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A review by themoonwholistens
The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang
5.0
We need more child-mother-father protagonists in fantasy like this, I said what I said.
the only thing i have the energy to say right now is that you are SLEEPING if you have not read this STANDALONE FANTASY masterpiece. this reads like an anime with Demon Slayer and ATLA/Avatar: The Last Airbender vibes, in all the best ways.
This is a brutal, angsty, intense, imaginative, heart-warming, satisfying, and hard-hitting fantasy standalone that centers around a powerful water-ice power wielding family/community. These nuanced family dynamic tropes in fantasy will always have my heart.
It’s perfect for those who like a lot of heart and action in their fantasy. I found out that ML Wang works at a martial arts school and it really shows in the writing. The characters and maximized potential of their powers were so investing. The battles scenes are some of the most realized and vivid (and brutal) that I have ever read. I AM SO IN LOVE. The potential of water-based elemental powers wasn’t wasted since we already get so little of it. Or at least not in the feeling and detail that ML Wang does while incorporating sociocultural context and practical applications into it.
I say it's like Demon Slayer and ATLA because it takes tropes and themes from both then combines it in a way that satisfied me on another level i can’t explain without spoiling. The effects of transparency/communication on government-level and family-level environments were so well implicated that I lost count of the number of times I had to close the book because I had to take a deep breathe at the intensity before continuing. It was an insane time.
ML Wang doesn’t hold back when describing what needs to be described and brutally shows the tragedies of war, fair warning. It honestly felt weird at first to think that 14 year olds and 5 year olds are capable of the things they do in this book but I see how that’s the point of the story. That these children who are so young are also so burdened by that much power. The reversed prejudice on light skinned people was so interesting to read about and this might be the first book that tackled it so blatantly while still underlining that any kind of racial prejudice shouldn’t be perpetuated.
The early and successfully established family dynamics were built on so well. I didn’t expect to get the perspective of the mother (i like being surprised with books) but it really was a stroke of genius. It added another layer of depth that this book would have been lacking otherwise, both in character dynamics/relationships and world-building. Besides, we love seeing women saving women and themselves in this household.
The character developments and themes were so well-executed. The things that were meant to be slow burn were so SATISFYING to see unfold *ehem*. I was rooting HARD for that to tie up well.
For those of you who care: this has an arranged marriage trope as a side plot.
I would describe the pacing as chunky because it's not really slow nor fast but in the action parts, it's a lot of action. In the parts where it's world-building, it's all world-building. I didn't mind it but that may be why some people might find it tiresome to read, I guess.
Wang tends to use conversations to info-dump but i honestly didn’t mind. In my opinion, it wasn’t done in a way that was boring? I think there is a huge difference between info dumps that suit the plot and info dumps that are lazy writing. And I think this fits under the former. Just keep the glossary handy and you’ll be fine.
If there’s something to be nitpicky about, I didn’t really agree with the undertones of how the queer rep was executed but it was so short and towards the end that i didn’t even have time to dwell on it. Some lines towards the end did feel weird in the sense they suddenly felt more modern and didn’t fit the vibe but it felt miniscule to everything else I loved, as a character-oriented person. There are also some dialogues that felt weird and out of place (in the end mostly) but it didn’t bother me that much. My critiques seem so insignificant compared to what I loved. The character arcs are worth every little critique I can think of.
Everyone who not-so-subtly influenced me to read this was right.
I was destroyed.
I had to meditate on my own feelings for a hot minute.
↣ I have nothing else to say, I was shaking at how much I loved every second of this. I both want more and want to preserve this precious book in it’s standalone glory. This feels like it would be one of those books that only gets better with a reread. It’s truly like if Demon Slayer met ATLA, you cannot convince me otherwise. Give me more child-mother-father protagonists in fantasy. READ THIS. ↢
— 4.5 —
⇢ content warnings// Physical Abuse (implied) Violence, Graphic Deaths, Graphic Violence, Mass Death, Suicide Bombing, Suicide, Mentioned Murder of Baby, Mentioned Attempt at Murder of Baby, Rape, (Post Partum) Depression
the only thing i have the energy to say right now is that you are SLEEPING if you have not read this STANDALONE FANTASY masterpiece. this reads like an anime with Demon Slayer and ATLA/Avatar: The Last Airbender vibes, in all the best ways.
"We keep to the old warrior tradition the rest of the world has forgotten and we're proud of it.”
This is a brutal, angsty, intense, imaginative, heart-warming, satisfying, and hard-hitting fantasy standalone that centers around a powerful water-ice power wielding family/community. These nuanced family dynamic tropes in fantasy will always have my heart.
It’s perfect for those who like a lot of heart and action in their fantasy. I found out that ML Wang works at a martial arts school and it really shows in the writing. The characters and maximized potential of their powers were so investing. The battles scenes are some of the most realized and vivid (and brutal) that I have ever read. I AM SO IN LOVE. The potential of water-based elemental powers wasn’t wasted since we already get so little of it. Or at least not in the feeling and detail that ML Wang does while incorporating sociocultural context and practical applications into it.
“A life of dangerous adventures might seem worth it now, when you are young and seemingly invincible, but one day, you will have children, and you will not want that life for them."
I say it's like Demon Slayer and ATLA because it takes tropes and themes from both then combines it in a way that satisfied me on another level i can’t explain without spoiling. The effects of transparency/communication on government-level and family-level environments were so well implicated that I lost count of the number of times I had to close the book because I had to take a deep breathe at the intensity before continuing. It was an insane time.
ML Wang doesn’t hold back when describing what needs to be described and brutally shows the tragedies of war, fair warning. It honestly felt weird at first to think that 14 year olds and 5 year olds are capable of the things they do in this book but I see how that’s the point of the story. That these children who are so young are also so burdened by that much power. The reversed prejudice on light skinned people was so interesting to read about and this might be the first book that tackled it so blatantly while still underlining that any kind of racial prejudice shouldn’t be perpetuated.
"You might look like a decorative flower,
but you're more sword than anything else.”
The early and successfully established family dynamics were built on so well. I didn’t expect to get the perspective of the mother (i like being surprised with books) but it really was a stroke of genius. It added another layer of depth that this book would have been lacking otherwise, both in character dynamics/relationships and world-building. Besides, we love seeing women saving women and themselves in this household.
The character developments and themes were so well-executed. The things that were meant to be slow burn were so SATISFYING to see unfold *ehem*. I was rooting HARD for that to tie up well.
For those of you who care: this has an arranged marriage trope as a side plot.
"There was no way you could have understood. You can't until it's you."
I would describe the pacing as chunky because it's not really slow nor fast but in the action parts, it's a lot of action. In the parts where it's world-building, it's all world-building. I didn't mind it but that may be why some people might find it tiresome to read, I guess.
Wang tends to use conversations to info-dump but i honestly didn’t mind. In my opinion, it wasn’t done in a way that was boring? I think there is a huge difference between info dumps that suit the plot and info dumps that are lazy writing. And I think this fits under the former. Just keep the glossary handy and you’ll be fine.
If there’s something to be nitpicky about, I didn’t really agree with the undertones of how the queer rep was executed but it was so short and towards the end that i didn’t even have time to dwell on it. Some lines towards the end did feel weird in the sense they suddenly felt more modern and didn’t fit the vibe but it felt miniscule to everything else I loved, as a character-oriented person. There are also some dialogues that felt weird and out of place (in the end mostly) but it didn’t bother me that much. My critiques seem so insignificant compared to what I loved. The character arcs are worth every little critique I can think of.
“Wholeness, she had learned, was not the absence of pain but the ability to hold it.”
Everyone who not-so-subtly influenced me to read this was right.
I was destroyed.
I had to meditate on my own feelings for a hot minute.
↣ I have nothing else to say, I was shaking at how much I loved every second of this. I both want more and want to preserve this precious book in it’s standalone glory. This feels like it would be one of those books that only gets better with a reread. It’s truly like if Demon Slayer met ATLA, you cannot convince me otherwise. Give me more child-mother-father protagonists in fantasy. READ THIS. ↢
“The moon and the ocean fear no change.”
— 4.5 —
⇢ content warnings// Physical Abuse (implied) Violence, Graphic Deaths, Graphic Violence, Mass Death, Suicide Bombing, Suicide, Mentioned Murder of Baby, Mentioned Attempt at Murder of Baby, Rape, (Post Partum) Depression