Project V
A Novel
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- Pre-Order
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- Expected Apr 28, 2026
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
STEMinist mecha fantasy meets reality television in this high-stakes novel from the author of A Magical Girl Retires—a wildly imaginative tale of sibling bonds, unexpected friendship, and an existential quest to understand what it means to be human.
Robotics student Kim Wooram, runner-up at the World Gigantic Mechanics Olympiad, is a world-class pilot and engineer. Unlike many of her contemporaries, she likes working solo, preferring the company of robots to most other humans. Sought by robotics centers across the globe, she chooses to return to Korea after learning of an exciting new secret government robotic project known as V. To her disappointment, only male pilots are allowed to apply.
Desperate for a chance to make history and encouraged by her twin brother, Boram, the usual rule-following Wooram makes a risky choice. Posing as Boram, she auditions for Project V, the reality competition show whose winner will pilot the robot V—and quickly becomes one of the top contestants in both skill and popularity. Wooram attracts fans and friends like Seojin, the show’s youngest female writer and ardent “Boram” stan, and Jeonghoon, the clumsy but lovable underdog. She also gains a rival in Jinyoung, the ruthless heir to a Korean corporate dynasty.
As Wooram comes tantalizingly close to achieving her goal, she begins to realize that V’s arrogant AI is a ticking time bomb. With victory within reach, and her identity at stake, will Wooram destroy the robot of her dreams to save lives, or stick to the script?
Project V is a playful yet sharp meditation on some of the most pressing issues roiling modern society in Korea and across the globe: the male dominance in STEM fields, the ethics of parasocial idolatry and our addiction to social media and reality television, and the promise and peril of an AI-oriented future. Punchy and compelling, Park Seolyeon’s novel is a winning exploration of ambition and creation—a quintessential novel of our present and future for mecha fans and all curious readers.
Translated from the Korean by Gene Png
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A woman assumes her brother's identity to compete in a violent reality show in this straightforward near-future adventure from Park (Capitalists Must Starve). Kim Wooram, a gifted engineer-pilot, is locked out of the competition to pilot South Korea's largest mech, or giant robot suit, because of her gender. After she disguises herself as her twin brother, Kim Boram, and enters the competition, her experience and skill means her victory is all but assured. Instead, the drama comes from concealing her secret while her every move is being recorded and discovering what's really going on with the national mech, the eponymous Project V. The competition proves just as much about popular favor as mechanical know-how, feeding into Park's light satire of the entertainment industry and the reality show format as Wooram's single-minded focus and refusal to cater to fans set her apart from her competitors. While her hyper-competency and clever solutions can be entertaining, Wooram rarely struggles and undergoes little development. This, combined with the sometimes stilted translation, makes it difficult to fully invest in Wooram's progress. Still, lovers of mech sci-fi looking for a breezy feminist power fantasy will find something to enjoy.
