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The Proposal
In The Proposal, a space opera romance set against the backdrop of a looming war between Earth and a mysterious adversary, a story of love unfolds through a series of intimate letters. This poignant novella explores how a space-born soldier's gradual involvement in an escalating conflict intertwines with a heartfelt proposal to his Earth-born partner, revealing the intricate dance of love and duty at the edge of an interstellar conflict.
Translated by Stella Kim, The Proposal reflects on the distances that separate us—both physically and emotionally—and celebrates the resilience of the human spirit, ever striving to overcome these divides.
Translated by Stella Kim, The Proposal reflects on the distances that separate us—both physically and emotionally—and celebrates the resilience of the human spirit, ever striving to overcome these divides.
107 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2013
26 people are currently reading
1580 people want to read
About the author
Bae Myung-hoon
22 books37 followersBae Myung-hoon (배명훈) is an acclaimed South Korean writer of science fiction known for his inventive world-building and biting political humor. His debut story collection, Tower (타워, 2009; English edition: Honford Star, 2021), is the first Korean science fiction book by a single author to be translated into English. Bae has written more than a dozen novels and short-story collections, an essay collection, and a sci-fi children’s book.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
September 12, 2025
A space set novella that is surprisingly light on details. The setting is very generic and I have seen better execution of some of the ideas across different media
…the distance renders us as nothing more than stars to each other
Turf Wars between originally earthborn and space born staff on the defence fleet form the background to The Proposal. A threat emerges, but the narration feels rather bloodless, I am probably more emotional in how I would describe an average day in the office when I speak to my partner than how our narrator renders space battles, intrigue and his love life.
Also I am a bit confused with the whole prophecies theme:
I’ve heard that there’s a revised edition; some of the content is different from when I had to memorize it. Are prophecies usually revised and updated?
I thought this would be the set-up to something akin to Arrival by Dennis Villeneuve his movie or maybe Tenet by Christopher Nolan, but we stay in generic science fiction territory with abbreviation filled organisations rivalling each other for power:
Allied Orbital Forces
United Earth Surface
Inspection Force Command
General Staff Office
I think my main problem with the novella is how it reminds me of a lot of other works, but than less well executed. The Dark Forest by Liu Cixin for instance has better space battle scenes (where I do need to admit that Bae Myung-hoon at least manages to convey the complexity better than Star Trek and Star Wars make it seem).
The native to space people being unknowable to earthbound strategists feels like Ender’s Game, but with less brilliant strategies.
Finally Voices of a Distant Star, the first work of legendary anime director Makoto Shinkai comes to mind in respect to the love story. There I nearly cried; in The Proposal I felt it was all rather bloodless.
Without the gorgeous cover my 2.5 stars would have been rounded down.
…the distance renders us as nothing more than stars to each other
Turf Wars between originally earthborn and space born staff on the defence fleet form the background to The Proposal. A threat emerges, but the narration feels rather bloodless, I am probably more emotional in how I would describe an average day in the office when I speak to my partner than how our narrator renders space battles, intrigue and his love life.
Also I am a bit confused with the whole prophecies theme:
I’ve heard that there’s a revised edition; some of the content is different from when I had to memorize it. Are prophecies usually revised and updated?
I thought this would be the set-up to something akin to Arrival by Dennis Villeneuve his movie or maybe Tenet by Christopher Nolan, but we stay in generic science fiction territory with abbreviation filled organisations rivalling each other for power:
Allied Orbital Forces
United Earth Surface
Inspection Force Command
General Staff Office
I think my main problem with the novella is how it reminds me of a lot of other works, but than less well executed. The Dark Forest by Liu Cixin for instance has better space battle scenes (where I do need to admit that Bae Myung-hoon at least manages to convey the complexity better than Star Trek and Star Wars make it seem).
The native to space people being unknowable to earthbound strategists feels like Ender’s Game, but with less brilliant strategies.
Finally Voices of a Distant Star, the first work of legendary anime director Makoto Shinkai comes to mind in respect to the love story. There I nearly cried; in The Proposal I felt it was all rather bloodless.
Without the gorgeous cover my 2.5 stars would have been rounded down.
November 12, 2024
My reaction after finishing this book: ??????
It’s not that it’s bad, it’s just that I understood absolutely nothing and it seems to me like there is no plot, just a guy talking about stuff that makes zero sense to me.
It’s not that it’s bad, it’s just that I understood absolutely nothing and it seems to me like there is no plot, just a guy talking about stuff that makes zero sense to me.
September 15, 2024
"I missed you," I said, and you answered, "Me too."
The exchange took less than a second, and to me that moment was the definition of happiness.
Right now, even if I answer your "I love you" right away, it takes seventeen minutes and forty-four seconds for my response to reach you, and it takes another seventeen minutes and forty-four seconds for your response to come to me. Do you know what I find the most stifling about this distance? It's the frustration that comes from not knowing what is happening within that brief period of time between my talking to you and you responding to me.
“보고 싶었어” 하고 내가 너에게 말했을 때, “나도” 하고 네가 나에게 대답해주기까지 단 1초도 걸리지 않았던 그 순간을, 나는 행복이라고 기억해.
