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Aug. 17th, 2010 11:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skygiantsSo I read Moribito: Guardian of the Darkness. And now it seems fairly unlikely that there will ever be any further Moribito books in English, and I am therefore out of Balsa adventures and full of sorrow.*
*Yes, I know, there is the anime. Which I will absolutely be watching! But I'm currently watching through the Twelve Kingdoms anime in a futile attempt to stave off my desperate longing for the next book to come out, and I sort of feel that watching two deliberately-paced, world-building-focused anthropological/political fantasy anime at the same time might detract from my ability to fully appreciate either.
Guardian of the Spirit follows stoic swordswoman Balsa as she decides to deal with her past by going home and apologizing to the relatives of the father-figure who died in exile because he fled the country to train and protect her. Once she's there, it turns out that the conspiracy that forced them to the country in the first place is very far from over, and the repurcussions could destroy the kingdom - and not just in the 'that king totally sucks' sort of way. More in the "when the entire economy of your natural-resource-starved nation is based around an exchange with the supernatural, DO NOT ANNOY THE SUPERNATURAL" sort of way. On the bright side, Balsa discovers an awesome long-lost aunt?
As in the first book, the worldbuilding is fantastic, and Balsa's country and culture feels very believably different from the culture of the Yogo and Yakoo. I also love Balsa herself twice as much after the climax of this book, and how long-suffering she is about constantly getting pulled into nation-saving encounters with the supernatural. "No, seriously, again?"
*Yes, I know, there is the anime. Which I will absolutely be watching! But I'm currently watching through the Twelve Kingdoms anime in a futile attempt to stave off my desperate longing for the next book to come out, and I sort of feel that watching two deliberately-paced, world-building-focused anthropological/political fantasy anime at the same time might detract from my ability to fully appreciate either.
Guardian of the Spirit follows stoic swordswoman Balsa as she decides to deal with her past by going home and apologizing to the relatives of the father-figure who died in exile because he fled the country to train and protect her. Once she's there, it turns out that the conspiracy that forced them to the country in the first place is very far from over, and the repurcussions could destroy the kingdom - and not just in the 'that king totally sucks' sort of way. More in the "when the entire economy of your natural-resource-starved nation is based around an exchange with the supernatural, DO NOT ANNOY THE SUPERNATURAL" sort of way. On the bright side, Balsa discovers an awesome long-lost aunt?
As in the first book, the worldbuilding is fantastic, and Balsa's country and culture feels very believably different from the culture of the Yogo and Yakoo. I also love Balsa herself twice as much after the climax of this book, and how long-suffering she is about constantly getting pulled into nation-saving encounters with the supernatural. "No, seriously, again?"
