Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion

This is a Buddy Read for The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang starting on February 12, 2024.


Happy Reading!

Excited!

Just to be clear, as of a few years ago at least, this is/was ML Wang's best work... it's set in the Theonite universe (technically), but is 99% unconnected from the previous works in the Theonite universe which take place on Earth, from what I understand (but an Earth with portals other worlds in the multiverse)... this is set on one of those other worlds... so it can be treated as standalone... the connections don't appear until the epilogue, and are easily missed...

Have you read any, Iain?

I haven't read any Theonite... ML Wang honestly doesn't recommend people read... she published as a teenager, I think, and kind of regrets it...

I want to read Blood Over Bright Haven, which finally released last year, I think... but I'm still waiting for an audio release...

Tempted to re-read this, too, if I can find the time...

Ooh, I'm going to try to join this, but not sure if I will in time... Feb's kind of a busy month for me this year 😂

I am very excited to read this finally!

people seem to be raving about Blood Over Bright Haven the same way they did with Sword of Kaigen, which has me excited, if audio ever releases... or I find time for the ebook someday...

I think it's a magic college/library story...

Timelord Iain wrote: "people seem to be raving about Blood Over Bright Haven the same way they did with Sword of Kaigen, which has me excited, if audio ever releases... or I find time for the ebook someday...

I think i..."

That sucks there is no word about audio, get it together ML!

LOL I'm sure it'll get around eventually.... super hyped for this book though! I love Japanese inspired stories!

Page and Wick has an open pre-order for a really nice signed special edition! The pre-order closes March 15th so there's plenty of time. 😊

https://pageandwick.co.uk/product/nov...

Pics of it! You can see more on their instagram
(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]

Ooh shiny! Nice colorful edging!

I got myself a nice shiny version last year--
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...

The silver edging is so shiny... and art by Felix Ortiz!! I love his work...

I just heard about this book and purchased it recently. I’m going to try to join this buddy read.

Sweet! More the merrier!

this book is amazing, I've just ordered the pageandwick one. blood over bright haven is very very very good.

Ooh, that is good to hear! Always nice to get positive reviews before reading.

Thanks for the heads up about the Page and Wick edition. I just ordered it. Very excited for this read!

Did some more digging on Blood Over Bright Haven getting an audiobook edition, and when the release was announced on her blog, someone asked, and she said "Eventually, but it might be awhile"... that was back in September... something to look forward to, someday, I guess...

Timelord Iain wrote: "Did some more digging on Blood Over Bright Haven getting an audiobook edition, and when the release was announced on her blog, someone asked, and she said "Eventually, but it might be awhile"... th..."

That's unfortunate.

Well, we're not bereft of reading options right now at least... Do y'all have some sort of notification on audio releases? I'd definitely like to read Blood Over Bright Haven when this all works out.

I joined her newsletter and I got this message:

Thank you so much

You'll receive a notification when we're online. Exciting!

If you check email alot, newsletter are the way...

I just have a folder of unreleased audiobook search bookmarks I run occasionally :D

Started a bit yesterday...

This book hits different on re-read... or I'm reading it differently... because I know the unusual story structure / "twist", and what to focus on... (did some google searches to confirm my semi-vague memories were correct)...

I also did some extra author googling yesterday, when looking for new audiobook news, and saw an article that compared how Sword of Kaigen grew from novella to novel, to how Blood Over Bright Haven did, and found it super interesting... (not safe to read, really, until you finish the book I don't think, maybe I'm wrong)...

I also found some reviews on reddit from people that really didn't like the book/characters/plot developments as much as fans of the book do...

The twistiness is giving me Fifth Season vibes, even tho they're very different books... just in how different a re-read feels, I guess...

Only on chapter 2, about 5% in...

Timelord Iain wrote: "If you check email alot, newsletter are the way...

I just have a folder of unreleased audiobook search bookmarks I run occasionally :D"

I have an email account that is just for newsletter subscriptions/book related things and I generally check it once a day since that is where I get the Chirp daily emails because yes, I am that much of a book nerd lol

Read 2/3 of it already... really loving the revisit... strong emotional beats through the middle...

