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.
My favorite fantasy novels tend to be rather complex. Winding plotlines, mysteriously interconnected characters, whimsical settings, and intricate, thoughtful worldbuilding combine to create immersive stories that stick in the mind like overworn folklore. Time travel or interworld travel lend additional layers of intrigue and mystery, forcing the inescapable contemplation of a more thrilling, alternate reality. And if it’s all packaged in artful, breathtaking prose that breeds full-color images, audible noises, indelible flavors, nose-crumpling odors, and tangible textures, I will happily lose myself in the pages, truly forgetting about the strictures of everyday life… at least until I get hungry and remember I need to consume more than books to survive.
An Heir of Realms tells the tale of two young heroines—a dragon rider and a portal jumper—who fight dragon-like parasites to save their realms from extinction.
Rhoswen is training as a Realm Rider to work with dragons and burn away the Narxon swarming into her realm. Rhoswen’s dream is to Ride, but her destiny will pit her against her uncle and king, who have scorned her since before her birth.
In the Exchange, the waystation between realms, Emmelyn fights the G’Ambit, a gambling ring with members more intent on lining their pockets than protecting the realms—or their own lives.
Realm-devouring parasites threaten all existence. The Exchange is desperate to destroy them. But could their radical plans endanger the realms, too?
Soul-sucking parasites are overwhelming the realms.
Rhoswen of Stanburh is of age to train as a Realm Rider—a defender of the realms. Riders and their dragons work together to burn away infiltrating Narxon as they swarm in through tears in a realm’s fabric. But it’s not an easy battle: the mere touch of the smoky, dragon-like adversaries can reduce the lively winged beasts—and their Riders—to ash.
Becoming a Realm Rider is Rhoswen’s dream, but she carries far more responsibility…