사랑한다는 너의 말에 단 한 순간도 망설임 없이 대답해도 너에게 닿는 데 17분 44초가 걸리고 그 말에 대한 너의 대답이 돌아오는 데 또다시 17분 44초가 더 걸리는 지금의 이 거리를 두고 내가 가장 숨 막히는 게 뭔지 아니? 그건 대답이 돌아오기 전까지의 그 긴 시간 동안 우리 사이에 무슨 일이 일어나고 있는지 알 수 없다는 갑갑함이야.
The Proposal is Stella Kim's translation of 청혼 by 배명훈.
This is the third of the novelist's works to appear in English after Tower translated by Sang Ryu from the original 타워 and Launch Something translated by Stella Kim from the original 빙글빙글 우주군.
All three are published by the wonderful small indy Honford Star: "Honford Star is committed to bridging literary worlds, celebrating the richness of East Asian literature. Our goal is to respect the authenticity and diversity of these narratives, bringing them to a global audience through collaborative partnerships with skilled translators, artists, and designers."
And as with all Honford Star books, it is beautifully produced, here with design and cover art by Jisu Choi.
The Korean original novel dates back to 2013 but this was comprehensively revised for re-publication in 2024 and using the same art work, as per the Kyobo Books page.
'작가는 이번 개정 작업을 통해 거의 모든 문장을 다시 쓰는 정도로 조탁하고 묘사와 표현을 시대감각에 발맞추어 수정했다' - translation 'The author has revised nearly every sentence in this edition, refining the writing and updating the descriptions and expressions to reflect contemporary sensibilities.'
The Korean word 청혼 is used specifically in the context of marriage, and this is, as the UK publisher bills it, a 'space opera romance' in the form of letters from a senior space-born officer in the Allied Orbital Forces to his girlfriend, earth-born and back on earth. Although the novel's emphasis is more on the conflict in which he is involved - this is more a space opera in the grand tradition than a space romance.
The narrator, and the Earth's combined space fleet, are stationed in the solar system, 17m44s light minutes from earth - which would put that between Mars and Jupiter - and involved in active combat with a mysterious space force which keeps appearing and disappearing, presumed alien but whose ships and weapons are oddly similar, if a few years more advanced, to those of the human forces.
And a combat that seemed to have been mysteriously forecast in a book of Prophecies written 25 years earlier and which led to the building of a massive space fleet in preparation for the attack:
It was no ordinary feat to decide to build such a colossal fleet in the quiet outer space without any sign of threat. The initiative was even more impressive than the decision itself. Had the plan failed, everyone would’ve lost their jobs—some, their lives. They couldn’t have done it without considerable conviction. Sure, there was Prophecies, but that only predicted events of the next decade, and nothing about the following thirty years was right. Where in that iffy book could they have possibly gained such confidence? What could have fueled the madness of squeezing out such an astronomical sum to be spent on building an unprecedented and unparalleled fleet? For twenty-five years at that.
And there is strong tension between both the space-born and the 'Earthians', not just their inability to easily function in each other's environments but also the resulting impact on their belief systems. And, related to that, between the Allied Orbital Forces, led by General De Nada (a code name, referring to him largely commanding the emptiness of outer space) and the Inspection Force sent from earth to investigate rumours of a rebellion, led in turn by General Liddell (who take his nom-de-guerre from the early-mid 20th century military theorist B. H. Liddell Hart, into which our protagonist is caught up.
To his surprise when our narrator visits General Liddell's quarters he finds he has on his bookshelves three 'holy books':
The first was the Bible featuring Jesus Christ- the belief of Earthians in the fundamental human feature of being able to distinguish between up and down. The next was Prophecies— the manifestation of the doubts that the land that humanity had been grounded in might not be as firm as we think; the prophecy of an the encounter with beings from somewhere beyond the universe, the ensuing war, and the culmination of these events being the emergence of an enigmatic celestial body known as the Temple of Doom, which would serve as a channel connecting this side of the universe to the world beyond; the declaration that the interdimen-sional portal would not only pour out extraterrestrial beings but gradually shift into Earth's orbit, eventually swallowing Earth whole and spitting it back out the other end. The holy book that stuck out, however, was the third one. It was the book that the UES was consulting in an effort to respond to all possible threats. Do you know what that book was? It was a guide on fleet tactics and strategies, penned by General De Nada.
While there is a decisive development in the battle, this isn't a book that wraps things up neatly, and indeed it's closer to a novella in length. The reader is left to speculate on who the 'aliens' are for example , and it's a novel that seems to set itself up for a sequel, although I'm not aware one was published.
My review of Tower concluded: "A lot of fun to read, yet containing some important and well-thought through messages about power dynamics in modern states and communities. In SF terms this tends much more to the allegorical than the 'wholly coherent world-building' end, which to me is a positive," and while there are similarities here (in particular about how different communities should understand each other) this tilted more to the pure space-opera for my personal taste. I'd rank the novels 'Tower' -'The Proposal'-'Launch Something!' in descending order of my preference.
The exchange took less than a second, and to me that moment was the definition of happiness.
Right now, even if I answer your "I love you" right away, it takes seventeen minutes and forty-four seconds for my response to reach you, and it takes another seventeen minutes and forty-four seconds for your response to come to me. Do you know what I find the most stifling about this distance? It's the frustration that comes from not knowing what is happening within that brief period of time between my talking to you and you responding to me.
