Shadow of the Fox
Ratings37
Average rating3.9
In this first book of her Japanese mythology-inspired Shadow of the Fox trilogy, bestselling author Julie Kagawa weaves a stunning, high-stakes tale of alliances and deceptions, characters who aren’t what they seem, and secrets that could change the fate of the world.
Every millennium, whoever holds the Scroll of a Thousand Prayers has the power to call the great Kami Dragon from the sea and ask for one wish. The time is near...and the missing pieces of the scroll will be sought throughout the land of Iwagoto.
When demons kill half-kitsune Yumeko’s adoptive family, she’s forced to flee her home with one part of the ancient scroll. Fate thrusts her into the path of mysterious samurai Kage Tatsumi, who is Yumeko’s best hope for survival. But he’s under orders to retrieve the scroll. An uneasy alliance forms, and Yumeko begins the deception of a lifetime, knowing her secrets are more than a matter of life or death—they’re the key to the fate of the world.
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2 primary booksShadow of the Fox
Shadow of the Fox is a 2-book series with 3 primary works first released in 2018 with contributions by Julie Kagawa.
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This was an interesting read. I really enjoyed the world and the premise, plus there were demons so I was intrigued. I was not able to really connect with the characters though, but it was still a solid read!
This story that takes place in Edo Japan and relies heavily on Japanese folklore - yokai, kitsune, oni, etc. The main character, Yumeko, is half-kitsune (fox spirit) which I'm not sure how that works but it enables her to live in both the human and yokai worlds and grants her abilities. The only downside is that kitsune are not trusted as they are believed to be very mischievous and dishonorable (think Loki from Norse mythology) so she has been taught by the monks of the shrine she grew up in to hide that part of her.
Oni are sent to the temple to find a piece of an ancient scroll that summons a dragon kami (god) to any mortal that holds it and the oni destroy the temple and everyone in it, but Yumeko manages to escape with the scroll piece and runs into Tatsumi, a young oni-possessed warrior sent to also retrieve the scroll. From there it turns into a typical adventure tale with new characters popping up and joining their team like a ronin (master-less samurai), a priestess who can communicate with yokai, and a young noble. You also get the side arcs of Tatsumi's clan (demon fighting ninjas) and the mystery of Yumeko's past and kitsune heritage.
Besides the setting and mythology, the plot itself is nothing new so I found myself kind of bored. There were some good action sequences and I did care for the two main characters (the side characters need a lot of more development) but the constant word repetitiveness/translation (this probably won't bother people who have no knowledge of Japanese but it was redundant for me) and the obvious sequel set-up was frustrating. I couldn't say if my love and knowledge of Japanese culture and folklore (admittedly mostly from anime and manga) helped or hindered my enjoyment of this book. It certainly helped with not having to look up words and being able to picture the creatures immediately, but it would be interesting to be able to see from a total novice's POV how this book reads.
I do want to continue the series but, much like her Iron King series, it was just not quite as good as I'd hoped.
