The Sword of Kaigen
Ratings250
Average rating4.4
Definitely a favourite. Bold storytelling and beautifully written. Sad there won't be any sequels.
The exposition dumps were pretty hard to get to and I didn't find myself attached to any characters. Also after finishing the Farseer Trilogy I'm in a bit of a fantasy slump. I think I might come back to this with an audiobook so I can get through the beginning faster.
The core of the book is really good, character work is amazing and if the book ended about 80% of the way through it would've been perfect. The set up and execution up to this point bounces between 2 characters and feels flawless, the contrasts and similarities in perspective colouring the world around you. After this point though the narrative shifts into almost a set up section which felt unnecessary for a stand alone story separate from the other books in the universe. I loved the dive into grief and duty but the usual “person(s) in power is corrupt/selfish” felt like it could've been handled a bit more interestingly
3.75 stars
This book is everything, it talks about life, youth, a relationship between a son and his mother, a husband and a wife that don't meet eye to eye in many things, friends, mom friends, and also how deeply rooted beliefs shape an entire community, how paradigms can be broken, and how every decision affects other people.
I think the book brought so many important topics, specially sexism and politics, and it touches a few fragile fibers in me... like I cried so hard around 45% in, because I too have a son and can connect with Misaki and Mamoru's relationship so it hurts deep inside me I still am not recovered.
The author also writes an exquisite world and even though she uses uncommon words so casually into the writting it didn't disrupt my understanding, actually it made it more inmersive and interesting. I saw the glossary and man it is huge, so at first I found it a bit overwhelming but decided to give it a go without fully understanding the concepts and it turned out amazing!
I also liked having both Mamoru and Misaki's POV, and some of Takeru as well, but specially Mamoru so you know what happens when he's with Kwang, and when he's in the front line, and Misaki is a badass mom. I liked the way she was written with careful details, you can truly understand how she feels when being a trained warrior and then becoming first a housewife and then a mother... how she constantly faces insults from her father in law, indifference from her husband even when she needs him the most, the hurt after she miscarried, natural feelings when you give birth (people tell you that it is love at first sight , but it isn't always the case and for women who don't feel that way they think there's something wrong with them when it's not), her motherly instinct to protect her children... she is the GOAT!
I think the book is amazing, I really enjoyed it to the point I feel devastated. My only note is the last chapter, I think after 50% it was natural to write the aftermath and I appreciate there was great character development after the climax, it was so worth it to keep reading up until the last chapter which to me didn't fit anywhere nor provided anything useful to the story. To me it was more about catching up and giving a bit of info dump on Misaki's classmates but I really didn't care that much about them to have about 30+ pages on them. It would have worked better to leave it out and the ending would have made sense. I just think about it as the "gossip chapter" which is sad for a book like this with so much depth in other matters.
Maybe an epilogue with the youngest Matsuda would have been amazing, I'd connect it with the next book (I know the author froze the Theonite series but it could be a nice closing, having it as self conclusive but leaving a small window in case she wanted to continue in the future)
I hope you find my review useful and remember to be mindful of people because we all have different abilities and ways of thinking.
This was beautiful. So much hardship but tied in with so much hope, resilience, and growth. The rawness, honesty and depth in these characters is impressive and refreshing. The world and setting is also so stunningly designed and articulated. The power system unique and vast. Truly a great novel.
My only reason for not giving it a full 5 stars was that I thought the pacing was a bit inconsistent through the middle, but otherwise really, really enjoyed it.
Going into this book, I thought this was first and foremost a war-story and how a mother and son experienced the coming difficulties. But oh boy, how wrong I were!
This is first and foremost a story about identity, family, trauma and the consequences it has on ones identity and relations. M.L. Wang has proven herself an expert in dealing with the heavy themes of generational trauma and identity-struggles without ever explicitly shoving it in the readers face.
The story reminded me of so many elements from the ‘real world' like the political propaganda in the Sovjet Union and drug abuse in families, but this is not a story of either propaganda or drug abuse, but rather what it does to the individuals. It will make sense when you read the book, I promise!
This is a character-driven book. It is mainly centered around Misaki and her struggles to find meaning in her new existence. Everything that happens plot-wise is contributing to this, often in a very subtle way. The first 1/3 of the book might feel kinda slow, but when the action picks up, all the knowledge and insight you've been given up till then makes perfect sense and has great value in the following plot. It perfectly contributes value to the climaxes of the story: I was straight up bawling for more than one chapter, and it had me reading hours into the night, because I simply would not be able to sleep with so many strong emotions churning in me. A small warning: it might be difficult to read the middle of the book while you're pms'ing...