“보고 싶었어” 하고 내가 너에게 말했을 때, “나도” 하고 네가 나에게 대답해주기까지 단 1초도 걸리지 않았던 그 순간을, 나는 행복이라고 기억해.
사랑한다는 너의 말에 단 한 순간도 망설임 없이 대답해도 너에게 닿는 데 17분 44초가 걸리고 그 말에 대한 너의 대답이 돌아오는 데 또다시 17분 44초가 더 걸리는 지금의 이 거리를 두고 내가 가장 숨 막히는 게 뭔지 아니? 그건 대답이 돌아오기 전까지의 그 긴 시간 동안 우리 사이에 무슨 일이 일어나고 있는지 알 수 없다는 갑갑함이야.
The Proposal is Stella Kim's translation of 청혼 by 배명훈.
This is the third of the novelist's works to appear in English after Tower translated by Sang Ryu from the original 타워 and Launch Something translated by Stella Kim from the original 빙글빙글 우주군.
All three are published by the wonderful small indy Honford Star: "Honford Star is committed to bridging literary worlds, celebrating the richness of East Asian literature. Our goal is to respect the authenticity and diversity of these narratives, bringing them to a global audience through collaborative partnerships with skilled translators, artists, and designers."
And as with all Honford Star books, it is beautifully produced, here with design and cover art by Jisu Choi.
The Korean original novel dates back to 2013 but this was comprehensively revised for re-publication in 2024 and using the same art work, as per the Kyobo Books page.
'작가는 이번 개정 작업을 통해 거의 모든 문장을 다시 쓰는 정도로 조탁하고 묘사와 표현을 시대감각에 발맞추어 수정했다' - translation 'The author has revised nearly every sentence in this edition, refining the writing and updating the descriptions and expressions to reflect contemporary sensibilities.'
The Korean word 청혼 is used specifically in the context of marriage, and this is, as the UK publisher bills it, a 'space opera romance' in the form of letters from a senior space-born officer in the Allied Orbital Forces to his girlfriend, earth-born and back on earth. Although the novel's emphasis is more on the conflict in which he is involved - this is more a space opera in the grand tradition than a space romance.
The narrator, and the Earth's combined space fleet, are stationed in the solar system, 17m44s light minutes from earth - which would put that between Mars and Jupiter - and involved in active combat with a mysterious space force which keeps appearing and disappearing, presumed alien but whose ships and weapons are oddly similar, if a few years more advanced, to those of the human forces.
And a combat that seemed to have been mysteriously forecast in a book of Prophecies written 25 years earlier and which led to the building of a massive space fleet in preparation for the attack:
It was no ordinary feat to decide to build such a colossal fleet in the quiet outer space without any sign of threat. The initiative was even more impressive than the decision itself. Had the plan failed, everyone would’ve lost their jobs—some, their lives. They couldn’t have done it without considerable conviction. Sure, there was Prophecies, but that only predicted events of the next decade, and nothing about the following thirty years was right. Where in that iffy book could they have possibly gained such confidence? What could have fueled the madness of squeezing out such an astronomical sum to be spent on building an unprecedented and unparalleled fleet? For twenty-five years at that.
And there is strong tension between both the space-born and the 'Earthians', not just their inability to easily function in each other's environments but also the resulting impact on their belief systems. And, related to that, between the Allied Orbital Forces, led by General De Nada (a code name, referring to him largely commanding the emptiness of outer space) and the Inspection Force sent from earth to investigate rumours of a rebellion, led in turn by General Liddell (who take his nom-de-guerre from the early-mid 20th century military theorist B. H. Liddell Hart, into which our protagonist is caught up.
To his surprise when our narrator visits General Liddell's quarters he finds he has on his bookshelves three 'holy books':
The first was the Bible featuring Jesus Christ- the belief of Earthians in the fundamental human feature of being able to distinguish between up and down. The next was Prophecies— the manifestation of the doubts that the land that humanity had been grounded in might not be as firm as we think; the prophecy of an the encounter with beings from somewhere beyond the universe, the ensuing war, and the culmination of these events being the emergence of an enigmatic celestial body known as the Temple of Doom, which would serve as a channel connecting this side of the universe to the world beyond; the declaration that the interdimen-sional portal would not only pour out extraterrestrial beings but gradually shift into Earth's orbit, eventually swallowing Earth whole and spitting it back out the other end. The holy book that stuck out, however, was the third one. It was the book that the UES was consulting in an effort to respond to all possible threats. Do you know what that book was? It was a guide on fleet tactics and strategies, penned by General De Nada.
While there is a decisive development in the battle, this isn't a book that wraps things up neatly, and indeed it's closer to a novella in length. The reader is left to speculate on who the 'aliens' are for example , and it's a novel that seems to set itself up for a sequel, although I'm not aware one was published.
My review of Tower concluded: "A lot of fun to read, yet containing some important and well-thought through messages about power dynamics in modern states and communities. In SF terms this tends much more to the allegorical than the 'wholly coherent world-building' end, which to me is a positive," and while there are similarities here (in particular about how different communities should understand each other) this tilted more to the pure space-opera for my personal taste. I'd rank the novels 'Tower' -'The Proposal'-'Launch Something!' in descending order of my preference.
