Red Sword
by Bora Chung
Fog, clones, and the question of who you are when so many faces are mirrors of your own.
What It’s About
Red Sword is nothing like Bora Chung’s short fiction. This is sprawling, dystopian sci-fi. On a distant, disputed planet, Chrisna, a woman taken as a slave, is forced to fight in a war she doesn’t understand. The White and Gray factions are locked in conflict, their battlefields stalked by black birds of prey. In the middle are the slaves, wearing colors of their own, treated as lesser and told they always have been.
Chrisna moves through alien terrain, scientific experiments, and shifting loyalties, never certain who is the enemy or even who she is. Her captors are quick to kill hesitation, and her companions, some of them identical in face and name, are almost impossible to tell apart.
What Stuck With Me
The atmosphere never lets up. There is a literal fog of war that makes everything feel disorienting. That same confusion is in the story itself when the clones come into play. The similar names and nearly identical faces make it hard to track who is who, but it also puts you in Chrisna’s place, unsure of what is real or who can be trusted.
The color symbolism of the White and Gray factions, the black birds overhead, and the slaves in colors feels intentional. And toward the end, there is a truth revealed that changes the meaning of everything that came before. It is the kind of moment that makes you want to go back and see what you missed the first time.
More than once I pictured it as a film. The fog, the combat scenes, and even moments where Chrisna feels like a Kill Bill figure fighting enemies and versions of herself would be incredible on screen. On the page, it is interesting but sometimes hard to visualize.
Would I Recommend It?
This is not for everyone. There is violence, including sexual assault, so if those are triggers you may want to skip it. But if you like dystopian sci-fi that blends war, identity, and moral ambiguity, Red Sword is worth reading.
It is not as instantly accessible as Cursed Bunny or Your Utopia, but it carries a similar willingness to push boundaries, just in a very different style. For readers willing to sit in the fog and piece things together, it is both fascinating and disorienting.
Where to Find It
📘 Buy on Amazon
Also available via WorldCat to check your local library
Reading in a World of Fog and Fire
Red Sword throws you into battle on a planet where nothing is certain. It’s the perfect read for a night when you want high stakes, strange worlds, and a little grit in the air. Set the tone with pieces that feel a bit battle-worn, a bit otherworldly:
Minimalist black notebook for scribbling theories mid-read
Cozy but utilitarian throw blanket in charcoal or gray
Mini desk globe — a reminder of home when the setting is far away
Sometimes the right setup makes you feel like you’re in the fight, moving through the fog right alongside the characters.
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