Original title: Naraka
Author: Elina Pitkäkangas
Published: 2023
Publisher: FINLAND: WSOY (orig.)
Genres: Fantasy & Science Fiction, Young Adult (13 or 14+)
Reading material:
English synopsis
The sequel to SANG takes the reader back to Fusang and the world where Kong Dawei is faced with impossible choices.
✓ SANG was the winner of the Topelius Award 2023, the City of Tampere Literature Prize 2023, and Kuvastaja Prize 2023!
✓ Praised by readers and critics for its convincing world-building, multifaceted characters and cinematic descriptions
✓ Rare representation of sign language in YA
The new novel about war and human relations by the winner of the Topelius Prize
Kong Dawei has returned to his home region, but nothing is the same. The second book of the duology, loved by readers and praised by experts, is a vivid and an intensive novel about war, morals, and ever holding love.
The sequel of the top-rated book SANG presents Fusang’s region Naraka, a workcamp where the unfortunate citizens are sent. The resistance is growing there. When Kong Dawei finds himself in the middle of The Iron Revolution, he must face the boundaries of his loyalty. Whose side does he want to be on? Can there be winners in the war?
In the dystopian world recovering from a brutal war the different societal classes are miles apart, and the distance grows with a citizenship debt to be paid yearly. [–] Pitkäkangas describes the inequality and abuse of power skillfully. Warmth and balance is brought by the love between the brothers, but also romantic love and sexual desire. The object of the feelings is a friend, another boy, and the queer theme fits Sang without a fault.
Arla Kanerva in Helsingin Sanomat newspaper on SANG