Sublimation (First Edition)

Kim, Isabel J.

ISBN 10: 1250376793 / ISBN 13: 9781250376794

Published by Tor Books, New York, 2026

About this Item

TOR (St. Martin's Press), New York, 2026. First edition. First printing, with full number line to 1. Fine in a fine jacket. Black paper-covered boards; spine and front board lettered in red. Decorated endpapers. A tight, clean copy with publisher's original price ($28.99) intact on front jacket flap. 8vo. 360 pp. Comes with archival-quality mylar dust jacket protector. Kim's first novel, a speculative thriller about immigration, identity, and divided selves, in which crossing a border creates a duplicate "instance" left behind in the country of origin.

Seller Inventory # Ferry-Fiction-Kim

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Sublimation (First Edition)
• Publisher: Tor Books, New York
• Publication Date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1250376793
• ISBN 13: 9781250376794
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Printing: 1st Printing
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine

About this title

Synopsis

An instant USA Today Bestseller | A LibraryReads Bonus Pick | One of the most anticipated books of Summer, according to The New York Times, USA Today, NPR, Forbes, and many more | With starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and BookList

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.

“A mind bending thriller about personhood, homeland nostalgia, global migration, and all forms of alienation.” ―R. F. Kuang, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Yellowface

“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

About the Author

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.