Hi Yujin,
Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa has been on my radar for the last couple of months. I am loving stories about Japanese mythology and the Samurai, so I was happy to read this book.
Every Millennium the Dragon and the Sea Kami will grant one wish.
The person will have to speak the pray from the scroll of a Thousand prayers. To stop the pray being said again the scroll was split and taken to different location to be protected. The first piece of the scroll is kept in Temple hidden away. When a hoard of Demon attack the temple it up to an unknown peasant girl Yumeko. To keep the scroll safe and take it to a hidden temple to keep it safe.
Yumeko has a secret she is not 100% human, Yumeko is part kitsune. Kitsune is a magical fox creature that loves chaos on mischief. At the temple the masters have taught her use her abilities but also to hide it. The ability to hide her ability comes in handy when escaping the attack on the temple she end up in the path of mysterious samurai, Kage Tatsumi of the Shadow Clan. Yumeko knows Kage seeks the Scroll that she has and is under orders to kill anything and anyone who stands between him and the scroll.
Shadow of the Fox is mammoth Japanese fantasy adventure.
The story is a road trip with a mixture of action and drama wrapped in magical mystical Japanese world. Every place they visit is as vivid as the last.
Julie Kagawa has created a great band of characters all very different but work amazing together.
The book is told in three character POV which are;
Suki peasant girl who is a servant for the Emperor favourite concubine. The concubine just happens to be an evil witch. We only have a couple of chapters from her POV. I hoping to see more of her in the next book.
Yumeko is half human half Kitsune brought up in a Temple. loved how kind she is, how her mischief can be used for good. She is a great fictional heroine.
Kage is a Samurai that is bearer of a Demon sword. He is a weapon for the shadow clan, he could be a character that you don’t like, but Yumeko brings out another side of him which make him a compelling character to read.
Additionally one my favourite character was Okame he is a Ronin, a Samurai with no honour. He brings some laughs to the book and great one liners, and a master of sarcasm.
“Okame snorted. “Looks like you’ve been challenged, Kage-san. Better you than me, though I like I said, I don’t have to worry about honour and fair fights. I suppose you’ll be accepting the duel, then. Wouldn’t want to risk dishonour to… I guess everything, really. Yourself, your clan, your Children, your livestock, the road your traveling, the sandals on your feet, the rice ball in you pack”
The only problem I has knowing if the POV was Yumeko or Kage, it will be a oh moment when I realised who POV it was.
The next book in the series is Soul of the Sword and its on my 2019 TBR list.
My rating for Shadow of the Fox is 4 out of 5
Thank you to Netgalley and HQ Young Adult for the digital ARC of Shadow of the Fox for a fair and honest review.
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Thanks for reading
Gem x
