The Sword of Kaigen

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!