February 18, 2025
It wasn't something that I could convey even if I traveled so far to you and eliminated the Buggler Paradox. Because it was a matter of the heart
August 28, 2025
I had high hopes, but it was kind of meh for me. At the center of the story was supposed to be 'a love story in space' but, instead, was the thought process of an 'airforce' operations officer and he was all over the place. There were barely any traces of smooth story flow, so, I often had to reread parts to make sense for the book. I usually enjoy geeky space tech, but I really struggled to focus here.
January 26, 2025
A refreshing science fiction lite novella / love story. The book was well balanced between providing sufficient details to flesh out the world, theories, and ongoing war while giving insight into the love story that provided a thru line. This was the first translation of Bae Myung-hoon's work I have had the pleasure of reading but it won't be the last for sure!
August 26, 2024
This was a beautiful read from start to finish, and one that I'll definitely re-read at some point.
With the setting of a space opera that could become a series of novellas rather than a standalone, The Proposal let's us travel to a corner of space where a fleet of ships run mainly by humans born in space has to fight an unknown enemy. On a quest for survival, the characters navigate the politics of this war while trying to discover who this enemy may be.
The main character narrates their experience letter by letter to their loved one, dreaming of a future that in the midst of war becomes uncertain.
With the setting of a space opera that could become a series of novellas rather than a standalone, The Proposal let's us travel to a corner of space where a fleet of ships run mainly by humans born in space has to fight an unknown enemy. On a quest for survival, the characters navigate the politics of this war while trying to discover who this enemy may be.
The main character narrates their experience letter by letter to their loved one, dreaming of a future that in the midst of war becomes uncertain.
October 22, 2024
Leuke SciFi-novelle. De plot is leuk maar een beke voorspelbaar. De personages zijn best goed maar ook wel verwarrend.
Maar wel prijs voor 1 van de mooiste covers dit jaar, echt prachtig.
3sterren!
Maar wel prijs voor 1 van de mooiste covers dit jaar, echt prachtig.
3sterren!
June 18, 2025
This was published last year and it's strange that there was zero hype for this author's translated works, given the gorgeous cover art for each of them and also the increasing interest in translated Korean fiction. Is it because it's set in space and SF is hard to sell? Tough crowd huh. I really liked this one too! Just the right mix of hard science explained in simple terms, absurdism, time-twisting, and faith in humanity.
The narrative takes the form of letters written from someone "space-born" to his "Earth-born" lover back on Earth. The narrator is part of a fleet of spaceships that was constructed at great cost after there were "prophecies" about a nebulous enemy from another dimension who will appear decades in the future, and according to the prophet, the enemy will come through a "portal" called the "Temple of Doom." LMAO so ridiculous right?? But people on Earth took it seriously, so they decided to impoverish Earth to preemptively place spaceships in outer space, thereby creating a second locus for the concept of humanity because of the sheer population size up there. The thing is, the part of the prophecy about the enemy popping up came true, effectively justifying the fleet's existence. And it seems like the rest of the prophecy isn't too far off the mark either.
The narrator finds himself caught up in politics between his fellow space-born general and the inspector general sent from Earth to get rid of him. The reason isn't much of a surprise if you're already familiar with the genre: the Earth fleet believes that the enemy is the result of the product of the general's future rebellion. But why is the enemy aiming for him? Or could it be that they're all stuck in a predestined loop? Lots to think about free will and why it matters so much to humans to have a connection to Planet Earth.
The narrative takes the form of letters written from someone "space-born" to his "Earth-born" lover back on Earth. The narrator is part of a fleet of spaceships that was constructed at great cost after there were "prophecies" about a nebulous enemy from another dimension who will appear decades in the future, and according to the prophet, the enemy will come through a "portal" called the "Temple of Doom." LMAO so ridiculous right?? But people on Earth took it seriously, so they decided to impoverish Earth to preemptively place spaceships in outer space, thereby creating a second locus for the concept of humanity because of the sheer population size up there. The thing is, the part of the prophecy about the enemy popping up came true, effectively justifying the fleet's existence. And it seems like the rest of the prophecy isn't too far off the mark either.
The narrator finds himself caught up in politics between his fellow space-born general and the inspector general sent from Earth to get rid of him. The reason isn't much of a surprise if you're already familiar with the genre: the Earth fleet believes that the enemy is the result of the product of the general's future rebellion. But why is the enemy aiming for him? Or could it be that they're all stuck in a predestined loop? Lots to think about free will and why it matters so much to humans to have a connection to Planet Earth.
April 12, 2025
In amper 180 pagina's toont de auteur (ik ben dus niet zeker wat zijn voor of achternaam is, oh western me) een levendige futuristische samenleving met earthborns en spaceborns. Een mysterieuze romance tijdens een mysterieus intergalactisch conflict. Wie is zijn lief en hoe heeft hij haar (of hem???) leren kennen? Wie zijn de vijanden en waarom lijken ze zo hard op zichzelf? Deze briefroman (ik hou ervan!) is zo pienter geschreven dat ik hem direct opnieuw zou willen lezen om alle dubbele lagen mee te hebben. Maar hey, het mysterie maakt ook niet het boek.
December 3, 2025
4 stars-
Yo recuerdo que me prometieron un romance intergaláctico, y terminé leyendo una novela corta sobre cómo y por qué funciona una nave espacial militar en las profundidades del espacio.
