Book Summary and Reviews of Moonstorm by Yoon Ha Lee

Moonstorm by Yoon Ha Lee

Moonstorm

by Yoon Ha Lee

  • Published:
  • Jul 2025, 352 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

In a society where conformity is valued above all else, a teen girl training to become an Imperial pilot is forced to return to her rebel roots to save her world in this adrenaline-fueled sci-fi adventure—perfect for fans of Iron Widow and Skyward!

Hwa Young was just ten years old when imperial forces destroyed her rebel moon home. Now, six years later, she is a citizen of the very empire that made her an orphan.

Desperate to shake her rebel past, Hwa Young dreams of one day becoming a lancer pilot, an elite group of warriors who fly into battle using the empire's most advanced tech—giant martial robots. Lancers are powerful, and Hwa Young would do anything to be the strong one for once in her life.

When an attack on their boarding school leaves Hwa Young and her classmates stranded on an imperial space fleet, her dreams quickly become a reality. As it turns out, the fleet is in dire need of pilot candidates, and Hwa Young—along with her brainy best friend Geum, rival Bae, and class clown Seong Su—are quick to volunteer.

But training is nothing like what they expected, and secrets—like the fate of the fleet's previous lancer squad and hidden truths about the rebellion itself—are stacking up. And when Hwa Young uncovers a conspiracy that puts their entire world at risk, she's forced to make a choice between her rebel past and an empire she's no longer sure she can trust.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

 "Lee....continues infusing the vast world of science fiction with Korean-inspired adventure....thrilling." —Booklist (starred review)

"Action-packed space battles and strong worldbuilding will draw readers in." —Kirkus Reviews

"Lee addresses issues of colonialism and revolution in a high-concept space adventure narrative." —Publishers Weekly

"Readers who enjoyed Zhao's Iron Widow will likely find appeal in the book's realistic portrayal of different relationships as Hwa Young deals with bullies, best friends, and domineering authority figures." —The Bulletin

"Space opera and mecha enthusiasts should enjoy this skillfully crafted novel." —Shelf Awareness

"I loved every single page of Lee's masterfully crafted, utterly engrossing space opera. Moonstorm hooked me with its breathtaking action sequences, charismatic cast, and intricately-rendered world." —Axie Oh, New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea and Rebel Seoul

This information about Moonstorm was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Yoon Ha Lee

Yoon Ha Lee is a Korean American who was born in Texas, went to high school in South Korea, and received a B.A. in mathematics from Cornell University. Yoon's previous books include the Hugo Award nominated Machineries of Empire series and the New York Times bestseller Dragon Pearl. His hobbies are game design, composing, and destroying readers. He lives in Louisiana with his family and a flopsy catten, and has not yet been eaten by gators.

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