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David Kudler

Goodreads Author


Born
in Sausalito, California, The United States
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Influences

Member Since
April 2009

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David Kudler is a writer and editor living just north of the Golden Gate Bridge with his wife, actress, teacher, and author Maura Vaughn, their author-to-be daughters, and their (apparently) non-literary cats.

His award-winning novel Risuko: A Kunoichi Tale , a young-adult historical adventure novel set in sixteenth century Japan, serves as the first book in the Seasons of the Sword series. The sequel, Bright Eyes , hit the shelves on May 5, 2022. He's now hard at work on Book 3 ( Kano ).

He served as managing editor for the Collected Works of Joseph Campbell, editing Pathways to Bliss, Myths of Light, and Campbell's Asian Journals) in addition to managing the publication of over a hundred other print, ebook, print, audio, and video
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Popular Answered Questions

David Kudler Yasamin, I apologize that I didn't see your question sooner! I'm glad that you enjoyed Risuko — and sorry to make you wait for the next book.

I'm curre…more
Yasamin, I apologize that I didn't see your question sooner! I'm glad that you enjoyed Risuko — and sorry to make you wait for the next book.

I'm currently working on Bright-Eyes, the second volume in the Seasons of the Sword series. My hope is to have it finished in time for release in 2017. If you'd like to be among the first to read it by serving as a beta reader, you can sign up at risuko.net/risuko-beta-team(less)
David Kudler Hey, Steve! What a great question! Kee Sun is one of my favorite characters.

So I knew I wanted to have at least one non-Japanese character in the book…more
Hey, Steve! What a great question! Kee Sun is one of my favorite characters.

So I knew I wanted to have at least one non-Japanese character in the book — Japan wasn't as cut off from the rest of the world during this period as it would become in the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries. Japan and Korea had regularly tried to invade each other throughout much of their history, and so the idea that the late Lord Mochizuki brought back a Korean cook from a campaign there appealed to me.

Once I'd decided that Kee Sun was Korean, I had to figure out how a Korean would sound to Japanese people. I reached out to a friend of a friend, S. Jae-Jones, a wonderful author who happens to be Korean-American. She kindly talked to me about the dynamics of the Korean accent, and we discussed what it might sound like to the Japanese characters. Japanese speakers tend to speak in a fairly narrow band of tones. Sarah felt that Korean would sound much earthier and energetic to a Japanese ear. When we searched for an equivalent accent to the American ear, the two that we came up with were Italian and Scottish.

Now, I didn't want Kee Sun sounding like Mario from the Nintendo games. But I thought that basing his accent on a kind of toned down "dog Scottish" (in the same sense that JK Rowling calls the Latin in her books "dog Latin") would give me what I was looking for. (Which is to say, Sarah is in no way responsible for Kee Sun or how he sounds — but I thank her from the bottom of my heart for her insight.)

As I wrote and rewrote the book, I found a distinctive voice for the cook that wasn't particularly Scottish — but that I felt worked for him and for the novel. If you listen to the audiobook, the narrator (my daughter Julia) uses a Scottish accent for Kee Sun.(less)
Average rating: 4.25 · 6,148 ratings · 630 reviews · 58 distinct worksSimilar authors
Risuko: A Kunoichi Tale (Se...

3.71 avg rating — 562 ratings — published 2016 — 2 editions
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Bright Eyes: A Kunoichi Tale

really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 56 ratings6 editions
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The Seven Gods of Luck

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 49 ratings — published 1997 — 6 editions
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White Robes: An Interesting...

3.97 avg rating — 36 ratings3 editions
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Silk & Service: A Kunoichi ...

4.40 avg rating — 15 ratings2 editions
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Kano: A Kunoichi Tale

4.36 avg rating — 14 ratings5 editions
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Ghost: A Dream of Murder (S...

4.67 avg rating — 12 ratings2 editions
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Wild Mushrooms: Meeting Ete...

4.09 avg rating — 11 ratings
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Waiting for Kuniko: A Chanc...

4.33 avg rating — 6 ratings2 editions
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Schools for Gifted Youngste...

4.50 avg rating — 4 ratings
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WE WON! ���� Bright Eyes Audiobook Takes Home Silver Medal at IBPA Awards!

Guess what, amazing readers? We have INCREDIBLE news to share!