Vengo a admitir que estuve a nada de dejar esta lectura, pero al ser un libro bastante cortito me obligué a continuarlo. Si bien no me arrepiento, fue muy denso de leer porque vino siendo, más que nada, guerra e intriga política haha.
Al final, me gustó más de lo que esperaba.
Yo recuerdo que me prometieron un romance intergaláctico, y terminé leyendo una novela corta sobre cómo y por qué funciona una nave espacial militar en las profundidades del espacio.
Vengo a admitir que estuve a nada de dejar esta lectura, pero al ser un libro bastante cortito me obligué a continuarlo. Si bien no me arrepiento, fue muy denso de leer porque vino siendo, más que nada, guerra e intriga política haha.
Al final, me gustó más de lo que esperaba.
October 14, 2025
A lot of words for little substance. I felt like this was trying to be too many things at once. Details were lacking to make for a compelling sci-fi story and zero emotions were conveyed to make me feel like there was any romance subplot. Things kind of got interesting around 75% but for most of the book I was unfortunately both bored and confused.
.
.
September 15, 2024
This is a quick and interesting novella, mostly I wanted more meat and answers! The worldbuilding is fascinating but the relationships between the characters felt confusing even with such a limited cast.
March 2, 2025
A well written book about being in love whilst fighting a war in space. I enjoyed how this book was written as a long letter to his lover. Some nice touches on humanity, but a bit too detailed on space warfare for my liking and I was confused by who was in what faction.
February 25, 2025
Ehrlich gesagt weiss ich nicht so recht, was ich mit dieser Novelle anfangen soll. Sie hat gewisse Catch-22-Vibes, da hier auch eher ironisch über den Krieg berichtet wird. Aufgrund des Covers hätte ich eh nie damit gerechnet, dass genau um das geht: einen Krieg.
Typisch für eine Novelle geht alles sehr schnell vonstatten und noch ehe ich halbwegs in der Geschichte angekommen war, war sie schon zu Ende. Dieses Ende war ganz interessant, aber trotzdem lässt mich das Werk ein wenig ratlos zurück.
Typisch für eine Novelle geht alles sehr schnell vonstatten und noch ehe ich halbwegs in der Geschichte angekommen war, war sie schon zu Ende. Dieses Ende war ganz interessant, aber trotzdem lässt mich das Werk ein wenig ratlos zurück.
February 23, 2025
3.5
Absolutely sucked me in but now that it’s over I’m not quite sure what I think. There’s a beauty to it though, that’s for sure.
Absolutely sucked me in but now that it’s over I’m not quite sure what I think. There’s a beauty to it though, that’s for sure.
June 26, 2025
This one made me think a lot. About form as a part of the narrative. About the lyricism of language.
December 30, 2025
oh, to be in love durante una battaglia intergalattica
April 22, 2025
3.5 stars.
December 30, 2024
ficção científica que promete romance? nenhum deles é a minha praia, mas pelo #perpetuandoaasia eu sou capaz de experimentar.
este livro veio parar-me aqui a casa e posso dizer desde já que é dos livros mais bonitos que tenho, como objeto. adoro a capa, a paleta de cores, a paginação e edição do livro, a fonte escolhida - o trabalho de jisu choi (ilustração) deve realmente ser valorizado!
a introdução captou toda a minha atenção. apesar da sinopse, pareceu-me que poderia abordar também questões mais filosóficas, e eu estava pronta para isso. infelizmente, não correu o caminho que eu esperava. fui presenteada com descrições imensas mas ainda esperava o romance, que nos era alimentado com migalhas a cada capítulo.
fui mantendo a esperança e acreditei que o autor ia entregar o que prometeu até ao final do livro mas, mais uma vez, não aconteceu. pelo menos é um livro que se lê rápido, principalmente pela diagramação. foi realmente muito satisfatório para mim, já deu para perceber? 😂
no entanto, no que toca à história, nem sei bem a que tipo de pessoas pode agradar, pois também não considerei propriamente sci-fi. ainda assim, talvez seja esse o caminho… sobre as personagens: não senti muito desenvolvimento e, para uma pessoa ‘character-driven’ como eu, não foi suficiente.
se puser de lado as promessas e pouca entrega, é um livro que se lê bem, está bem escrito e propicia a curiosidade, mas é provável que pertença ao grupo dos esquecíveis.
este livro veio parar-me aqui a casa e posso dizer desde já que é dos livros mais bonitos que tenho, como objeto. adoro a capa, a paleta de cores, a paginação e edição do livro, a fonte escolhida - o trabalho de jisu choi (ilustração) deve realmente ser valorizado!
a introdução captou toda a minha atenção. apesar da sinopse, pareceu-me que poderia abordar também questões mais filosóficas, e eu estava pronta para isso. infelizmente, não correu o caminho que eu esperava. fui presenteada com descrições imensas mas ainda esperava o romance, que nos era alimentado com migalhas a cada capítulo.
fui mantendo a esperança e acreditei que o autor ia entregar o que prometeu até ao final do livro mas, mais uma vez, não aconteceu. pelo menos é um livro que se lê rápido, principalmente pela diagramação. foi realmente muito satisfatório para mim, já deu para perceber? 😂
no entanto, no que toca à história, nem sei bem a que tipo de pessoas pode agradar, pois também não considerei propriamente sci-fi. ainda assim, talvez seja esse o caminho… sobre as personagens: não senti muito desenvolvimento e, para uma pessoa ‘character-driven’ como eu, não foi suficiente.
se puser de lado as promessas e pouca entrega, é um livro que se lê bem, está bem escrito e propicia a curiosidade, mas é provável que pertença ao grupo dos esquecíveis.
