Dragon Sword And Wind Child (2007) - Plot & Excerpts
Dragon Sword and Wind Child is the story of Saya, a young girl who lives in very ancient Japan, where the kami of Light and his immortal children have imprisoned all of the gods of the earth. The prince and princess of Light have waged a very long war against the people of Darkness (i.e., all the mortals and their gods) so that their father, the God of Light, will return. Meanwhile, Saya thinks she's just a normal peasant girl, but it turns out she's the reincarnation of the Princess of Darkness, the eternally reincarnating enemy of the Prince and Princess of Light.Most fascinatingly, it's a semi-historical fantasy written in Japanese and translated to English. It's deeply inspired by Japanese mythology, and you can tell--the God of Light and Dark are inspired by Izanagi and Izanami, and the three children of Light have parallels to Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, and Susanoo. (Although the author herself says that she's inspired by the Japanese gods, but decided to take the concepts behind them in her own, creative direction.)That said, it's a rough book. For all its wonderfully creative setting, it's uncomfortably written, and relies heavily cliches and literary shortcuts.The translation is a barrier. This is a literal translation, and it's very stiff. It also makes the mistake of translating absolutely everything Japanese. Tsuchigumo, for example, is literally translated as "ground spider." I'm sure this was intentional--this was written way before Japanese things were super-crazy-popular in the west--but it hurts the book. This (and many other terms) sound silly in English, when the Japanese words have much deeper, much more nuanced, meanings.But the translation isn't the book's fault. The pacing, unfortunately, is. And that's the biggest problem with this novel: The plot isn't moved on because of increasing tension or mounting stakes, but because of a wall of Constant Exposition. Did we just meet a new character? A little old lady is going to pop up to explain who they are, what their powers are, and what they're destined to do. Did we end up in a new place? Someone's going to march up and tell you what's happening, what they're doing, and why.Consequentially, you hardly ever know where you're going. Saya is a leaf in the wind, getting yanked around by the novel. She almost never does something because she wants to. Things just happen to her. Someone's always on hand to explain why this matters, and what she's going to do next.The characterization is weak. Saya is passive and spends the entire story in danger. She's always being attacked, kidnapped, captured, and hurt. She's got a legion of super priestess powers that she never uses, and she bumbles and fails all the way through the end of the novel. Chihaya is fascinating, but also not human. No one else is fleshed out at all.That said, there are some interesting ideas in here, though it helps if you're familiar with Japanese mythology. Dragon Sword and Wind Child does do an amazing job of describing the children of the God of Light, for example. They can't die, always regenerate, and live forever. The book explains how hard it is for them live on the earth (which they consider impure, since everything on it dies and is reborn) and how they're socially very different--because, as unchanging immortals, they can't understand compassion, or empathy, or forgiveness. That's wonderful. And, of course, it's a wonderfully authentic Japanese experience from a Japanese author--and that's rare, rare, rare in the west.In the end, 2 stars might be a little harsh--maybe it'd be kinder to give it 2.5?--but I really couldn't give it more. For all of its wonderfully interesting setting, concept, and world, it's just too clunky to enjoy.
This is a gorgeous story, but not without flaws.Saya is our protagonist, an "ordinary" teenage girl who learns that she is the one destined to have the power to awaken and still the Dragon Sword, the only weapon that can end the war that is raging between the Light and Dark. I know, sounds a bit too familiar, a bit generic right? Still, I found myself quickly pulled in by the beautiful atmosphere of the story.I was instantly intrigued by the story's concept of Light and Dark. One side is led by Prince Tsukishiro and Princess Teruhi, the children of the God of Light, who represent life and so they are immortal. On the other side are those who follow the Goddess of Darkness, of death, of earth. Her people die and are reincarnated over and over. Saya is the reincarnation of the Water Maiden, a princess who is born on the side of Darkness but who is always drawn to the Light and, more specifically, to Tsukishiro. While she does not remember her past lives, we are given hints of a relationship between Tsukishiro and the last Water Maiden, Sayura, who killed herself. This book weaves the tale of Saya as she decides what side she will fight on, and the consequences of her choice.Unfortunately, this book has flaws that are big enough to turn off many readers. The characters are all a bit flat and Saya in particular is a very passive protagonist. (I normally like my female leads to be strong and decisive, however, I do think the point here is that Saya always desires to follow the Light which goes against her very nature as a child of Darkness, and so she's always caught between the two which leads to her feelings of being unable to truly belong on either side and with that comes insecurity, indecisiveness and passivity.) There is a romance that develops later in the book that I think could definitely have been left out. And while I actually like the feel of translated stories, I know that this can be a huge turnoff to some people. Also, the writing does get overly descriptive at times and borders on tedious. And the ending - well, I won't go into it but let's just say, I didn't care for it much.Still, there are some truly thrilling, heart-racing scenes in this book. And, every once in awhile, a character would say something that would absolutely take my breath away. And the whole atmosphere or feeling or whatever of the story just captured me for some reason. I definitely wouldn't recommend this book to just anybody, but there was enough here for me to appreciate it for what it was.