The magic system and the magical abilities of the main characters is not the focal point of the story, but rather a contributing element to the characterization and the characters relations. There is no epic world-building, nor an extensively actionpacked plot; it would not drive the story forward, so I never felt I missed it. There is just the right amount of action and no scene feel redundant.
The writing is beautiful and easy to read, the action sequences (yes, there are some action!) are a breeze to follow, without the scene being boring or simplistic. There are a lot of japanese(inspired?) words and frases, but there's a very handy glossary in the back to help you through, so it really only contributes to the social setting of the story.
Read this if you are a sucker for some chefs kiss perfect character arcs and stories that makes you think and feel all the feels!
This could not have been closer to being a 5⭐️ read. The sword of kaigen was one of the most unique fantasy books I’ve ever read. Hidden behind the usual fantasy elements like complex magic systems, political intrigue, and epic action sequences was a really deep story about family and loss and gender roles that gave it a very real feel in an otherwise fantastical world. Each character experienced real growth in the book in ways I didn’t see coming. That rings particularly true for Takeru who I feel I owe an apology to for how much I criticized him before finally learning who he was and instantly relating to him. My criticism of this book is the world building didn’t feel complete. There were snippets every once in a while but I need more to fully grasp the scope of the world. Also, misakis flashbacks to Livingston were almost entirely stolen from Batman Im pretty sure, right down to the characters name being robin and him shooting a signal over the city to communicate with the police. It was entertaining but I’m not sure why it was in this story. My only other thought is there better be a sequel soon. I need more and will absolutely read it the day it comes out.
When Mamoru died in the middle of the book, I was waiting for something epic to happen. Now that I've sit on it, I think the epic part of it was the shift in the Matsuda house. The change was already right in front of me that I didn't realize it was already happening. It was a good adventure, yes, but I feel like there could have been more. The story telling was great, yes, but if only Misaki was more defiant, I mean, a blade through Takeru's heart would have been nice from the start, but then again, we would not have witnessed this, and the tragedy of losing the Mamoru. Overall, I liked it. It's a 3.75 for sure.
There is a lot of hype going into this book as I had not heard a SINGLE bad thing about this book, and I'm happy to say it lived up to it and more. I intentionally didn't look much into what the book was about and I have been on a Sanderson kick for years, so this was the first non Sanderson I've read in a long time so it was a bit jarring, but it shows how well written it is when I fell in comfortably into the book anyways.
The world building is pretty well done, not the best I've ever seen, but the main focus was on the characters and the story they go through. The magic system isn't defined thoroughly like a Sanderson book but it is well done. If you like Avatar you'll like this.
The story is really following a family, and what cultural expectations does on an individual level. For me personally this hit very close to home and I felt like if I was in this world I could see myself going through the same issues. The emotional notes ended up hitting so hard I could feel my heart racing and it wasn't even in the action sequences.
Which brings me to the action scenes. They were written incredibly well, in my opinion some of the best action writing I've ever seen. She didn't shy away from writing details, but didn't go overboard with describing everything to death. The emotional notes hit here too and I was enthralled all the way through. The character work is done very well to where the (main) antagonist was setup as someone you were supposed to hate, and even when I knew they had some history that made them that way I still couldn't help but hate them. But as their history was explored you also grew to sympathize with them. Brilliant story telling.
This book is a MUST read for any fantasy fan and if this is indicative of ML Wang's future works she is now a must read author for me
Contains spoilers
**SOFT SPOILERS**
Think ATLA, while tackling the concept of war realistically. Paints an almost "too-real" picture of what the aftermath of war looks like and does not sugarcoat it at all. Very well-written and enticing read all the way through.
Onto my very nitpicky "Minus 1/2 a star." The world-building is amazing...but falls apart from the nature of it being a stand-alone novel. A lot of the world-building and references to the author's previous works can be a little confusing at times, unless you've read the other Theonite novels. While it's not necessary, I think it would help to read the other novels first. It is through and through a stand-alone novel, just hard to follow at times.
My other gripe is how she "deals with a certain character." All the characters in the first half of the book are very bland, with readers only seeing growth for one character in specific. I got drawn to this character and enjoyed his growth...only for him to be killed off. Thankfully, the second half of the book was very well-written and I actually ended up enjoying it more than the first half. However, killing off the only character with character development did not sit well with me.
