cover illustration: Jisu Choi
One of the most popular science fiction writers in Korea, Bae Myung-Hoon explores the forces that shape modern life with wit and a sly wink at the reader. His writings are known for their inventive premises and clarity of language, and much of his work is also considered political satire.
Tower is a series of interconnected stories set in a 674-story skyscraper and sovereign nation. Each story deals with how citizens living in the hypermodern high-rise deal with various influences of power in their lives: a group of researchers have to tell their boss that a major powerbroker is a dog; a woman uses the power of the internet to rescue a downed fighter pilot abandoned by the government; and an out-of-towner finds himself in charge of training a gentle elephant to break up protesters. First published in Korea in 2009, Tower is also the first novel of Bae to be translated into English.
"Writing science fiction requires the capability to write elaboratively about big concepts as much as it requires logic and imagination. I'm very glad Bae Myung-Hoon has this ability, and I'm thankful someone with his intellect has written novels in Korean."—Park Chan-Wook, Director of The Handmaiden and Oldboy
“Tower shatters our preconceptions about science fiction. There are no complicated technologies, galactic adventures, or aliens in the book. Instead it captivates readers with irreverent and razor-sharp social satire.”—Kyunghyang Daily News
To order Tower, please visit:
https://www.honfordstar.com/tower
Author Talks: Bae Myung-Hoon
Tuesday, June 15, 2021
The Korea Society
350 Madison Avenue, 24th Floor
New York, NY 10017
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Bae Myung-hoon (b. 1978) is one of the most popular science fiction writers in South Korea. Since his literary debut in 2005, he has written ten novels and over fifty short stories and novellas. His short story collections include Hello, Artificial Being (2010) and Art and the Acceleration of Gravity (2016); his novels include Tower (2009), Divine Orbit (2011), Decoy (2012), First Breath (2015), Spiritual Archaeologist (2017), and ROK Space Force (2020). He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in international relations at Seoul National University.