Bright Eyes: A Kunoichi Tale just won the Silver Medal in the Best Children’s/YA Audiobook category at the 37th IBPA Book Awards! ����

From Finalist to Medalist!

Remember when we celebrated being named a finalist? Well, now we’re celebrating even bigger! Out of nearly 1,800 entries from publishers across the entire country, our audiobook made

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Published on May 20, 2025 09:52
Risuko: A Kunoichi Tale Bright Eyes: A Kunoichi Tale Kano: A Kunoichi Tale Murasaki: A Kunoichi Tale
(4 books)
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3.79 avg rating — 708 ratings

The Seven Gods of Luck Shlomo Travels to Warsaw: A... How Raven Brought Back the ...
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4.05 avg rating — 55 ratings

David’s Recent Updates

David is now friends with Marilyn Flower
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Butler by Salena Zito
"I do not blame Salena Zito. If I had been a reporter, standing feet away from Donald John Trump when a disaffected loner tried and failed to blow his brains out on that fateful day in Butler, Pennsylvania, I would write a book about it. One hundred p" Read more of this review »
Bright Eyes by David Kudler
"This is a wonderful sequel to Risuko. I enjoyed it thoroughly and can't wait to keep reading the series. There were twists, turns, and reveals that made me gasp and cuss aloud."
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Keeping Time by Heather Albano
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Kano by David Kudler
"Contrary to what Goodreads' automated thing is saying - and which can't be changed, apparently - I've only read this book once, and just finished it last night.

It's been awhile since I read the first and second books of this series - and I've read a" Read more of this review »
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Dana by K.D. West
Dana: Thing of Beauty
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Bright Eyes by David Kudler
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Kano by David Kudler
" I'm so glad that you enjoyed this book, Steph! ...more "
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Tiffany Aching's Guide to Being A Witch by Rhianna Pratchett
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Quotes by David Kudler  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“The blossoms fall just once each winter, yet in our memories, they fall every day.”
David Kudler, Risuko: A Kunoichi Tale

“I tell yeh, Bright-eyes. Men and women? A bloody mess. Every time.”
David Kudler, Risuko: A Kunoichi Tale

“A kunoichi is married to her duty, and to death.”
David Kudler, Risuko: A Kunoichi Tale

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics posts views last activity  
2025 Reading Chal...: February Challenge: Times Gone By 155 415 Mar 04, 2016 03:58PM  
Fiction Fanatics: May POINTS Challenge 2016 19 39 May 31, 2016 10:20PM  
YA Buddy Readers'...: This topic has been closed to new comments. Risuko: A Kunoichi Tale (Seasons of the Sword #1) ARC by David Kudler - Starting May 8th 2016 94 155 Jun 02, 2016 09:06AM  
2025 Reading Chal...: Janine - 100 Books in 2016 45 174 Dec 05, 2016 09:35AM  
Nothing But Readi...: New 2 U Authors: 2016 94 553 Jan 08, 2017 05:47AM  
Ultimate Popsugar...: This topic has been closed to new comments. Week 27: 6/30 - 7/6 72 131 Jul 19, 2017 12:36AM  
Ultimate Popsugar...: This topic has been closed to new comments. Week 26: 6/23 - 6/29 102 153 Jul 21, 2017 04:09AM  
Nothing But Readi...: Caron's Challenges 19 213 Jan 29, 2018 08:37AM  
“But there are times — my favorite climbs — when it doesn’t feel as if I’m climbing. Instead, the cliff or tree or wall seems to be lifting me, higher and higher.”
David Kudler, Bright Eyes: A Kunoichi Tale

“The blossoms fall just once each winter, yet in our memories, they fall every day.”
David Kudler, Risuko: A Kunoichi Tale

“I tell yeh, Bright-eyes. Men and women? A bloody mess. Every time.”
David Kudler, Risuko: A Kunoichi Tale

“No harm," he said as he danced on, cutting the air. Only now, the snowflakes began to bleed as he cut them. Battle of white and scarlet...
"Oto-san, what can I do?" I wept in the dream, my tears freezing to my cheeks.
"Dance," he said, his face still and calm, his blade whistling through the air. Blood flew from the tip of the sword, painting characters of death and disaster across the white ground.
Dancing.”
David Kudler, Risuko: A Kunoichi Tale

“Be swift as the wind,
silent as the forest,
fierce as fire,
steady as a mountain.”
David Kudler, Risuko: A Kunoichi Tale

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