I entered into this thinking of it kinda like the Riyria omnibuses, which tell 2 stories... and that's kinda what happens here, without a break in the middle of being two 100% distinct stories...

Almost done with my re-read... basically in the epilogue... just as good on re-read...

I'll comment more as first-timers join the fray and start commenting...

In the past, I've talked a fair bit about how this is set in a larger universe of books called Theonite universe... a few of which have been published (previously)...

Around the time this book came out, the author came to the hard decision that her ability to turn a series of books she started writing at age 12 into a viable series, just wasn't there, yet, and put it on hiatus (2019)... since then, she's removed the previously published lower quality books from circulation, and stopped sharing them...

There's some small hopes of one day returning to Theonite Universe, but in the meantime there's Blood Over Bright Haven, 2 web serials running on Patreon, and a YA series published as Maya Lin Wang:

Girl Squad Volta

I absolutely loved this one! Excited to see how others like it (:

Timelord Iain wrote: "people seem to be raving about Blood Over Bright Haven the same way they did with Sword of Kaigen, which has me excited, if audio ever releases... or I find time for the ebook someday...

I think i..."

I think it is good in a different way from TSOK! Still really enjoyed it and it made me excited for any works ML Wang has in the future.

Starting! Even just the frontmatter is really interesting--the different "kafonu" sound a lot like the feudal system installed by Tokugawa Ieyasu at the start of the Edo Period--in descending order: Samurai, farmers, artisans, merchants...

I also love that the map is South-North instead of North-South...

And that the book starts with a poem from the 万葉集... so cool!

Chapter 1 (view spoiler)[Well, I certainly wasn't expecting video games to exist in this book! More than just feudal Japan-inspirations, I see!

And damn... Misaki's life is my idea of a nightmare... giving up all of her potential to change the world in order to follow the path that everyone thinks a woman should want--marriage to power and babies. Sons, specifically. If this story involves her breaking out of the mold and kicking ass (like the cover suggests) I am definitely going to love it...

I really liked the description of the two women-friends--especially how Misaki described Setsuko's beauty, as an aspect of her personality.... (hide spoiler)]

In Chapter 7 (view spoiler)[ wow this does a good job of pissing you off... I'm pretty sure that's the point lol
But I'm really curious how Misaki ended up back here after her "misspent" youth... (hide spoiler)]

Lurking and waiting :D

Yeah I knew nothing coming into this, not even reading the blurb until after Chapter 6, and I'm loving it so far... Just started Chapter 10 (view spoiler)[ with a chapter title like "The Reason" following Misaki's POV I'm thinking this is where we find out how she goes back to Kaigen?

The setup has been great, Mamoru finding out about how he's basically been brainwashed and refusing to believe at first before facing things he can't deny... Learning some history of the region and questioning if that is even true...
Then Misaki's POV from current day vs her past

I looked up a list of characters from Wang's website to make sure I was giving the names right and I might have given myself a spoiler based on what I know so far... (view spoiler)[ modern technology mixed with a fuedal Japanese-based society with magic and I saw something about characters being from "Earth" is giving me alternate universe vibes... (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

Mid chapter12 (view spoiler)[ Ah well, wrong about getting more Misaki's back story there, but now things are really starting to pick up!

Also just wanted to say I'm loving Misaki and Momoru's relationship and super glad he was proud of his mom and hasn't internalized the sexism that's so commonplace there... (hide spoiler)]

I was going to read a book club book first then this one but dammit, I am going to start this one today!

Tonari no Emily wrote: "Yeah I knew nothing coming into this, not even reading the blurb until after Chapter 6, and I'm loving it so far... ..."

