An action packed adventure into a lore-rich, mythology heavy magical Japan packed with natural, super-natural and unnatural threats.

I am thankful to the author for my review copy of the book. Below are my honest thoughts on the same.

Right off the deck, what a fabulous cover. If nothing else, the cover is so spectacular that you are immediately smitten, and the book that follows does an equally good job. You know what you are getting when you read Baptiste Pinson Wu’s books – a heavy focus on lore, a deep love and respect for mythology, a whole lot of action, and some nifty twists to keep you hooked. The Army of One series followed this template, embedding itself in Norse Mythology. Undead Samurai also hewed to this and set it in feudal Japan. Blood of the Kami is set in a slightly more mystical Japan, but I believe that Undead Samurai can also be set in the same universe – almost a double header if you will.

That said, you have to applaud the writing skills on display here. The other books that had similar parameters were gritty and dark. In contrast, Blood of the Kami is a testament to the author’s skills in framing those similar themes on an adventure canvas board and making it YA to a certain degree. Make no mistake, there is enough action and blood-letting and a look into some of the darker psyches at work, but the writing and framing make this different from his other series while hewing to similar themes. This is easily one of the best cases of authors being able to shift tones that I have seen.

“And you are no Heart, but you have a good one. The girl doesn’t need your pity and she doesn’t need prayers. She needs an honest, sincere friend. A straight arrow to piece the darkness and rekindle her faith in people”

Blood of the Kami opens with Ren Fudo, our protagonist, being attacked by a mythological monster at twelve years old, and his mother paying the price as she tries to protect him. Now, five years later, Ren has joined the secret sect of hunters to pay off his debt to keep his mother alive while also hunting for revenge. His latest mission has him on the road with a new companion, who is harbouring secrets and pain of her own. Neither of them has any idea that their actions may end up deciding the fate of an uneasy Japan wrestling with civil unrest and strife.

Bong Joon-ho, the Oscar-winning director of Parasite, urged audiences to overcome the “one-inch barrier of subtitles” in order to discover amazing cinema. I would like to make the case for the same when it comes to Blood of the Kami. Pinson Wu peppers the book with a lot of Japanese phrases, and while it may get heavy, it helps to stick to the flow of the book and not let those phrases derail your enjoyment of the book. It is all explained as you go through the book which makes the journey even more interesting.

Ren’s mission increasingly gets complicated, and the mission is increasingly a journey of discovery and learning for the Ren and his companion. The complications of Ren’s journey also take various forms – from natural to supernatural to ultimately unnatural threats, and the book constantly keeps on throwing these challenges to keep the momentum unchecked and flowing. Since this book veers into YA territory, some of the threats and sequences have a kind of easy resolution, but that never detracts from the journey Ren and his increasing band of companions have to face.

“Pain is unique to each of us, as are the solutions to it. But there is a solution; be sure of that. There is always a solution”

As a character, Ren has that bit of a non-conformist rebel in him. Despite the blows that he has taken and the revenge he seeks, he retains a fair amount of zest for life while forming alliances and friendships all across the country. He is also compassionate and playful, reflecting the tone of the book pretty well as well. The supporting cast is also rather well sketched out, and there are particular sojourns of the book that bring to mind some of the wandering aspects of Lord of the Rings (Pon-Pon is Bombadil equivalent if we want to make the comparison).

There is a lot of lore that is covered through the book, but it never feels heavy as the book fairly rockets along – Ren’s mission truly starts only somewhere around the mid-point of the book. While a lot does happen even before that, the urgency amps up significantly after the mid-point of the book. I did feel the YA-ness of the book kept a bit of the tension at bay while also providing some easy resolution – that’s possibly the biggest quibble I have on this otherwise action-packed, mystical, and magical book.

Blood of the Kami is yet another impressive book from Baptiste Pinson Wu – it has all the elements that we love about his books while showing enough deft skill to make it an engaging and thrilling narrative with a YA slant to it. It is an ode to the love of mythology and history, and it shows in every page of this book. Just absorb the Japanese terminologies and you have a magical world to enjoy

Rating – 4.5 Kamis on 5 (the extra 0.5 is for the gorgeous cover, which I genuinely cant take my eyes off )