Monday, June 10, 2019

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Soul of the Sword by Julie Kagawa



Full Disclosure:  This book was read as an e-ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on June 18 2019 in exchange for a potential review.  I give my word that this did not affect my review in any way - if I felt conflicted in any way, I would simply have declined to review the book.

 Soul of the Sword is the sequel to Julie Kagawa's "Shadow of the Fox" (Reviewed here) and the second book in this Japanese-myth-inspired fantasy trilogy.  I liked but didn't love Shadow of the Fox - the story took a lot of predictable beats and never broke out into truly interesting directions, but had some excellent characters and the adventures right out of Japanese myth were always fun.  Still, the first book left off at a point that promised an interesting change of directions, so I requested this book off Netgalley when I saw it show up.

And Soul of the Sword both delivers on that promise and at the same time....doesn't.  Whereas Shadow of the Fox presented a series of different adventures in this Japanese mythology focused world, this book is more focused upon its end goal and feels a lot smaller as a result.  On the other hand, the characters remain excellent, and the plot works well to come to an ultimate conclusion that again is satisfying and unlike in the first book, is a little more surprising.

Warning: Spoilers for Shadow of the Fox are inevitable after the Jump.


-------------------------------------------Plot Summary----------------------------------------------
Hakaimono, the incredibly powerful demon who once almost tore the country of Iwagoto asunder, is unleashed.  Playing on the feelings its wielder, Kage Tatsumi, had for Yumeko, it has managed to possess Tatsumi and has now left Yumeko and her friends stuck in Sky Clan lands as they try to take a breath after their last encounter with a deadly blood mage.  Yumeko feels incredible guilt over her role in Tatsumi's possession, but knows that she still has to deliver her piece of the Dragon Scroll to the Steel Feather Temple before she can do anything about it.  Only then can Yumeko confront Hakaimono and try to find a way to drive him back into the sword he came from and to save Tatsumi.

But Yumeko and her friends may not get that chance, as the Shadow clan is very interested in what happened to Tatsumi....and why she and her friends are still alive.  And some of the Shadow Clan are not interested in saving Tatsumi as opposed to killing him, as well as anyone who might get in their way.  And then there's Hakaimono himself, who's far more patient after 400 years of imprisonment, and is willing to forge a temporary alliance with an evil force just as dangerous as himself, one with interests of its own in the Dragon Scroll.

It will take everything Yumeko can think of, both in her wits and her fox magic, in order to complete her quest, protect the Dragon Scroll, and to possibly save Tatsumi from his fate.  But does she - an untrained half-kitsune - have what it takes to really fulfill her goals and save her friends?  And at what cost?
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Like its predecessor, Soul of the Sword splits its story by chapters which take place from 2 to 3 points of view: Yumeko (our primary heroine), Tatsumi/Hakaimono, and Suki - the ghost spirit from the first book who is our view into events being manipulated far away from our heroes.  Yumeko is obviously our lead character, and as such gets the majority of the page-time, especially with Tatsumi no longer alongside her to given an alternate perspective.

And this works out generally pretty well because the characters are still excellent.  Yumeko is a fun heroine, the girl unsure of her own powers and afraid she can't quite pull off what she needs, but determined to do it anyway.  She's loyal to her friends and her family, and her earnest good nature makes her really easy to root for.  And the book shows even more of the impressive.....and dangerous things she can do with her own powers, which really contrasts with her personality to a nice effect.  Her only annoying attribute is the book continues to have her not just be naive, which well is fine and understandable, but to as a recurring joke just not get sarcasm, which doesn't work at all (she's half-kitsune and has a trickster nature, are you really telling me she doesn't get sarcasm?).

Hakaimono, now taking Tatsumi's place in most of his chapters, is an excellent antagonist to follow as well - unlike many other examples of the "Sealed Evil in a Can" trope (to steal the name from TVTropes), he's learned quite a bit from his imprisonment and is a lot more patient and deliberate with his moves.  It makes him all the more formidable and scary and unpredictable, making him a more compelling figure to act as one of this series' main antagonists.

Besides those two, the minor characters continue to get some development, and they tend to complement the major characters very well.  Ronin Okame and the noble swordsman Taiyo Daisuke in particular work really well, and have their own developments that work pretty well, even if they're more to the side of the main plot.  And the nature of the characters in the Shadow clan continues to be revealed in interesting ways, although some of those developments are clearly being used as setup for the trilogy's finale.

As for the book's main plot....it has its ups and downs.  On one hand, the story is a bit more unpredictable than its predecessor, with how things twist and turn occurring in ways I was not guessing more than once.  On the other hand, it's a bit slower of a book, owing to the change in plot structure.  Shadow of the Fox basically involved the characters having a series of adventures with various elements of Japanese mythology, as they moved closer and closer to the next step of the main quest.  This book instead always has two objectives in mind and doesn't really waver from them - saving Tatsumi and getting the scroll to the Steel Feather Temple - and so we lack those side adventures which were such fun before.  And the book takes around 60% of the way through to really get out of setup mode into the questing mode, with certain developments coming by way of mysterious messengers to ensure the protagonist are always aware at the right time of what they have to do....which is a little deus-ex-machina-y.  Add in the fact that the cryptic powerful character still staying in the background throughout, and well, there's a lot of slow burn here that might annoy a reader looking for a more enjoyable and satisfying experience.

Still, it all works out rather well, with the ending both being satisfying and presenting a pretty big cliffhanger for the trilogy's finale.  It's enough to ensure that I will be here for that finale, and I hope that all of the setup here really comes together there - the characters really deserve it.
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