What do You think about Dragon Sword And Wind Child (2007)?
More like 3.5/5 stars.So much to love about this book but sometimes the storytelling got in the way of the story itself.Firstly, this is a translation of a novel originally written in Japanese. The prose was heavy handed at times and did't always flow smoothly. Other times it read more like an anime series and I quite liked it. I think some of the head hopping might've been due to translation, and might not have been the author's intention, however, it still threw me out of the story a few times.My biggest gripe about this book is the heroine or lack thereof. Saya just didn't convince me. She was meant to have special powers but whenever she got the chance to use them and prove her significance, well let's say it was decidedly underwhelming. The best character in the book we don't even meet until almost half way through.I loved the Japanese mythology element, I loved the less stereotypical good vs evil angle and loved the dynamic between the siblings. I didn't love the heroine who was also the POV character. I found her a bit snivelly and irritating at times. Because I wasn't really into Saya, I didn't really feel the developing romance as I think I should have. The love interest was great though! And I absolutely adored the fact that he was androgynous and not some cliche beefcake hero type.I did enjoy this one but I didn't love it.
—Suzanne Rooyen
What a delight. This is geared towards young-adults, but I find so many good stories in that genre that it makes absolutely no difference to me. It's hard to pinpoint what I enjoyed so much about this book. It has the classic fantasy elements that I so love in the Celtic-mythology based stories I often read. But it also is very distinctly Japanese. The translator did an excellent job (in my opinion) of maintaining the poetry of that language. The characters, the setting, many of the themes were not Western-style copies; they were Japanese. Yet at the same time, there are themes present throughout that are so basically human in nature that I can't imagine anyone not feeling a resonance. I also loved the glossary in the back of the book, partly because it gave some context to a few ideas that are universal, but were phrased in such a way that a Westerner might not recognize them. For example, "togano no shika mo yume no mani mani." There is a fascinating bit of history behind this chant, but ultimately it is used to mean that dwelling on something negative can actually cause that thing to happen. Ogiwara certainly has captured me as a reader, and I look forward to reading the other two books in this series.
—Hannah
I am not sure how I feel about this book. The ornate language reads like the classics that I grew up with and that turned me into a lover of children's books. The exotic worlds introduced within the book further made me aware that I was not reading any ordinary writer. Yet enough of the time I felt so confused that I am not sure how to react to this book.Often I felt as if Ogiwara was explaining concepts alien to me, but which were so integral to the story that I remained unable to fully appreciate the book's depth. The closest experience that parallels is my first exposure to ethnic foods. For Chinese food to initially feel palpatable to me, I needed it coated in sweet sauce. For Sushi to feel comfortable to me, I needed it laden with tempura. The foods were so unusual that I could not fathom liking them unless they were made more familar to me. Ogiwara sets her book in ancient Japan and incorporates its mythology. The landscape and its people fascinate me, the way treasures do in a museum. Yet those treasures are often enclosed behind glass, forbidden to touch, and so remain items about which simply to feel wonder. At times I felt caught up in Ogiwara's tale of war and love, but often I also simply felt overawed in a world unknown to me in my North American culture. When it comes to food, I am delighted that now I can savor ethnic foods without additions. I fear I may need to better understand Japanese culture to develop a similar appreciation for Dragon Sword and Wind Child.The book starts with Saya waking to a reoccuring dream. In that dream she met five people and soon enough she encounters those people in real life. They are the people of the dark or of the earth. They claim she is one of them. Later that very same day, while trying to make sense of their claim--because she was raised to worship the light, she meets the revered son of the God of Light: Prince Tsukishiro. He calls Saya the Water Maiden and invites her to join him in his palace to later wed.So far, the book resembles a traditional good (light) against evil (darkness) fantasy story with some romance mixed in, but it quickly departs from this norm. Saya moves into the castle of light, is followed by one of the five earth people, encounters an argument between the prince and his sister who claims that Saya is indeed of the dark, and.... This is where I start to feel confused, for this struggle is not part of American folklore of which I am aware. It becomes even more muddled for me, when the people of the earth talk about death and rebirth while the people of the heavens talk about being immortal. I sense Ogiwara is talking about reincarnation, but am uncertain what other mythologies are covered.Often stories which appeal because of their exotic worlds fail to capture our imagination upon rereading, because our wonder lessens as we begin to assimilate these other worlds into our mindset. Japanese culture aside, I suspect I might want to give Ogiwawa's book another read. Through her elborate tale of fantasy, she explores faith, love, immortality, death, perfection, compassion, and an endless list of other ideas. As such, the book is far more complex than the average children's book and deserves esteem.
—NebraskaIcebergs
