I used to steal Tolkien and Piers Anthony books from my older brother’s bookcase and burn through library world mythology sections like a ravenous beast. When I reached college in the 1990s, I realized “world” mythology had usually meant “Western” myths, and that’s when I became a Japanese Studies major and dove headfirst into feudal Japan: kitsune, dragons, dream-eaters, tengu, and other fantastical creatures. I was in love. Perfectly natural that when I started writing novels, my brain conjured romantic fantasy based on East Asian myths. Hope you’re ready to fall in love as well, with the Japanese version of fox spirits—kitsune!
In 2000, there were few English-language fantasy books based on Japanese myths. I opened this one, and instantly, Heian Period Feudal Japan came alive in a lyrical, mesmerizing way, unlike the dry history books.
And unlike the fantasy I’d grown up with, the main voice of the book was a woman—a complicated, imperfect magical kitsune who also felt like a human woman. This book made me hungrier for more non-Western myths as a lens through which to view my own concepts of womanhood.
Based on the award - winning short story Fox Magic, Kij Johnson's THE FOX WOMAN is a haunting novel of love and magic, of Kitsune, the young fox kit who catches a glimpse of a Japanese nobleman and resolves to snare his heart. Kitsune embarks on a journey that will change her, her family, and all the humans she encounters...and the magic she conjures will transform all of their lives forever. Set against the backdrop of medieval Japanese society, THE FOX WOMAN is both a retelling of the classic Japanese animal fable and a stunning exploration of what it means…
Do you want a crash course on Japanese yokai and spirits like trickster kitsune fox, grandmother badger, flesh-eating ghosts, tree spirits, and oni demons? Hankering to go along on an adventure tale through samurai-laden alternate historical Japan to find a monk who knows the hidden location of a temple or swoon after a YA romance?
So maybe the story’s main plot is a search for a MacGuffin, and the characters are solid archetypes, but the fun in this book is going along for the crazy ride a la Alice in Wonderland as they meet and defeat various folktale dangers.
'One of my all time favourite fantasy novels!'
Ellen Oh, author of the Prophecy and Spirit Hunters series
The first book in a brand-new series set in ancient Japan from New York Times bestselling author Julie Kagawa.
Enter a beautiful and perilous land of shapeshifters and samurai, kami and legends, humans and demons...a world in which Japanese mythology and imagination blend together
When destiny calls, legends rise.
Every millennium the missing pieces of the Scroll of a Thousand Prayers are hunted, for they hold the power to call the great Kami Dragon from the sea and ask for any one…
As a Japanese Studies major, I read Japanese myth-based books with the intention of enjoying them—but also with the fear that the author might have weirdly coopted the stories I know and love.
No fear here. Kitsune-Tsuki does a good job presenting a “who is the kitsune” mystery in the context of a nobleman’s impending wedding and portraying some cool Onmyouji (shamanic curse worker) chants and rituals. Best of all, because I love new spins, there’s a shadow wolf character—a kind of ninja-like policeman—who provides tension.
There are clues sprinkled throughout the hunt for the kitsune spirit about the twist ending, but I didn’t see it coming until just before it happened; so delightful to be fooled by a clever fox!
"Once I started reading, I could not put it down. The story is thrilling and magical." "Twisty! Turny! Magical! Wonderful!" "...I figured I knew exactly how it was going to end. I was completely wrong." “I finished it and immediate starting reading again, looking for the clues.”
How does one find a shapeshifter who may not even exist?
The onmyouji Tsurugu no Kiyomori, a practitioner of the mystic arts, has been engaged to protect the warlord's new bride from the fox spirit rumored to be near. Tsurugu and the shadow-warrior Shishio Hitoshi face an…
I fell in bittersweet love with the kitsune from Gaiman’s retelling of a classic Japanese tale. A badger and fox wager that they can drive a monk from his temple. The fox turns into a woman to woo him—and falls in love.
