Silvia Park’s debut novel is an expertly imagined work of speculative fiction that takes place in the near future in a unified Korea that has been reshaped by the invention of robotic humanoids that can be bought as companions, domestic servants, or children. The novel surrounds one family who has a particularly unique relationship to these robots: Jun is a veteran of the wars of unification, a trans man working as a detective for the robot crimes unit, while his careerist younger sister Morgan works at Imagine Friends, one of the major producers of these robot companions. Both Jun and Morgan are still struggling to come to terms with the mysterious death of their brother Yoyo, a robot that was built for them by their father, who played a pivotal role in both of their young lives.
But as it happens, Yoyo is still alive—living in the robot scrap yard, where he meets Ruijie, a young girl suffering from chronic illness who relies on robotic enhancements to her body to stay alive. Ruije and Yoyo strike up a fast friendship, as both understand what it means to live on the margins of society. While Yoyo still maintains the memories from his initial creation and childhood with Jun and Morgan, the boy we meet is not the same one that his siblings remember. The siblings path begins to cross when Jun is investigating the disappearance of a young robot girl who lives in the same apartment complex as Morgan, and who eventually comes into contact with Yoyo and the young people he befriends in the scrap yard.
The human characters in this novel are deeply unhappy: Jun is a recovering VR addict and Morgan is made so lonely by her lack of social and romantic success that she builds a robot boyfriend for herself to act as a domestic servant. Both siblings struggle to understand what their role in this complex society is—and how their father’s legacy as a pioneering mind in this field of neurobiology has shaped them as people. Their deep grief at the loss of their father’s most prolific creation, Yoyo, has left them adrift as adults without an ability to connect meaningfully with others.
The real triumph of this novel is Park’s world-building abilities: they manage to conjure up a society with a clear set of moral and ethical codes, not unlike our own, but with a visionary eye towards how robot intelligence could change the way we relate to each other. Each character was well-drawn and the social order they inhabited was just fascinating to untangle as the novel progresses. Park’s writing is propulsive and sharp, and their ability to enmesh the reader in this world is a marvel.
Luminous is not only a gripping mystery but a fascinating meditation on the role of computer intelligence in modern society. What does it mean to create consciousness, and how will spirituality evolve in this changing landscape are all questions that the novel asks at various points. But the real heart of the story is the deep roots of the sibling connection and the love that each one has for the person that they’ve lost. Park writes with a stunning clarity about grief and family, lending a human touch to this work of strong imagination.