I realize that I have gotten a bit behind in updating the blog, so I am going to do my best to catch up, and at least deliver something for you to read this week. Things have been busy this past week as we took a trip to New York where my wife had the privilege of singing at Carnegie Hall. I am super proud of her and all of the hard work that she put in to make this happen. Unfortunately, this meant that I didn’t have much time to work on writing or on the blog, but that is okay as I wouldn’t trade it for the world to be able to see her perform.

Long trips often mean that there are flights and down times in the airport, so I was able to get some reading done at least. This week I read the book, Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa. You can learn more about her and her various other works here.

Summary

This book takes place in a fantasy version of Japan full of demons and many other creatures. In the book, we follow Yumeko as she has been tasked with protecting a piece of the dragon scroll. If this scroll is to fall into the wrong hands, then very bad things would happen, and the Great Kami Dragon will be summoned. Unfortunately, there are some very powerful people who will stop at nothing to get their hands on the scroll.

After demons attack the temple she has grown up in, she must go on the run. She knows nothing of the outside world except what little she has been told, but she knows that she must make a journey. Outside her village, she runs into Kage Tatsumi, who has earned himself the reputation of being a demon slayer. He is a highly skilled and well trained samurai of the Shadow Clan, and he has been taught to kill without remorse and to stop at nothing to accomplish the task set before him. He has been sent to recover the scroll at any cost, but quickly finds himself helping Yumeko as she goes on her quest to ensure the safety of the scroll without his knowledge of her possession of the scroll.

As they travel, they run into many more groups and individuals who want nothing more than to obtain the scroll. They must work together if they want either to survive. Continuing on they run into more people who want to be in on the adventure, and so their party continues to grow despite the fact that Tatsumi isn’t supposed to form connections with others. This worries him some as he begins to feel things that he has forced himself not to feel through his training, and it seriously worries the other members of his clan who worry that he will go soft and not be able to perform at the level that is required of him.

The book ends and they haven’t made it all the way, but they have just gotten more in their party who agree to do whatever it takes to ensure the security of the scroll.

Review

Overall, I enjoyed this book. Like many other books, this book switches between perspectives. I liked the way that this was done though as it switches chapter for chapter between the two perspectives. This allows us to get a closer look at what is happening as we often get to see a different side of the same situation which helps to make the characters seem more real.

I often don’t like books where they have multiple perspectives, but this one was done well and with only switching between the characters, it was easy to know which perspective was which.

It did take me a while to learn some off the nuances of the Japanese culture and the way that they refer to things, but it didn’t take long for that to become comfortable. I just haven’t read much with Japanese culture, so I had to learn, but if this is something that you routinely read or that you know about, then this wouldn’t be a problem at all.

I found the story was engaging and I didn’t have any problems finishing it like I do with some books. It did get a bit dark at times especially as it was talking about demons and killing them, so this might not be appropriate for young kids, but slightly older shouldn’t have any problems.

In the end, I rated this book 5 stars as I did enjoy the book and I didn’t have any serious issues with it. If you are looking for a fun book to read that features Japanese culture and adventure, then this would be a book for you.