The story is haunting, but Amano’s dreamy illustrations make it unforgettable. While the other authors are all Western-raised, this version of kitsune comes to life from a specific Japanese fable and the pen of a Japanese illustrator. A classic not to be missed.
A humble young monk and a magical, shape-changing fox find themselves romantically drawn together. As their love blooms, the fox learns of a devilish plot by a group of demons and a Japanese emperor to steal the monk's life.
One of the most popular and critically acclaimed graphic novels of all time, Neil Gaiman's award-winning masterpiece The Sandman set the standard for mature, lyrical fantasy in the modern comics era. Illustrated by an exemplary selection of the medium's most gifted artists, the series is a rich blend of modern and ancient mythology in which contemporary fiction, historical drama, and legend…
I was instantly drawn into an alternate, magical feudal Japan where trickster foxes, dragons, witches, boar-headed guardians of the forest, and okami-wolves live secretly alongside the usual human lords and warriors because of the central love triangle.
Rin is cursed into speechlessness and sent to sabotage the human lord, Hikaru’s, treaty with another powerful family, but instead falls in love. She is helped by Shin, Rin's Okami friend, who secretly loves her. Hijinks ensue, helped along by magic. This had a very manga/anime vibe but was the least “traditional” regarding the fox magic.
A Kitsune dreaming of a wider world. A prince seeking purpose. A love that defies the odds.
Trapped in a dull and unfilling role as palace maid, Rin dreams of rising higher in the immortal court. Determined to change her lot in life, she plans to use her illusion power to spy on her ruler's rival and prove her worth. But when her mission fails, she's turned human as punishment. Now she has until the next full moon to seduce a human prince, break his engagement, and upend his treaty with a rival kingdom without her Kitsune magic or voice,…
Lily isn't supposed to hunt game in the Daimyo's woods. She's just the cook's daughter. And she definitely isn't supposed to sing the forbidden old Jindo songs. But Lily was born in a Tiger year and isn’t like other village girls.
One day, she finds the Daimyo’s son, Ashikaga, dying in the forest. When the Pretender Emperor's men arrive to kill him, Lily’s only defense is a forbidden Jindo song. The song wakes a powerful spirit–as well as Ashikaga's interest. The prickly lord has hidden secrets. He will stop at nothing to defeat the Pretender Emperor, and now Ashikaga knows her secret. Lily will defy Ashikaga and the spirits themselves to protect all she loves.
In a previous career, I traveled extensively to many parts of the world. I always found new cultures, old traditions, strange languages, and exotic environments fascinating. Perhaps even more fascinating, were the expats I found who had traded in their home country for an existence far from where they were born and different from how they were reared. In many instances, I’ve attempted to incorporate—in Heinlein’s words—this stranger in a strange land motif in my work. It always seems to heighten my interest. I hope the reader’s as well.
San Diego Private Investigator, Brig Ellis, is hired by a wealthy industrialist to help him acquire the final horse in a set of twelve palomino miniatures that once belonged to the last Emperor of China. What begins as a seemingly reasonable assignment quickly morphs into something much more malevolent.
The gumshoe has to deal not only with brigands, kidnappers, and commies, but also with the beautiful, enigmatic daughter of the industrialist whose involvement raises the danger level exponentially. As complications and the body count rise, Ellis tries to make sure this ill-fated job won’t be his last.
San Diego Private Investigator, Brig Ellis, is hired by a wealthy industrialist to help him acquire the final horse in a set of twelve palomino miniatures that once belonged to the last Emperor of China. What begins as a seemingly reasonable assignment quickly morphs into something much more sinister. The intrepid gumshoe finds himself having to bargain with brigands, kibitz with kidnappers, clash with commies, and duel with a stone cold assassin incapable of feeling pain. All while navigating potentially deadly pitfalls instigated by his employer's beautiful but enigmatic daughter. Conflict and danger increase at warp speed as Ellis tries…
