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A review by pekoegal
Fudoki by Kij Johnson
4.0
I enjoyed this book more than The Fox Woman. It had better characters and a better story.
Both Kagaya-hime and Harume are interesting and likable, but you never get overly familiar with them since they are both people who tend to stand apart from others either due to social status or the fact that cats are just very aloof. Although the story had an overall melancholy tone, it had a hopeful ending.
My only complaint is the way that the author uses Japanese words. She will write the phrase "kaze-cold" instead of using either "kaze" or "cold". It's like how fan translators would say "All according to keikaku (translator's note: keikaku means plan)". In the place where she uses them, it doesn't make sense, since there's a perfectly acceptable translation that means the same thing. It was like she was using them to further emphasize the foreignness of the story, but it came across as someone who knows a little bit of Japanese trying to show off to people who don't. It was annoying, but it didn't detract from the story too much for me.
Both Kagaya-hime and Harume are interesting and likable, but you never get overly familiar with them since they are both people who tend to stand apart from others either due to social status or the fact that cats are just very aloof. Although the story had an overall melancholy tone, it had a hopeful ending.
My only complaint is the way that the author uses Japanese words. She will write the phrase "kaze-cold" instead of using either "kaze" or "cold". It's like how fan translators would say "All according to keikaku (translator's note: keikaku means plan)". In the place where she uses them, it doesn't make sense, since there's a perfectly acceptable translation that means the same thing. It was like she was using them to further emphasize the foreignness of the story, but it came across as someone who knows a little bit of Japanese trying to show off to people who don't. It was annoying, but it didn't detract from the story too much for me.