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A review by xeni
Dragon Sword and Wind Child by Noriko Ogiwara
1.0
Honestly I really disliked this book. Because of two main reasons: 1. The way young women (but mostly those deemed 'lesser') are treated and 2. the inconsistency in the writing.
Supposedly Saya is the heroine of this story. You'd never know it, though, as to how the plot drags her from place to place, how men demand her attention, time, affection, undying gratitude for existing, etc. and how terribly she has been raised. Perhaps this is all very realistic for Japan, or China, or other East Asian cultures, but to me it mostly smacks of outdated misogynistic beliefs that make me uncomfortable and ruin any positives I could have found in the narrative. Saya is a notoriously passive protagonist, who finds it hard to do anything on her own (even hold a sword).
The few moments she is more daring and capable were my favorite, but they were so few and often ruined by a man shortly thereafter. She opens her mouth to rebuke one of her Lords for blaming Chihaya for something he was born with; out of his control. He turns it around and blames her for putting anyone before her own people. And she, "at a loss for words, was sorry that she had opened her mouth." Is this your princess or not? Is she a young girl to be raised or not? Is she the woman you're courting to marry you or not? All this back and forth all the time with the women endlessly losing.
There is so much illogical stuff happening, that it is totally distracting me from the story. The small inconsistencies pile up (e.g. when Saya leaves her village far in the rural areas, she mentions a few days journey on horseback, during which she 1. became a proficient horsewoman, and 2. they crossed countless numbers of rivers and mountains. In a few days. Either magic helped them which was never mentioned in the entire story, or she's a liar). But there are larger issues as well: Torihiko says, "don't go to the capital, Mahoroba! You'll die." and Saya goes anyway. Once there, however, she is clearly needed in the plot to claim back the Dragon Sword, as she is the only one who can touch it. So what is, Torihiko? Manipulation and reverse psychology on a poor innocent naive young child?
And what is up with this ancient prince (at least a few centuries old) being so in love with a child that he especially brings her to his palace. No parental guidance. Basically no guidance at all. What a backwards, misogynistic, hypocritical, hierarchical culture. Also, loving someone just because they are the most beautiful creature on earth is not love. If anything it's lust or desire to possess. You don't immediately love someone just because they're pretty and nice to you. This book is definitely not teaching young readers the right thing.
Time and space make no sense in this book at all. They travel for a day and a bit and all of a sudden are far off in the other country, the place the war is being held. Also the place the magic fairy god prince managed to travel from in an hour or so. It makes no sense, and yet the travel parts of this story are the only parts I like.
The tone of the story is heavily influenced by the translation. There are moments it feels like an old mythological fairy tale, and then a character opens their mouth and says something incredibly modern and incongruous. Often we are told how a character feels or emotes after the fact, and thus their actions are left disembodied from their feelings.
There is also a lot of irony in this struggle between Light and Dark. The Light are immortal, and need nothing from earth, and yet spread death and destruction everywhere they go with the one hand, while claiming death is only for the Dark in the other. The Light kill people to purify their city, their bodies, their existence. They imprison, kill without discretion and basically have no compassion at all for any living creature, yet they are the good ones. The side of Dark has rebirth, healing, reverence for life on its side, yet it is the evil one. This irony is never acknowledged by any of the characters in the book, however, on neither side of this struggle. Almost as though the author never realized it themselves.
This is the kind of book where I would have preferred to read a prophecy early on (as cliche as it is), so when different 'fated elements' are brought into play it feels less deus ex machina.
I can imagine in the original Japanese the author builds up a beautiful feeling of this struggle between light and dark with magical creature-gods and ethereal beings. I only caught a glimpse of that in this translation and it wasn't enough to support the other issues I had in the read.
As to the end:
Supposedly Saya is the heroine of this story. You'd never know it, though, as to how the plot drags her from place to place, how men demand her attention, time, affection, undying gratitude for existing, etc. and how terribly she has been raised. Perhaps this is all very realistic for Japan, or China, or other East Asian cultures, but to me it mostly smacks of outdated misogynistic beliefs that make me uncomfortable and ruin any positives I could have found in the narrative. Saya is a notoriously passive protagonist, who finds it hard to do anything on her own (even hold a sword).
The few moments she is more daring and capable were my favorite, but they were so few and often ruined by a man shortly thereafter. She opens her mouth to rebuke one of her Lords for blaming Chihaya for something he was born with; out of his control. He turns it around and blames her for putting anyone before her own people. And she, "at a loss for words, was sorry that she had opened her mouth." Is this your princess or not? Is she a young girl to be raised or not? Is she the woman you're courting to marry you or not? All this back and forth all the time with the women endlessly losing.
There is so much illogical stuff happening, that it is totally distracting me from the story. The small inconsistencies pile up (e.g. when Saya leaves her village far in the rural areas, she mentions a few days journey on horseback, during which she 1. became a proficient horsewoman, and 2. they crossed countless numbers of rivers and mountains. In a few days. Either magic helped them which was never mentioned in the entire story, or she's a liar). But there are larger issues as well: Torihiko says, "don't go to the capital, Mahoroba! You'll die." and Saya goes anyway. Once there, however, she is clearly needed in the plot to claim back the Dragon Sword, as she is the only one who can touch it. So what is, Torihiko? Manipulation and reverse psychology on a poor innocent naive young child?
And what is up with this ancient prince (at least a few centuries old) being so in love with a child that he especially brings her to his palace. No parental guidance. Basically no guidance at all. What a backwards, misogynistic, hypocritical, hierarchical culture. Also, loving someone just because they are the most beautiful creature on earth is not love. If anything it's lust or desire to possess. You don't immediately love someone just because they're pretty and nice to you. This book is definitely not teaching young readers the right thing.
Time and space make no sense in this book at all. They travel for a day and a bit and all of a sudden are far off in the other country, the place the war is being held. Also the place the magic fairy god prince managed to travel from in an hour or so. It makes no sense, and yet the travel parts of this story are the only parts I like.
The tone of the story is heavily influenced by the translation. There are moments it feels like an old mythological fairy tale, and then a character opens their mouth and says something incredibly modern and incongruous. Often we are told how a character feels or emotes after the fact, and thus their actions are left disembodied from their feelings.
There is also a lot of irony in this struggle between Light and Dark. The Light are immortal, and need nothing from earth, and yet spread death and destruction everywhere they go with the one hand, while claiming death is only for the Dark in the other. The Light kill people to purify their city, their bodies, their existence. They imprison, kill without discretion and basically have no compassion at all for any living creature, yet they are the good ones. The side of Dark has rebirth, healing, reverence for life on its side, yet it is the evil one. This irony is never acknowledged by any of the characters in the book, however, on neither side of this struggle. Almost as though the author never realized it themselves.
This is the kind of book where I would have preferred to read a prophecy early on (as cliche as it is), so when different 'fated elements' are brought into play it feels less deus ex machina.
I can imagine in the original Japanese the author builds up a beautiful feeling of this struggle between light and dark with magical creature-gods and ethereal beings. I only caught a glimpse of that in this translation and it wasn't enough to support the other issues I had in the read.
As to the end: