The Twelve Kingdoms, Volume 1: Sea of Shadow by Fuyumi Ono
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Book Reviews of The Twelve Kingdoms, Volume 1: Sea of Shadow
Book Review: a fantasy story that does true justice to the human condition, and written well to boot!
Summary: 4 Stars
I knew a bit about twelve kingdoms from a friend, who has seen the animated series. The setting is detailed and well thought out, and the challenges the characters face in the plot are primarily ethical ones. knowing a bit, and watching a few episodes I knew I wanted to read the book it was based on, but it was not available in English.
First, the writing style. While I do not know how much of this is credit to the author or the translator, the end product is amazing. I caught no typos, and no ambiguous grammar/syntax (which is rather astounding for a full length fictional novel). In that regard, it is technically impressive. But the witting style used caught me. the sentence structures tend to be basic, but each one is dense with importance for the story, leaving few wasted words. This causes the story to have a fast flow, which matches the sweep of the story, basically one long chase scene that concludes in a war. Reading a few sentences immediately draws the reader, and then doesn't let go. I was so impressed by the effect (which I have rarely experience in a per book ratio, and I don't recall the last time it occurred cover to cover) that I challenged several friends to start reading a few sentences in any random page, and see if they felt similarly, and most did. I am confident that, if nothing else, the translator/author/editor team of this book deserve great praise for that much at least.
Now, as a work of fantasy it is obvious that the author has kept their end of the bargain for the fantasy genre writing. In their head is a fully living world, that can be described in endless detail with congruency. The author seems to have keen sense of Chinese philosophy and metaphysics, and writes in a style similar, although less obtuse, to Chinese tales. If you enjoy Asian mysticism, and the importance placed on ethics and the proper order of things, you will enjoy the importance the author places on these things.
Regarding the plot, what impressed me was that nothing was simply a description for the sake of elaborating on the setting. Every sentence seems geared towards introducing a deepening series of ethical dilemmas. And the writing, which closely follows the thinking and limitations of the protagonist, is written so you can go on this ethical journey with her. The challenges are deep ones, and the quandary will likely be thought provoking for all but the wizened old readers or the truly narrow minded. No easy answers are allowed for the protagonist, and, like all of us, she ends up finally just making up ones for expediency. Unlike us, her adventure forces her to constantly challenge her deep beliefs, and so, her heart is always troubled, and it is the, sometimes truly psychotic and disturbing, places her inner life goes that we are pulled to journey.
This book is a great story about how shallow and yet profound the ideas of right and wrong are. It pulls no punches in that regard, and handles the ruthlessness of human nature well. In what I consider an ideal fashion, the author pulls two important tricks. One, she presents no 3rd person, or ultimate right answer. Two, she introduces person after person who, like all of us, have made the philosophical choices they had to in order to survive. So we see a world full of people no less or more noble then ourselves, and we follow the protagonist as she learns what the human heart (most important of all, her own) is made of.
On an end note. I learned that this book was categorized as young adult fiction. I suspect that has more to do with it being printed by Tokyo pop then anything else. The truth is, many parents will want to read this first, and consider if they should hand it to their children. There are sound arguments to be truly evil, and while the character's replies are presented, you may not like them and they are not conclusive. A person who is not ready to really understand evil behavior will have hard time with this book. On that same note, I wouldn't recommend this to anyone under 15 or so. I think their brains and hearts are not developed well enough to truly understand the story being told (although they may enjoy it.) Of course, if you are all about challenging your children to seek deep questions and tough concerns of adulthood, then by all means, this book is a treasure. Enjoyable, and uncompromising, you can ask for nothing more out of a piece of entertaining fiction. Also, concerning this book for children, it is violent and bloody. It demonstrated pretty much every reason why you would kill someone or something, and in so doing lots of things and people are killed, threatened, and abused. Children who do not understand the "ways of the world" may misunderstand or (hopefully) have a lot of questions. Be ready for that. Furthermore, there is a heightened amount of violence, but of a more ethically shallow and theatrical type, as the character is constantly beset by monsters for most of the story. Truly the most descriptive violence, but the least meaningful. If you have read, "heroes of the marsh", it is something like that, but more concise.
I do know a bit later in the story of 12 kingdoms then where this book ends (not much later though) and I believe that later books will not have the same focus on personal ethics. I suspect that the 2nd book will more strongly look at social structures and civil leadership, and follow a different protagonist, or maybe by the 3rd. Beyond that, I am not sure, and do not know the pacing of the original Japanese series of novels.
Book Review: AWESOME FANTASY/FOLKLORE! MUST-READ IF YOU LOVE THE ANIME!!
Summary: 4 Stars
This volume had some editing errors here and there, but otherwise well-written and not hard to read either.
For people who did not watch the anime (Japanese animation) of this series, this book is an introduction to a completely new world created by a Japanese author who studied Buddhism. The main character in this particular volume is a Japanese high school girl that is used to shutting up, fading into the background, and/or letting others walk all over her. She gets misunderstood a lot because of this, even by her own parents. The action starts when she meets this guy Keiki, who has her come with him (without adequate explanation) to what turns out to be a completely different world! The girl gets separated from her "abductor," who gives her some items for defense, and she ends up making a long, arduous journey to where he instructed her to go. I know, I'm not being so specific, but it's been a while since i read this book and I don't remember all the details that come in at this point. Anyhow, her journey, for me, dragged on like crazy, but I knew the basic story from the anime already and wanted to get on with it. However, you learn a lot more about the girl and what is going through her head as she journeys through an unknown land, trying to figure out who she can trust and who she can't, finding out what the customs of the land are and adhering to them, learning how to be a warrior, getting used to the sight/smell/feel of blood. At the end of her journey, things seem to speed-up plot-wise. My explanation does not do justice to the fantasy involved, nor the inner turmoil that the main character goes through. The descriptions in the book are much more in-depth.
For people who watched the anime like me, it was great to see that there were no annoying classmates in the main story of this novel, as opposed to the anime, which had two that accompanied her on her journey (sort of - watch the anime for details). Yoko is traveling on her own and you learn about her hardships, physically and mentally. The details, while unnecessary if you watched the anime, are just interesting to learn about, like about how Yoko met and got to know Rakushun and Shoryu. In a way that is also why it was a bit tedious to read through, in my opinion. I watched the anime and knew the general story, but Yoko's traveling in this volume seemed to go on forever! I just wanted to get to the part about En! Unfortunately, that is towards the end of the volume.
Book Review: Courtesy of Teens Read Too
Summary: 4 Stars
Yoko Nakajima is the perfect daughter. She's a good student, she always does what she's told, she never complains, she never calls attention to herself -- perfect. Except for her red hair that stands out everywhere in Japan, but no one can explain that one. Aside from that, she's perfect. So, when she starts falling asleep in class, it's surprising to everyone. If it weren't for those terrifying dreams, maybe she could get some sleep at night. And then when a strange man shows up at school, and windows start exploding, and Keiko (the strange man) commands her to accept his undying loyalty... Somehow landing in a foreign world after falling through the moon seems almost normal. Except that there is absolutely nothing normal about any of it!
Yoko is attacked by monsters, gets thrown in jail, learns to steal, fights with a sword she has never learned how to use, and the only person she knows, Keiko, is nowhere to be found. All Yoko knows now is that she's the only person she can trust. And her hopes of getting home grow smaller and smaller every day. But she can't stop searching -- for Keiko, for home, for herself.
This book started with a pop, and then dropped to a slow buildup. It was a little frustrating. Yoko, as well, bothered me in the beginning. Perhaps it was more of a traditional depiction of a young Japanese girl, and having been raised to be extremely independent, I got irritated. That all being said, the end of the book redeemed everything for me. I loved where it went! I want to read more. Also, there's a lot of interesting discussion of languages and symbols and Japanese characters. I'm sure I could have learned a lot from it, if my brain had some basis of prior knowledge.
Reviewed by: Carrie Spellman
Book Review: An amazing book indeed!
Summary: 4 Stars
A young Japanese schoolgirl who does her best to please everybody, but in the end pleases no one (even herself) is taken to a strange world only to fight off death, isolation, and find a reason to keep pushing on through all that is thrown at her.
Being on the cusp of the intended reader age group I did find the book quite simplistic in terms of plot, yet like the anime of this title, it has a tantalizing landscape and a riveting world. I find that beneath the characters and plot there is a world you can (and do) explore in your own imagination. You do sympathise with the characters and you do see a journey with substance and genuine intrigue. Yet this is just the first of 7 novels, and you do really feel that at the end.
A breakaway from traditional young boy becomes a man style writing that is rampant across anime, and in quite a few fantasy novels. A young girls innocence and naivety is tested and eroded, though exposure to being a foreigner in both a foreign world and her own. As the book progresses themes of survival, isolation, worldly politics and their own sub themes are explored.
I found the book all too short (even at 400 odd pages), but still rewarding. This promises to be a series that will be a big hit across many different age groups because, even though the language and the surface plot are quite general themes, there is something wholly captivating about the world you are taken to.
Book Review: At loong last...
Summary: 4 Stars
I never expected to see this series translated into English. From start to finish, this book waas a delight. This first volume covers disc one and two of the anime series. Fans familiar with the anime may feel a bit lost, however, it's very different.
Many of the characters we met in the first episodes do not appear at all in this book, or have only brief cameos. Others have their roles greatly reduced--or, rahter, their roles were greatly expanded in the anime. As such, characters say and do things differently than in the animated storyline. However, we're treated to a very close view of how Yoko struggles to adapt to this new world and her fading hope of ever returning home.
I don't believe this is too different from any other book-to-movie-or-TV adaptation. It was fun seeing the written characters, as they were quite significant in how Yoko began to understand this world. There are plenty o black and white illustrations as well.
The book itself is nice-sized, even for a hardcover. The translation is very smooth, with only a few errors, mostly in tense, or a word left out. There are only a handful of these, however. I've spent much more on books I enjoyed much less. I've heard the novels were art in their depth and vision, and agree wholeheartedly. I'll be looking for future volumes!