July 28, 2025
2.5
this was the first sci fy book I read in a long wile so I hoped it would get me into this genre, and yayyy it did!
As someone with very little knowledge about space science stuff everything seemed "realistic" which is cool and I really liked the idea of a book about a war in space and I was very intrigued by the unknown adversary in the book because it had something scary about it, therefore I was excited to pick it up.
however I was disappointed that the book ended up being very shallow. for example it's advertised to be a romantic space opera and the romance was not there. based on the blurb I thought it would be a collection of letters between the space solider and the lover but that was not the case, because it didn't read like a letter and we get no perspektive from the lover.
It read more like a protocol about this fictional war, which also Made it hard to connect with the characters and besides that the space battles made no sense at all, meaning every battle ends for no reason at all and then the main character would reflect on it.
So while it was a nice read it lacked substance which is sad because it had a lot of potential, for example if the lovers were enemies who fall in love over the letters and we would learn about the two different sides in the space war through two perspectives.
this was the first sci fy book I read in a long wile so I hoped it would get me into this genre, and yayyy it did!
As someone with very little knowledge about space science stuff everything seemed "realistic" which is cool and I really liked the idea of a book about a war in space and I was very intrigued by the unknown adversary in the book because it had something scary about it, therefore I was excited to pick it up.
however I was disappointed that the book ended up being very shallow. for example it's advertised to be a romantic space opera and the romance was not there. based on the blurb I thought it would be a collection of letters between the space solider and the lover but that was not the case, because it didn't read like a letter and we get no perspektive from the lover.
It read more like a protocol about this fictional war, which also Made it hard to connect with the characters and besides that the space battles made no sense at all, meaning every battle ends for no reason at all and then the main character would reflect on it.
So while it was a nice read it lacked substance which is sad because it had a lot of potential, for example if the lovers were enemies who fall in love over the letters and we would learn about the two different sides in the space war through two perspectives.
October 13, 2024
ok giving this a 2.5 because it didn’t really do anything for me. what i wished for was barely addressed: i was expecting more love letter + dissection on a relationship between a space & earth born couple, less technical account on space combat. the physics/maths descriptions were also a little too much to handle 😵💫
December 22, 2024
3.5/5. I'm going to start this off by saying I am not necessarily the target audience: I find most space-based sci-fi intimidating unless it's written by an author whose writing style I already dig. I am neither scientifically- nor mathematically-minded. Did I understand much of this book? Not really. Did I enjoy reading it anyway? Yes. Did I buy it for the cover? Also yes.
This book is described as a space opera romance, but it's very light on the romance. I wanted a bit more, though the closing sentence was lovely. And it made me feel something. (Sadness. The feeling was sadness.)
All in all, it's a nice little book that furthered two of my reading goals (read more books in translation, give space-based/hard sci-fi more of a chance). I look forward to trying another Bae Myung-hoon book in the future!
This book is described as a space opera romance, but it's very light on the romance. I wanted a bit more, though the closing sentence was lovely. And it made me feel something. (Sadness. The feeling was sadness.)
All in all, it's a nice little book that furthered two of my reading goals (read more books in translation, give space-based/hard sci-fi more of a chance). I look forward to trying another Bae Myung-hoon book in the future!
February 6, 2025
The Proposal by Bae Myung-Hoon (Translated by Stella Kim)
The first thing that I have to clarify in this review is that I decided to buy this book in less than a minute of picking it up. It caught my eye in the bookstore because the cover is just so pretty and detailed, and I have to say that it is one of most gorgeous looking books I’ve owned in a while. Then I read the blurb, and read the phrase ‘a space opera romance’ and knew I had to buy this. Pretty cover, short read, AND science fiction? It checked all my boxes. As always, this review will contain spoilers for the book.
The Proposal is a romantic science-fiction novella that follows a series of letters that the soldier protagonist writes to his girlfriend back on Earth. It explores the nature of war and conflict and the effects of distance in relationships. It is a novella that perfectly balances the duality between this heartfelt proposal of love that he is trying to give to this woman, as well as detailing the rising conflict between this mysterious enemy that they are fighting. It is a blend of two very different themes that works together really well.
I absolutely loved this story from start to finish. It has echoes of This Is How You Lose the Time War, one of my personal favourite books ever. Also, like most things in the space opera genre, it reminded of Star Trek at times as well. More specifically, Star Trek Voyager. I think that the strongest parts of this novel was when the soldier was discussing his feelings deeply, especially in the very last letter at the end. Those were the moments when I was considering rating this five stars. I will say that this is a very strong four star read. If we were given the option of half stars on Goodreads, I’d put it at a 4.5 !
