’s entering the world of science fiction, reports the Wall Street Journal.
On Such a Full Sea is a futuristic story set in the United States 150 years from now.
B-mor and D-Troy are factory towns occupied by Chinese immigrant workers. Charter colonies of rich people consume the products made by the factories while a cancer-like disease grips the nation and kills off much of the population.
Lee admits he was a little sheepish telling people about this change of direction in his career.
“I was evasive with almost everybody,” he said. “I didn’t want to alarm anybody, and I didn’t want to have to deal with my sense of their alarm.”
Early reviews have been good. You can get a preview of the book on NPR.