(view spoiler)[the Earth thing is an Easter Egg to the larger Theonite series, which is/was a more multiversal thing... it has no effect on the story, which takes place entirely in this fantasy world... most/all of the clear references are in the final chapters, and more pertain to (view spoiler)[Robin, in recent years, after his time with Misaki... (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

Through Chapter 17 (view spoiler)[ The End indeed... Noooo was not expecting Momoru to die! :((( (hide spoiler)]

Through 19 (view spoiler)[ OKAY finding out why Misaki stayed was super unsatisfying... I can understand her having a duty, etc, but her father wanted her to stay more from safety than idk propriety... He would have still accepted if she left even if he would have had to officially disown her... Ugh.
But was it worth it for her children? She already lost her oldest... Fricken heart breaking (hide spoiler)]

Tonari no Emily wrote: "Through Chapter 17 [spoilers removed]"

This is the dividing line for people that love or hate the book, it seems... some abandon the book, others stick it out... I think it's totally worth continuing...

From what I was reading, around this time was the original intended end of this, when it was just a novella, but it didn't feel right and grew into what it becomes, instead...

Absolutely inhaling this.. Through chapter 27 (view spoiler)[ I've been trying really hard not to judge too harshly or through my values, but it's been very difficult.. I don't understand why she would 1, make the decision to marry and not go with Robin and 2, not stand up to her husband, at least a little... But this chapter has definitely made me like her a whole lot more, and I hate Takeru a whole lot less now! Misaki has been acting the fragile housewife a little too convincingly enough that her husband believed too.. II wonder if she shared her personality/past a bit more in the beginning if their whole relationship would have played out that way... But The Duel was pretty awesome tbh.. I don't have that much left, but I'm excited to see what's coming (hide spoiler)]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Tonari no Emily wrote: "Through Chapter 17 [spoilers removed]"

"

I definitely just kept plowing though (view spoiler)[ While I was pretty sad to see him die, his death scene was pretty powerful and I needed to know what came next! (hide spoiler)]

Tonari no Emily wrote: "Absolutely inhaling this.. Through chapter 27 [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[the Duel is the real emotional climax of the story, and great... the rest is just the denouement / consequences of jarring Takeru out of his patterns... and it's all pretty great, honestly... (hide spoiler)]

Moving much more slowly than y'all, on eye-book... Just through chapter 2.

The names are fun--in the print book, it shows the kanji for the POV folks too, (view spoiler)[so Misaki is 海咲--ocean blooming, while Mamoru is 写守 reflect/protect, and Takeru is 岳瑠 mountain peak/lapis lazuli.

Other folks don't get kanji, but there are pretty common names associated with many--Yukino is probably 雪野 snow/wild (though the wild "no" is a common second letter in last names). Hibiki means "reverberation" which is appropriate for a teacher whose voice "gets lost in the dull moaning of the wooden beams."

Matsuda is a pretty common last name: 松田, and is just spruce tree/rice field.

Not sure about Misaki's clan Tsusano, but the "tsu" could be the same tsu in tsunami (the nami part means wave) 津 meaning haven/port, the no is probably the same as Yukino, but not sure of the "sa"

Other clan names
Ameno: 雨野 rain/wild
Ginkawa: 銀川 silver river
Ikeno: 池野 pond/wild
Katakouri: Hm... kouri is probably ice 氷--but that's Koori, not kouri, could just be a spelling error for a throwaway clan name in a list. Kata could be a lot of things, maybe 方 singular/way
EDIT: Kouri is definitely ice, must be a typo... I'm thinking actually probably 硬氷--hard ice...

I'd go into the first names too, but those are sooooo varied in Japanese, they could be a lot of different combinations... though Yukino Dai is *probably* 大, big. He's Big Lightning.

Geography:
Takayubi is probably: 高指 "tall finger"--appropriate for a mountain.
Shirojima: 城島 castle island or 白島 white island.
Ishihama: 石浜 rocky beach

Wondering about "Kaigen"... could also be a lot of different things. I'm favoring 海原 "sea origin" but there's lots of possibilities.

I also find it interesting she named the peninsula Kusanagi, I mean, it makes sense, with the "Sword" of Kaigen--Kusanagi being one of the names of the Imperial sword, and a famous sword name in general. It's just funny when you think it means "grass mowing." (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 2 thoughts--(view spoiler)[I like that the title of the book can refer as much to the people who are the "Sword of Kaigen" and maybe also to the Matsuda bloodline technique of the sword... and I'm wondering (betting?) that Misaki is one non-Matsuda who mastered that technique... and listening to Mamoru's thoughts as he studies, he not once thought of his mother and her prowess... she really has been oppressed...