The only thing that made this novella fall short for me a little, making it four stars instead of five, is that it inevitably suffers from the one thing that keeps so many readers away from the science-fiction genre - technobabble. As a Star Trek fan, I am used to technobabble, but The Proposal was written in a way where I struggled to understand the concepts being described to me. Good technobabble will use all of the fancy language but will still manage to get across to an audience/reader what the concept is, so that we can understand the stakes of the story without taking us out of the futuristic high-tech setting. With this being a novella, I think too much of the time was given to unimportant technobabble. If this was a longer book, then I’d be able to understand the use of it better, but some concepts were too much of a struggle for me to wrap my head around - and I watch Star Trek!
Nevertheless, The Proposal was such a delightful read. It is immersive, poignant, exciting, and emotional. It has left me wanting more of the world and universe that has been creative, so you know the author has done a successful job! I’d definitely recommend this to people who are fans of This Is How You Lose the Time War as it has a similar kind of concept being a science-fiction novella with a letter format. I’d also recommend this to readers who just need something short and exciting.
The first thing that I have to clarify in this review is that I decided to buy this book in less than a minute of picking it up. It caught my eye in the bookstore because the cover is just so pretty and detailed, and I have to say that it is one of most gorgeous looking books I’ve owned in a while. Then I read the blurb, and read the phrase ‘a space opera romance’ and knew I had to buy this. Pretty cover, short read, AND science fiction? It checked all my boxes. As always, this review will contain spoilers for the book.
The Proposal is a romantic science-fiction novella that follows a series of letters that the soldier protagonist writes to his girlfriend back on Earth. It explores the nature of war and conflict and the effects of distance in relationships. It is a novella that perfectly balances the duality between this heartfelt proposal of love that he is trying to give to this woman, as well as detailing the rising conflict between this mysterious enemy that they are fighting. It is a blend of two very different themes that works together really well.
I absolutely loved this story from start to finish. It has echoes of This Is How You Lose the Time War, one of my personal favourite books ever. Also, like most things in the space opera genre, it reminded of Star Trek at times as well. More specifically, Star Trek Voyager. I think that the strongest parts of this novel was when the soldier was discussing his feelings deeply, especially in the very last letter at the end. Those were the moments when I was considering rating this five stars. I will say that this is a very strong four star read. If we were given the option of half stars on Goodreads, I’d put it at a 4.5 !
The only thing that made this novella fall short for me a little, making it four stars instead of five, is that it inevitably suffers from the one thing that keeps so many readers away from the science-fiction genre - technobabble. As a Star Trek fan, I am used to technobabble, but The Proposal was written in a way where I struggled to understand the concepts being described to me. Good technobabble will use all of the fancy language but will still manage to get across to an audience/reader what the concept is, so that we can understand the stakes of the story without taking us out of the futuristic high-tech setting. With this being a novella, I think too much of the time was given to unimportant technobabble. If this was a longer book, then I’d be able to understand the use of it better, but some concepts were too much of a struggle for me to wrap my head around - and I watch Star Trek!
Nevertheless, The Proposal was such a delightful read. It is immersive, poignant, exciting, and emotional. It has left me wanting more of the world and universe that has been creative, so you know the author has done a successful job! I’d definitely recommend this to people who are fans of This Is How You Lose the Time War as it has a similar kind of concept being a science-fiction novella with a letter format. I’d also recommend this to readers who just need something short and exciting.
March 1, 2025
📗Favourite Quote: “Now I have a home too. It’s where you are. Thanks. And goodbye.”
📘 Thoughts on the book: I think my experience with this book was influenced by having read I’m Waiting for You by Kim Bo-Young, which has a similar premise and narrative style. Unfortunately, The Proposal didn’t quite meet my expectations.
If you’re looking for romance, this book might disappoint you—the love story is barely there, overshadowed by space battles and an overload of technical terms (like Lucifer Particles), many of which I forgot as I read. The time travel and interdimensional aspects had potential, but they were only introduced near the end and in a way that felt more like an info dump than an immersive experience.
One thing the book does capture well is the traditional “straight male” perspective on romance—where career and war take center stage, and love is merely an afterthought. However, even the emotional payoff at the end felt bland. Overall, I finished the book feeling uninspired, as if I had read a series of war reports rather than a story meant to evoke emotion.
Would I recommend it? Maybe if you’re more into sci-fi war narratives than romance. But if you’re looking for something that moves you, this one might fall flat.
📙 Rating: 🌟🌟/5
#bookreview #bookstagramuk #koreanbooks
📘 Thoughts on the book: I think my experience with this book was influenced by having read I’m Waiting for You by Kim Bo-Young, which has a similar premise and narrative style. Unfortunately, The Proposal didn’t quite meet my expectations.
If you’re looking for romance, this book might disappoint you—the love story is barely there, overshadowed by space battles and an overload of technical terms (like Lucifer Particles), many of which I forgot as I read. The time travel and interdimensional aspects had potential, but they were only introduced near the end and in a way that felt more like an info dump than an immersive experience.
One thing the book does capture well is the traditional “straight male” perspective on romance—where career and war take center stage, and love is merely an afterthought. However, even the emotional payoff at the end felt bland. Overall, I finished the book feeling uninspired, as if I had read a series of war reports rather than a story meant to evoke emotion.
Would I recommend it? Maybe if you’re more into sci-fi war narratives than romance. But if you’re looking for something that moves you, this one might fall flat.
