{"product_id":"the-black-orb-by-ewhan-kim","title":"'The Black Orb' by Ewhan Kim","description":"\u003ch4\u003eOne evening in Seoul, Jeong-su watches a vast black sphere absorb his neighbour.\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe orb cannot be damaged, passes through walls and follows the nearest person with slow, unbroken persistence. Soon it begins to divide. As Seoul collapses into panic and the phenomenon spreads beyond the city, Jeong-su joins the mass flight into the countryside while trying to reach his elderly parents.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBeginning with the clean mechanics of a nightmare, \u003cem\u003eThe Black Orb\u003c\/em\u003e expands into a dryly funny and increasingly brutal study of disaster. Throughout, we see how institutions, families and strangers respond to something they cannot control: through denial, bureaucratic absurdity, violence, rumour, opportunism and occasional solidarity. The result sits somewhere between apocalyptic horror, Kafka and social satire.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOriginally published in Korea in 2009 as \u003cem\u003eThe Orb of Despair\u003c\/em\u003e, the novel won the inaugural Multi Literature Award and has since been translated into nine languages. Its belated English publication gives its scenes of lockdowns, official misinformation and contagious mass panic an eerie post-pandemic resonance, despite the book having been written more than a decade earlier.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFirst English-language edition, first printing. Translated from the Korean by Sean Lin Halbert. Serpent’s Tail, 2024. Paperback. Very good condition, with minor shelf wear.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"bower studio","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45725069115475,"sku":null,"price":16.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0689\/0268\/2707\/files\/thebowerbooker-2026-06-22T140856.632.png?v=1782101430","url":"https:\/\/bowerbooks.com\/products\/the-black-orb-by-ewhan-kim","provider":"bower books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}