Shadow of the Fox

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Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa is set in the time of samurai and ronin, but also in a world where magic and demons roam freely. Yumeko is half girl and half fox or kitsune, who has been raised in isolation in a temple. Due to her yokai nature she has certain powers, but mainly she just likes to make mischief. Kage Tatsumi is a boy who has been raised in the Shadow Clan, and who is also the bearer of a demon possessed sword. These two become unlikely allies in a mission to return a sacred scroll to a temple, while being pursued by all sorts of creatures who are also in search for the scroll.

The spider does not spin its web in a heartbeat, nor does the albatross fly across oceans with a few flaps of its wings. Many would consider what they do impossible, and yet, they still complete their tasks without fail, because they simply…start.”

shadow of the fox

This was my first audio book. I never thought I would get into audio books but I really needed something productive to do while on the way to and from work, and I thought listening to an audio book was a great idea. I liked the fact that Yumeko and Tatsumi were voiced by a female and a male respectively. They each changed their voices when another character was involved, and I thought it was well done. Maybe I got lucky and just had a really good audio book as my first. I did have the e-book as well, and that was nice to have for any down time, and to check the correct spelling of names and places. It also had a handy glossary at the end.

The characters were very well developed and had a lot of depth, even the minor ones. I thought Yumeko’s sense of humor was great, even if sometimes she did not mean to be funny and was just plain naïve. She did not understand sarcasm at first, and it was fun to watch her learn as she went until she was actually using it correctly. In contrast, Tatsumi had no sense of humor at all, not because he had a sheltered upbringing, but because he had to keep control over his emotions at all times in order to keep the demon inside his sword from completely taking over his body.

A fat tanuki statue wearing a straw hat and clutching a sake bottle stood beside the entrance, beckoning travelers inside. “What do you think, Yumeko-chan?” Yumeko blinked at the statue and crossed her arms. “I don’t think this is a proper representation,” she stated in a serious voice. “I’ve never known any tanuki to have that big a scrotum.”

Yumeko

The world building was well done. Kagawa has a way to make the places, animals, and even the food seem real. I admit to getting hungry every time they were eating any type of food accompanied by steaming rice bowls. This story is full of demons, ghosts, and even zombies…although they don’t call them that, and it’s full of magic that you can get lost in.

What did you think of Shadow of the Fox? Is it in your TBR list? I can’t wait for the second book!