Karma of the Sun

After the Earth is scorched by the six suns of prophecy, civilization’s remnants find refuge atop the Tibetan plateau, barely surviving in a land choked by the ashes of nuclear winter. Among the survivors is Karma, a young man living with the shame of his father’s disappearance a decade ago. Answering the call of an otherworldly horn that only he can hear, Karma journeys into the Himalayas in search of a mystical mountain with ties to his father and the means through which to save humanity from the foretold calamity. Reminiscent of N.K. Jemisin’s The Fifth Season and P.D. James’s Children of Men, Boey’s debut novel marries science fiction with fantasy, leaning into Buddhist eschatology to craft a postapocalyptic narrative with rich philosophical depth. Keong Sim’s measured and thoughtful narration fits Karma perfectly, lending the unsure protagonist an imploring timbre, an effect that makes the novel’s emotional atmosphere even more heart-wrenching.