📙 Rating: 🌟🌟/5
#bookreview #bookstagramuk #koreanbooks
August 12, 2024
'The Proposal' by Bae Myung-Hoon (trans. Stella Kim)🪐🪐🪐/5
Reading this novella was an interesting experience, I found it well written - but in parts hard to follow.
That said the style was good, and made me want to keep on reading. The more confusing elements are perhaps a part of why I am not a huge sci-fi fan, I am not a big one for technical details (and I can't play chess).
The space plot and tone of the novel while unique in parts was similar to two other recent Korean translations I have read.
- a short story from Bora Chung'a Your Utopia,
- the other 'I'm waiting for you' by Kim Bo-young
The similarity in the epistolary short story/novella with a space bound plot is an inevitable comparison. The plot though differs massively in other aspects to the other stories.
The novella was a nice read, and had a readable and interesting plot line.
*thanks to Honford Star for an ARC of this novella
#TheProposal #BaeMyungHoon #honfordstar #koreanliteraturenow #koreanfiction #novella #2024releases #SpaceOpera
Reading this novella was an interesting experience, I found it well written - but in parts hard to follow.
That said the style was good, and made me want to keep on reading. The more confusing elements are perhaps a part of why I am not a huge sci-fi fan, I am not a big one for technical details (and I can't play chess).
The space plot and tone of the novel while unique in parts was similar to two other recent Korean translations I have read.
- a short story from Bora Chung'a Your Utopia,
- the other 'I'm waiting for you' by Kim Bo-young
The similarity in the epistolary short story/novella with a space bound plot is an inevitable comparison. The plot though differs massively in other aspects to the other stories.
The novella was a nice read, and had a readable and interesting plot line.
*thanks to Honford Star for an ARC of this novella
#TheProposal #BaeMyungHoon #honfordstar #koreanliteraturenow #koreanfiction #novella #2024releases #SpaceOpera
August 22, 2025
The cover is so pretty and that combined with the summary using the words space opera romance convinced me to pick it up. Do not be deceived though. The summary is gaslighting you into thinking there will be a romantic subplot and exchanges between the earth-born and space-born partners. Do not fall for the title of the book and summary!
I also do not think the narrative style described is true to what was actually written. It does need read as a series of letters to a loved one. He never even asks her how she is or makes it any comments/responses to things she has theoretically told him. If they are letters he sucks at communicating with a partner about anything beyond confidential work information. Maybe the style would be better described as a confessional testimony he leaves behind for her of why he is not coming back to earth at that point?
The plot and world building make little to no sense to me because we hardly get any details on anything beyond military maneuvers and work personnel thoughts. This book feels like an idea draft more than a fully executed story
I also do not think the narrative style described is true to what was actually written. It does need read as a series of letters to a loved one. He never even asks her how she is or makes it any comments/responses to things she has theoretically told him. If they are letters he sucks at communicating with a partner about anything beyond confidential work information. Maybe the style would be better described as a confessional testimony he leaves behind for her of why he is not coming back to earth at that point?
The plot and world building make little to no sense to me because we hardly get any details on anything beyond military maneuvers and work personnel thoughts. This book feels like an idea draft more than a fully executed story
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 17, 2025
I unfortunately did not enjoy this read. It's a short novella which leads to overwhelm of details simply taking up space wihtout moving the story forward. I appreciate the attention to how space and physics work, but it also makes this into more of a love-story between our main character (or the author?) and space itself, more than anything else. I also found the grammatical tense quite strange, as it's written like a collection of letters where our main character re-tells what has already happened and knows what will happen next, but then proceeds to continue to tell things in present tense again. Overall I also felt it's written with a poor vocabulary, and the only extensive parts are detailed information on made-up space vessels and the like. Two stars for space-travel and the attempt at keeping things as realistic as possible in relation to actual space physics.
July 4, 2025
This book is just so boring, I can't get myself to finishing it, it's definitely the most boring book I've read in my whole life. I've read about a convenience store worker before this as well, surely you'd expect someone working at a spaceship would have more entertaining accounts than one of a convenience store worker, but you'd be wrong in assuming so. I feel every single line delivered by the characters fell flat, unfunny, a bit trying too hard even, but also trying hard not to show. The romance isn't really the problem to me as it seems to be to most, it's more the delivery of the writing being flat, emotionless, dry, aimless and ultimately boring. It does not really achieving anything at all.
October 14, 2024
3.5/5 Stars!
In all honesty I came for the cover (can you blame me it’s gorgeous) but stayed for the plot. From a far this is purely science fiction, a space opera to be more specific. You have your fleets of space ships planning their next move to attack the rebels, there’s also a lot space politics which was very interesting to read because whether you’re standing on Earth on the other side of the universe I guess the word ‘war’ is universal.
But this is also a novel about love. About wanting to be with the one you love and can not because of circumstances so far beyond your control. About feeling frustrated and feeling homesick.
In all honesty I came for the cover (can you blame me it’s gorgeous) but stayed for the plot. From a far this is purely science fiction, a space opera to be more specific. You have your fleets of space ships planning their next move to attack the rebels, there’s also a lot space politics which was very interesting to read because whether you’re standing on Earth on the other side of the universe I guess the word ‘war’ is universal.
But this is also a novel about love. About wanting to be with the one you love and can not because of circumstances so far beyond your control. About feeling frustrated and feeling homesick.
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