Sublimation, Isabel J. Kim
Sublimation, Isabel J. Kim
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Sublimation

Author: Isabel J. Kim

Narrator: Major Curda, Michelle H. Lee

Unabridged: 12 hr 47 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/02/2026

Synopsis

A most-anticipated title from USA Today, Glamour, LitHub, New Scientist, The Nerd Daily, Library Journal, and more!

Doppelgängers, corporate intrigue, heartbreak, betrayal, and the harsh permanence of the border: Sublimation is a thrilling and provocative debut for fans of Severance that asks what you'd sacrifice for a different life from award-winning author Isabel J. Kim.

“One of the best debuts of the year.” —John Scalzi, New York Times bestselling author of Starter Villain

The border cuts you in two.

When you immigrate, you leave a copy of yourself behind, an instance. One person enters their new country; the other stays trapped at home.

Some instances keep in touch, call each other daily, keep their lives and minds in sync in the hopes of reintegrating and resuming a life as one person. Others, like Soyoung Rose Kang, leave home at ten years old and never speak to their other selves again. Rose, in America, never imagined going back to Korea until her grandfather died and her Korean instance called her home for the funeral.

She doesn’t know that Soyoung plans to steal her body and her life.

How far would you go to live the choice you didn’t make?

“After Sublimation, the immigrant story will never be the same.” —Junot Díaz, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books

About Isabel J. Kim

Isabel J. Kim lives near New York City in an apartment filled with books and swords. She is the author of numerous short stories and has won the Nebula, Locus, and the Shirley Jackson Award. Her work has been translated into multiple languages and reprinted in multiple best of the year anthologies. When she’s not writing, she’s practicing law or podcasting. Sublimation is her first novel.

About Major Curda

Major Curda is a multi-disciplinary mixed Asian-American actor/storyteller who’s collaborated on various projects for Theatre, Film, Television, and Voiceover. Regardless of medium, Major strives to find the humanity in every character and honor the stakes of each world, when narrating they especially enjoy playing with accents/dialects and bringing magical worlds to life. Major has had the privilege of voicing half a dozen audiobooks with Macmillan and they look forward to many more. Major was recently selected to be an inaugural member of the Trailblazer Cohort as part of the Anna Arts Deadline Awards. Emerging Artist/Mentee of The Actors Center. Alumnus of Carnegie Mellon, SITI Skidmore, and Cherubs. @Majorly.MC.

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Quotes

A most-anticipated title from USA Today, Glamour, LitHub, New Scientist, The Nerd Daily, Library Journal, and more!

“In this dazzling parable of connection and isolation, Isabel J. Kim’s vividly crafted characters navigate identity, belonging, and the weight of a divided history.” —Scott Westerfeld, author of Uglies and The Mortons

“One of the best debuts of the year. Sublimation speaks to our moment, in ways we could not have expected.” —John Scalzi, New York Times bestselling author of Starter Villain

“Beyond candescent… after Sublimation, the immigrant story will never be the same. Kim is a nerve-wracker and a heart-render, a Seoul-lighter and a world-raveler; she also happens to be one of the finest writers working today.” —Junot Díaz, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

“Sublimation is one of the most powerful debut novels I've ever had the pleasure to read. It began blowing my mind from the first page.” —Mary Robinette Kowal, USA Today bestselling author of The Spare Man

“You can become the person who read this book, or the person who didn't. Don't be the one left behind.” —Seth Dickinson, author of The Traitor Baru Cormorant

“Sublimation speaks to one of our world’s greatest and most ubiquitous crises—the border—with the terrible precision of open-heart surgery.” —Vajra Chandrasekera, Nebula and Ursula K. Le Guin-Award winning author

“Gorgeously rendered and deeply unsettling... a sharp, deeply felt first outing from a writer already at the top of her game.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

“A layered narrative and exciting plot... Kim offers a unique sci-fi take on diaspora and identity. Hand to fans of Kazuo Ishiguro and China Miéville.” —Library Journal

“Sublimation delivers doubly on its knockout premise, combining a compulsive page-turner with a keen meditation on fractured selves and the opacity of desire. Tremendous.” —Scott Alexander Howard, author of The Other Valley

“The best book of the year. In a world desperately in need of new narratives around immigration and identity, Sublimation is the big bold brilliant book we have been waiting for.” —Sam J. Miller, USA Today bestselling author of Blackfish City

“An unsettling and suspenseful narrative about the borders that cross us and the selves we subsequently leave behind.” —Anton Hur, author of Toward Eternity

“Sublimation expertly weaves myth, fairy tales, and science fiction within an electrifying contemporary thriller to explore identity, memory, and the whims of borders.” —Jade Song, Author of Chlorine

“I have never felt more seen by a book in my life.” —Ai Jiang, Nebula and Ignyte Award-winning author of Linghun

“Sublimation is a heartrending and mind-bending novel about our slippery sense identity and desire—Essential reading for understanding today’s reality.” —Stephanie Feldman, author of Saturnalia

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