Getting the local backstory as a dry history lesson was an interesting method for an infodump. But then it moves into a conversation on revisionist history and censorship, or on their being multiple sides and ways to tell history. The conversation between Kwang & Mamoru on history reminds me of when I was teaching English in China... some of the things students were taught there were very revisionist... Us foreign teachers were told never to mention the three T's--Tibet, Tiananmen, or Taiwan. I had a student come crying to me once, having just learned about Tiananmen Square Massacre (kids always find ways around the Great Firewall of China)--they couldn't believe that their government had lied to them so... (hide spoiler)]

I had a family party that took most of my day so I didn't really get a lot read with this one, through chapter 6 (view spoiler)[I was not familiar with the premise of the story but I assumed ancient Japan or Asian culture and female centered and yeah I guess it is a mix or old and modern? Also I just finished the flashback to Misaki's past as a kickass fighter and I am assuming she has to step out of her life as a mother to begin fighting again with the hidden sword that has been teased. I am definitely hooked and I am very much looking forward to seeing how this plays out. (hide spoiler)]

Through Chapter 6--(view spoiler)[Really enjoyed the peek at Misaki's past. But 14 year old vigilantes?? Dang, that's so young...

I also find it interesting, in the previous chapters, how Mamoru keeps thinking his mother knows nothing and is simply a housewife... yet it is her teachings and knowledge, not that of his father, nor his school, which keep him and the new boy alive.

The little bits of the wider world we see are making me very curious--super-humans mixed with powers and technology, lots of racism, gangs... makes me wonder about the "discontinued" Theonite books... (hide spoiler)]

Tonari no Emily wrote: "Absolutely inhaling this.. Through chapter 27 [spoilers removed]"

This was a thing that really confused me as well (view spoiler)[ But I think perhaps her going to another place and encountering a different type of culture was something that she possibly contained in that environment, after she returned home, what she was taught and her roots came out and perhaps she felt a duty to her family. At least this is what I was thinking. In that vein though, it's kind of odd her family sent her to that school and then expected her to just come back and play the obedient housewife. (hide spoiler)]

Okay Chapter 8, I see where you're going... (view spoiler)[That was no storm, that was a frickin' invasion, and the only way the letter made it past the censorship police was by crouching it in those terms... telling them to go inland is telling them to GTFO before the troops arrive...

Glad that Mamoru figures it out, though I'm sad Misaki didn't, until Mamoru twigs on to it...

Takeru is a real piece of work though. He already damned himself in my eyes for the previous chapter, how he treated Misaki after her miscarriages, and looks at her as only a womb for his use. That was nothing less than legalized rape. But hitting Mamoru? Keep digging your own grave, dude, I hope Misaki puts you in it. Maybe I would allow this to turn into a romance if he crawls on his belly begging for forgiveness, but I'm leaning towards not at this time.

I do like how Mamoru and Misaki are getting some mother-son bonding time... (hide spoiler)]

Wait, just wait.....through chapter 16 and seriously???? (view spoiler)[Mamoru died? What? That was unexpected and I am not sure how I feel about it. His stupid father is still alive, his cold, dumb ass should have been killed not Mamoru! I feel like Misaki is going to go The Bride in Kill Bill vengeance level which would be awesome but if she goes back to her stupid husband and just resumes her life as his baby breeding machine and second class human after this I will be so mad. SO MAD! lol

On a side note I struggle with books set in cultures/worlds where females are by far the subservient sex, I find I am often very annoyed about the treatment of women and it negatively impacts my feelings about the book. I know it is a me thing but I think this is why I disliked Iron Widow as much as I did and gave up on the Air Awakens series, these themes infuriate me. (hide spoiler)]

So it got worse.....through chapter 17 (view spoiler)[and he wasn't dead yet, he mastered the stupid family Whispering Blade but no one will know and then he died? (hide spoiler)]

And then chapter 18 starts with (view spoiler)[Takeru being his usual asshole self..... (hide spoiler)]

Persevere, Ann-Marie...