Jack
If you want to read this book because of Jojo Rabbit don't bother.
Taika Waititi took the most palatable aspects of this book and radically transformed it into a dark comedy about acceptance and love gained through shared hardships. Caging Skies, on the other hand, is a book about a man so obsessed with a woman that he lies to her about the end of the war just to keep her in his possession. It's a deeply uncomfortable read because the author manages to weave historical fact expertly in amongst Johannes's obsession with Elsa. But it was never supposed to be comfortable; we are after all reading from the point of view of the abuser in this dynamic. And the World War Two setting with a Nazi protagonist obsessed with a Jewish girl hiding in his attic just heightened that uncomfortable feeling.
So even though I enjoyed the historical aspects of it where Leunens draws on many historical events to heighten the tension of her narrative while also expertly illustrating life in that period. The exploitative nature of using World War Two as set dressing to tell a story about an abuser in the abuser's own perspective. Where by the end he is still obsessed with Elsa, even though the truth has come out and she has left him. Made me personally uncomfortable while reading this the whole time, in ways unattended by the author. There will be some people who will be able to set aside that aspect and enjoy the concept of this book; that was not me.
While Jojo Rabbit will still probably remain one of my favorite movies. I don't personally see myself ever revisiting this book.
Personal Enjoyment 1.5/5; Execution 3.5/5
Read in Prepub on J-Novel Club's WebsiteEiji Kazama chosen to save the world Azur from ruin after a previous isekai hero a hundred years prior set it on a path of ruin. His first task solve a beriberi (Vitamin B1 deficiency) outbreak caused by the introduction of white rice to this fantasy world. Eiji and his dragon companion Tiamat - also sent to save this world from the dragon realm - do so by introducing new foods into the diet of the city of Lishua.While this light novel deals with food, I would not call it a food novel in the same way that manga like [b:Drifting Dragons 36893919 Drifting Dragons, Vol. 1 Taku Kuwabara https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1512424067l/36893919.SX50.jpg 58171591], [b:Sweetness and Lightning 28459313 Sweetness and Lightning 1 Gido Amagakure https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1452041436l/28459313.SY75.jpg 48595001], [b:Wakako Zake 42142065 Wakako Zake Vol. 1 Chie Shinkyu https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1538608827l/42142065.SX50.jpg 65740265], and [b:What Did You Eat Yesterday? 18339951 What Did You Eat Yesterday?, Volume 1 Fumi Yoshinaga https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1395779183l/18339951.SX50.jpg 3674605] are food manga. Instead, the introduction of a variety of food is a means to complete Eiji's task of setting this world back on course after the previous hero set it off course. And thus it doesn't go into too much depth into the preparation. This novel is more akin to [b:Ascendance of a Bookworm 44643642 Ascendance of a Bookworm Volume 1 Miya Kazuki https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1553716310l/44643642.SX50.jpg 44960460] and [b:Dr.STONE 35251116 Dr.STONE 1 (Dr. Stone, #1) Riichiro Inagaki https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1498756288l/35251116.SY75.jpg 56602047], as the protagonist has a task he must achieve and must go through many steps of manufacturing to achieve it.However, unlike Dr. Stone and Bookworm, Eiji himself lacks any practical skills other than basic historical knowledge. For in-depth knowledge, he relies on Tiamat who acts as his encyclopedia and those he meets in Lishua for the manufacturing and laboring skills to complete his task. The secondary cast of Isekai Rebuilding Project outside Tiamat isn't as compelling as either of these two properties either. With new members, haphazardly added with each new step of the task without much of a compelling reason for the addition, other than their talents are of immediate use.Eiji is also over critical of the previous hero, thinking him over pompous and self-important, despite never meeting him. The last hero having been dead for a hundred years before Eiji and Tiamat's arrival. Eiji's criticisms come not from meeting the hero but being the one tasked with cleaning up his mess. And thus this novel is not very kind to the isekai power fantasy archetype.What I did like about this book was there was an undercurrent of commentary on good intention colonialism. The previous hero introduced white rice to both help the people and as a reminder of Japan. But, this ultimately harmed the people as he didn't have the nutritional or historical knowledge of beriberi, causing millions of deaths from his good intentions. It was a message considering the history of my own country, Australia - though the history of the founding of colonial Australia was just plain old greedy colonialism. I can psychologically relate the introduction of rabbits and other introduced species; which were supposed to help the colonists but ended up destroying the land, crops, and native flora and fauna; back to the introduction of white rice in this book. So that aspect somewhat struck a chord with me; even though the execution was far from perfect.As for the ending, I have somewhat mixed feelings. I both loathe and love it. When it first started I was like “Oh that's some bullshit!” and then when it gets to the second part of the ending I was more on board with what the author was trying to do. And it got me interested in reading the second volume.
Read in Prepublication on J-Novel Club
I can't help but feel that Teogonia would have been better suited as a regular fantasy novel rather than an isekai. The isekai aspects seem like a crutch to explain concepts such as magic and even basic nutrition that our hero Kai shouldn't know given his age and class in this fantasy society as well as to explain why Kai quickly grasps his new powers. Even with all that it is rather light on the isekai aspect compared to other novels with Kai only receiving flashes of his past life and not full-blown memories. His first flash is of onigiri though he doesn't know what that is other than it is food, nor does he spend the novel seeking out onigiri. Had the author been more creative, I think they could have found other answers for these questions than past life memories. I also found the writing clunky in parts, especially when it switched perspective.
Even though I didn't enjoy the isekai subplot, I did enjoy the main plot of the novel once it did get into the swing of things. The plot revolves around the war of humans and demi-humans fighting for the control of the borderlands and the power of the gods that inhabit these lands. Kai, a 13-year-old soldier, accidentally inherits the power of the Land God of the Valley when he tumbles off a cliff during a battle and encounters its God Grave. He becomes the Guardian of this Valley while simultaneously continuing to fight for his home village, Lag. Kai feels indebted to them for raising him after his parents' death but chooses not to tell them about his new powers. But he also has an immediate affinity for the Valley for which he is now the Guardian of and desires to not only protect it but make it is home.
The plot and magic system was where I got the most enjoyment out of the novel as I felt that none of the characters had particular standout performances. Every female character also instantly falls in love/lust for our male protagonist after he gains his powers, and he is low key collecting a harem. So if you don't enjoy this trope be aware its there and I predict it will only become more overt as the series progress. But the plot and magic system were written so well that it was able to balance out the negatives of the other aspects for me.
The magic system involves not only the overpowered Guardians, who are given strength by their Land Gods, but each being has a Godstone, and by consuming other creatures Godstone one can “level up.” So after battle, it's customary to consume enemy Godstones to gain strength and retrieve Godstones for offerings. Both humans and demi-humans have Guardians and Godstones and are in this constant war of who can control more Guardians and eventual take over the land.
The plot mainly revolves around Kai going back and forth between his daily life in Lag; training and going out on missions to protect the village and surrounding area, and returning to the Valley; exploring, protecting, and preparing it to be his future home. As soon as Kai gains his Guardian powers, he gains an immediate affinity for the Valley and wants to be there and is restless when he has to be away from it. Guardianship seems to alter the mentality of the host, but the novel never gives us a full explanation of how much this is effecting Kai or the other Guardians we see. I really enjoyed the Valley parts of the story but wished there was more of them.
Overall the magic and plot elements of Teogonia were good. In contrast, the isekai, characters, and writing elements needed a little more time in editing to lean it into the potential that is there on the page. I'll give the second volume a go before deciding whether to drop the series.