The Black Orb

A shiny, black sphere appears in Seoul, and it’s stalking and devouring people one by one. While the story takes the framework of classic sci-fi apocalyptic tales, such as War of the Worlds, it’s not about the triumph of survival, but rather the pettiness, cruelty, and anger of endurance. While tense and thrilling, the focus of the novel is on lead character Jeong-su’s journey from a man of average success to a selfish remnant of humanity. He begins nobly enough, planning to meet his parents so they can flee together. Along the way he collides with looters, a charitable but secretive congregation, and murderers. He occasionally helps, but more often flees in panic. In the latter half of the novel, there’s no more room to run, but there is time to experience traumatic aspects of his background and to begin to understand how society molded him. Readers won’t maintain sympathy for the character, however, as his revelations are entwined with his violence, cruelty, and homophobia.