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A review by aadrita
The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang
5.0
The story takes place in the small village named Takayubu, situated in the mountainous range. The most skilled warrior houses tasked to protect the empire of Kaigen from outsiders reside there. Born into the most prestigious Matsuda house, 14 year old Mamoru is trying his best to become the warrior everyone expects him to be. When a new city boy comes into his life preaching about government's propaganda, Mamoru's whole life shatters around him. He starts to question everything he has ever known and believed. Mamoru's mother Misaki is struggling hard to repress the violent life of a warrior she has left behind and trying to fit into her role of a housewife/mother. Suddenly the wind of war reaches Takayubi followed by a horrible fate.
This book is like no other fantasy I've read before and trust me I've been reading a lot of fantasies lately. It explores so many ideas in such a short span of hardly 600 pages. Where most modern fantasies are set in European and Medieval environment, the Asian setting of this book was a refreshing experience. A traditional patriarchal society with it's own rich culture and history is portrayed here.
The structure of this story is also quite unique. Where most of the fantasies focus on building up to a war throughout the book and end with that, M.L. Wang took a different approach here. The first half of the book shows us a war. The second one focuses on the aftereffect of war and takes us on more of an emotional journey. The survival story of a village after the war is as much intriguing as the nail biting action sequences of the war. The book got me hooked at the very first chapter and kept me on edge till the ending.
The magic system is the same old element bending with it's own unique twists. People of different cultures can control different elements like water, air, fire and light. Whereas the story takes place in an underdeveloped village, there is also touch of technology in the planet. Electricity, buses, television, computers and other info-com devices are incorporated beautifully with the traditional village environment.
The most enjoyable part of this book is the characters. The amount of character developments written in a single book is praiseworthy. Misaki has become one of my favourite characters when it comes to strong women. Apart from the main characters, the side characters are also written beautifully. Every character has it's own complex story and emotions and motivations behind their actions.
I hope any fantasy lover reading this review will give this book a read!
This book is like no other fantasy I've read before and trust me I've been reading a lot of fantasies lately. It explores so many ideas in such a short span of hardly 600 pages. Where most modern fantasies are set in European and Medieval environment, the Asian setting of this book was a refreshing experience. A traditional patriarchal society with it's own rich culture and history is portrayed here.
The structure of this story is also quite unique. Where most of the fantasies focus on building up to a war throughout the book and end with that, M.L. Wang took a different approach here. The first half of the book shows us a war. The second one focuses on the aftereffect of war and takes us on more of an emotional journey. The survival story of a village after the war is as much intriguing as the nail biting action sequences of the war. The book got me hooked at the very first chapter and kept me on edge till the ending.
The magic system is the same old element bending with it's own unique twists. People of different cultures can control different elements like water, air, fire and light. Whereas the story takes place in an underdeveloped village, there is also touch of technology in the planet. Electricity, buses, television, computers and other info-com devices are incorporated beautifully with the traditional village environment.
The most enjoyable part of this book is the characters. The amount of character developments written in a single book is praiseworthy. Misaki has become one of my favourite characters when it comes to strong women. Apart from the main characters, the side characters are also written beautifully. Every character has it's own complex story and emotions and motivations behind their actions.
I hope any fantasy lover reading this review will give this book a read!