Overall, an amazing read. Just very nitpicky points.
This book is the June read for the Sword and Laser podcast. The Sword of Kaigen is a fantasy war story set in a country that feels very similar to Japan. The plot follows a traditional warrior family who are trying to make their family customs and traditions stay true while technology begins to appear in their lives. The various warrior societies have access to magic connected to various elemental forces (water, fire, air, etc). (If you mash up a samurai story with The Last Airbender you're probably in about the right zone.) We follow a few of the family members in particular and in so doing learn about the world and the particular family dynamics.
I seem to have been on a streak of somewhat dark books, and this one is no exception. Obviously, when the title involves the words “sword” and “war story,” you should probably expect some violence is going to be included. In general, I liked this book, and it managed to really surprise me a few times. But there were a few issues with the plot/writing that were a bit heavy/clumsy and took me out of the story at times. Overall, though, a good book!
An ultimately good, but weirdly uneven book. Blistering fight scenes, and some good character development, but leaves a lot of unanswered questions. The whole Robin sub-plot feels out of place; almost like a cameo from another book (which I now find out it is!). It is a shame that the series has been discontinued, as it held promise, but this did feel very self-published. Maybe if this had been overseen by a traditional publisher, some of the excesses could have been reined in, and maybe the author would have felt more confident to continue. Well, good while it lasted…
I ended up liking this book a lot more than I expected to at the beginning. It's pretty rough and traumatic, mind you, but for the most part, it's well written with complicated characters and a very mature understanding of grief and motherhood.
That said, I think it suffers from two aspects of being a self-published book that might have gotten caught be a professional publisher. One is it's really long, and some parts do drag a bit. The other is the mixing of English/Japanese/made up language. The Japanglish made me feel like I was reading fanfiction, and it just didn't make sense given that other words (like the units of time) are completely made up. It feels a bit like fantasizing an actual culture, which was grating. I don't know much about the author's background, but the author blurb says she's from Wisconsin, so that gives me a bit of pause. And the made up words were really annoying when the work is supposed to be translated anyway.
That sounds rather negative, and all in all, I really did find myself coming back to this story to see what happened next. It's brutal though, and particularly hard to read in light of the horrific events in Gaza, so really check the content warnings before you start if that is something you need.
This is a story of rage, pain, loss and suffering. And it is incredible!
The characters are so fleshed out and real, it feels like I have known them my whole life.
The story is about censorship, war and politics but the book used this only as a way for their characters to wake up and find their own calling.
100% recommend, a book I will think about a lot
Ok, I have mixed feelings of this book.
The issues:
1. Pacing. It felt like there were 3 parts to this book: Character intros, main conflict, character development. This stuff in these parts were not bad, but it didn't always feel like a uniform story.
2. The Japanese style language in the book was a bit hard to read sometimes. Also, there is a lookup in the back for a lot of these. This style might be a pro for some, but it took away from the story for me.
3. The 3rd part of the book seemed to drag on too long.
4. The ending. I turned to the next page to keep reading and the book just seemed to stop. It didn't seem the story was resolved at the end.
All that being said, I still really liked the book. Incredible character developments! And the conflict in the middle was really well described.
4/5 stars and I would recommend to a friend after prefacing some of the issues I described above.
This book grabbed a hold of me like few books ever have. I was wayyy more emotional than I expected reading this, and it has a lot to do with the family dynamics that are at the core of this novel. It's a coming of age story that explores what it's like to raise that child at the same time. Its the pain that loneliness can cause, and the slow loss of yourself to a role you have to play... it's moving forward in the face of grief... and so much more. I was a lot heavier than I expected it to be but I loved it.
That's not even touching on the world and the magic which were excellent... the island setting is basically a mini version of early Meiji restoration period Japan set against a much more modern mage punk world that we only really see through flashbacks.
The magic is basically Avatar the last Airbender, but that comparison doesn't take anything away from the ideas and imagination on display. It feels just as awesome here as it did there.
Loved these characters and felt so much fun for them, which made a lot of these pages really hard to read...
One thing I wish I knew is that while the story is a standalone, there are other novels set in this world and some of the characters who we don't get a ton of time with in this book appear in those books. As a result there's a lot of foreshadowing that doesn't get paid off here. That includes the ending. But don't worry, all the major plot threads are resolved by the end.
Read this book!
Beautiful and powerful.
You may have snot running down your face while ugly crying at parts of this book, but it will be worth it.