The Sword of Kaigen: A Theonite War Story

By: M. L. Wang

Narrated by: Andrew Tell

Length: 24 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

On a mountainside at the edge of the Kaigenese Empire live the most powerful warriors in the world, superhumans capable of raising the sea and wielding blades of ice. For hundreds of years, the fighters of the Kusanagi Peninsula have held the Empire's enemies at bay, earning their frozen spit of land the name "The Sword of Kaigen".

Born into Kusanagi's legendary Matsuda family, f14-year-old Mamoru has always known his purpose: To master his family's fighting techniques and defend his homeland. But when an outsider arrives and pulls back the curtain on Kaigen's alleged age of peace, Mamoru realizes that he might not have much time to become the fighter he was bred to be. Worse, the empire he was bred to defend may stand on a foundation of lies.

Misaki told herself that she left the passions of her youth behind when she married into the Matsuda house. Determined to be a good housewife and mother, she hid away her sword, along with everything from her days as a fighter in a faraway country. But with her growing son asking questions about the outside world, the threat of an impending invasion looming across the sea, and her frigid husband grating on her nerves, Misaki finds the fighter in her clawing its way back to the surface.

When the winds of war reach their peninsula, will the Matsuda family have the strength to defend their empire? Or will they tear each other apart before the true enemies even reach their shores?

©2019 Miracle Wang (P)2020 Miracle Wang

Critic reviews

"The Poppy War's darkness meets The Last Airbender's Elemental Magic...I haven't been so emotionally moved by a book in a long while." (JC Kang, USA Today best-selling author of The Dragon Songs Saga)

Fascinating!

This is a new author for me.. Gripping from Start to finish. I will probably re-read soon! loved it!

Started off slow, then blew me away.

For the first half of the book, I thought it was a typical teen novel. Then I realized why the author set it up the way they did. It gets real, I haven't teared up from a book in quite some time. I think some of the dialog could have been better written (especially in the flashbacks), but overall the experience was well worth it.

great

was very surprised. my son recommended this book to me. I wish her other books in this series were on audible books. oh well, kindle here I come.

Excellent story!

I’m surprised by how much I liked this book. As other reviewers have stated, it does start a bit slow but I found it worth the wait. I got a lot of “feels” and found it hard to put down at time.

Peak

kent me on the edge of my seat chapter after chapter. cannot recommend this book enough

A must read!!

Was recommended to me by a friend. Was absolutely memorizing and heartfelt. a must read

Perfect female/mother character.

So many emotions going through looking at the dance of Misakis life in the sword of Kaigen.

A heart breaking story of war and love

We'll start this review proper with a little comparison. The Sword of Kaigen is Avatar the Last Airbender meets Robin Hobb. Sounds a bit strange on the surface, but it really does fit. The world ML Wang has created is a place where there are nations around the world each with their own affinity for an element, and their own powers to control those elements. Delving a bit deeper, certain families within each nation have specific and powerful bloodline powers. As an example, the Matsuda family are water theonites and their bloodline ability is the power to create a whispering blade; a blade of ice that can cut through anything. For those of you who like a bit of anime, you can likely already see a few similarities to a certain ninja story.

Talking about the world... it's large and well-realised. This is a dense book, full of lore and world building, but it never sticks out even when you're being bombarded by words you don't know. Some of it is Japanese (I think...) and some of it is made up terms for the world. It never feels out of place or left me wandering what was going on. You get a real sense that the story we're following is only a small part of the world, and fairly minor in the grand schemes of things. There's a lot happening, a lot of important world changing events, but the story is character focused.

As for the characters. They are varied and so well presented. For the most part we follow Misaki. She's a middle aged woman with an exciting past, who has forced herself into a very traditional housewife role. And if your heart doesn't break for her, it may just be made of whispering blade ice (sorry, had to be done). We also follow Mamoru, Misaki's son, and a powerful theonite who is thrust into understanding of the wider world, and struggles to come to terms with it. The supporting cast are just as strong and there's not a one that doesn't feel like a fully realised character with their own story to tell.

ML Wang manages to inject so much emotion into the pages and the character's plights. Just like with Robin Hobb's works, I found my heart strings thoroughly pulled, and I was really rooting for the characters. I felt their highs, their lows, and their turmoil.

So that's a lot of gushing. I should probably think of something negative to say, right? ... ... I got nothing. Honestly, I loved reading this book cover to cover.

5 stars and it painstakingly earned every single one of them.

Great action, passion, heartache, and healing

I think it's important knowing that this book will not have a sequel despite the seeming build up for one. I wish I knew that before I got through the book. I was excited and started searching. I found the author's interview saying she will never write a sequel.

this book is The Last Airbender for adults. It's part government conspiracy and corruption, part old traditions and the sexism, part all out out action, part sadness and healing. The book changes pace constantly

Great main story

This is an awesome character driven story that deserves all the accolades it has received. I felt connected to the characters, especially with the brutal turn the story takes. There are two one issues with the story. Apparently, this is part of some bigger narrative that was shoehorned in to the story, and the pacing in the beginning is a little slow. But, enjoy this master work work of a story.