For the first month of fall, I chose a theme of FOXES. I love foxes – love their cute faces, love their trickster mythology, and love reading fiction that draws on that mythology. As the fantasy genre has become more inclusive it’s been a real joy to read books written by people of color that explores their myths and heritage. Shadow of the Fox falls into this category.
Written by a woman of color – Julie Kagawa – Shadow of the Fox has a great setting and cast of characters.
The two main characters are Yumeko, a kitsune and Kage, a mysterious samurai. In Japanese myth kitsune are fox people, and like many myths about foxes, they’re tricksters. Yumeko lives up to her trickster roots, constantly pulling pranks on the monks in the monastery who’ve raised her.
Kage is sent to Yumeko’s monastery in search of a mysterious scroll, but when he arrives its under attack by demons. Her home destroyed Yumeko sets out on a quest to find help with Kage as her traveling companion. There’s only one catch – she has to keep him from guessing that she has the scroll everyone is after. And Kage has secrets of his own – secrets contained in the sword he carries.
Along the way, the two collect a fabulous set of friends and sidekicks. Readers learn more about Japanese beliefs about demons and magic, which is a nice change from the pseudo-medieval whitewashed fantasy of the past. I was pleasantly surprised by the theme of kindness to others, and being non-judgmental, that emerged as naïve Yumeko often won others to her side.
Kagawa effortlessly blends fantasy, sword fights, demons, suspense, and touches of romance. As befitting of a book with a kitsune as a main character, there are silly pranks and funny moments that will make you laugh. After finishing Shadow of the Fox, I headed straight to the library to place a hold on the next in the series!
If you’re looking for a good fall book to read, curled up on the couch with a good cup of tea, I recommend Shadow of the Fox.
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