Format: E-Galley, 416 pages
Release Date: October 2, 2018
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Source: NetGalley
Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy / Epic
Enter a beautiful and perilous land of shapeshifters and samurai, kami and legends, humans and demons...a world in which Japanese mythology and imagination blend together to create a brand-new and lushly drawn fantasy adventure from the New York Times bestselling author of The Talon Saga and The Iron Fey.
One thousand years ago, the great Kami Dragon was summoned to grant a single terrible wish—and the land of Iwagoto was plunged into an age of darkness and chaos.
Now, for whoever holds the Scroll of a Thousand Prayers, a new wish will be granted. A new age is about to dawn.
Raised by monks in the isolated Silent Winds temple, Yumeko has trained all her life to hide her yokai nature. Half kitsune, half human, her skill with illusion is matched only by her penchant for mischief. Until the day her home is burned to the ground, her adoptive family is brutally slain and she is forced to flee for her life with the temple’s greatest treasure—one part of the ancient scroll.
There are many who would claim the dragon’s wish for their own. Kage Tatsumi, a mysterious samurai of the Shadow Clan, is one such hunter, under orders to retrieve the scroll…at any cost. Fate brings Kage and Yumeko together. With a promise to lead him to the scroll, an uneasy alliance is formed, offering Yumeko her best hope for survival. But he seeks what she has hidden away, and her deception could ultimately tear them both apart.
With an army of demons at her heels and the unlikeliest of allies at her side, Yumeko’s secrets are more than a matter of life or death. They are the key to the fate of the world itself.
"Absolute power can corrupt even the purest of hearts. Such is the folly of men."
Shadow of the Fox is the first installment in a stunning and diverse new trilogy crafted by a master storyteller and fantasy veteran Julie Kagawa. It is an epic, richly populated world that awaits readers.
Filled with kitsune, oni, and kami, this book digs its roots deep in the
history and legends of Japan. The characters are delightfully subversive
- a naive trickster, an emotionless young man, a drunken warrior. This
is a stunning adventure that you won't want to put down!
Kagawa sets the stage for what's to come right out of the gate. The opening chapter itself focuses on a young girl named Suki, the only child of a celebrated flute maker. One could honestly say that Suki's only crime in this entire story is being in the wrong place at the wrong time and meeting one of the main villains when this person is trying to conjure up forces to track down pieces of the legendary dragon scrolls. What a way to begin a story.
"The dragon is rising. The harbinger of change approaches. The night of the wish is nearly upon us."
Readers next meet 16-year old Yumeko who lives among the monks at Silent Winds Temple. Yumeko is a half kitsune trickster fox with
powers over illusion. Yumeko has spent her entire life being raised by monks hoping to teach her patience in dealing with her Kitsune side
and the ability to control her powers to an extent. As the tranquility of the temple is broken by demons (amanjaku) lead by a fearsome Oni
General Yaburama, Yumeko learns not only that the temple protects a piece of a dragon scroll, but a prophecy which she is apparently legendary dragon scroll, but Yumeko herself may be one of the center pieces to game to come.
Tatsumi is the next character you will meet. Tatsumi is a kage warrior from the Shadow Clan. Tatsumi is special as he is the wielder of the Kamigoroshi, a sword
possessed by a powerful demon named Hakaimono. Tatsumi fights with the demon for total control over his emotions and
constantly fighting for domination.
He is sent by the Leader of the Shadow Clan, Lady Hanshou to retrieve
the scroll from the monks by any means and to cut down any obstacles in
his way.
As Tatsumi is making is way to the Silent Winds Temple to retrieve the piece of the dragon scroll, he encounter demons in the midst of destroying the temple. Tatsumi and Yumeko's paths cross at the end of the destruction of the temple while she is running for her life. She makes a deal with him. He will lead her to Steel Feather Temple which has been lost or hidden away by possible paranormal elements, and she will tell him where the dragon scroll is. Along the way, they pick up a drunken former samurai, Okame, and Taiyo Daisuke, a member of the royal family who is called The Demon Prince.
While Yumeko and Tatsumi are traveling across Iwagoto having adventures, there are many powerful key players behind the scene manipulating and scheming towards a favorable endgame. Let's keep the villains a secret for now, especially since the author uses a shocking twist to end this first installment. So, while the overall story is a game of power, and death, Tatsumi and Yumeko are going to have to learn how to trust each other while hiding secrets from each other. She is hiding the actual scroll, he is hiding the fact that at any time he can lose control to Hakaimono
The wide array of supernatural characters is another thing I loved about this story. I am a fan of Japanese culture and mythology. The author really digs deep in order to make this story a complete story, and not one with many head scratching moment. Wouldn't be much of a story were the author to leave out the twisted climax to the story itself. To create the newly imagined world of Shadow of the Fox, Kagawa
draws on the same gorgeous and magical style employed in the creation
of the Nevernever, the beloved and incredibly popular setting of The
Iron Fey.
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