The Shadows of War

"The 8th book in the Toki-Girl and the Sparrow-Boy series for young adult to adult fantasy readers adds yet another adventure based on Japanese history and culture. Here, Azuki, a 'toki' human girl who is also a crested ibis, lives in 1877 Japan, where she has just fought for and won her biggest dream. Or, has she?

Rebellion is threatening the Japanese Empire, and her toki-human abilities may be the only thing that holds her world together as Azuki finds new changes and old traditions clashing all around her, from her little brother's close-held and dangerous secret to a princess's desire to help her people despite her past failures.

Readers who enjoy history, Japanese settings, and an added dash of fantasy and magical realism will find Claire Youmans cultivates a compelling atmosphere of fantasy based on real Japanese history of the Meiji era. No prior familiarity with either that history or the prior series books will be needed to become immersed in Azuki's latest challenges.

Youmans provides descriptions, action, and conversations which embed setting and history into the unfolding events: “How did I do?” she called to her friend, Renko, an Asian Dragon Princess now in her alternate form as a blonde-haired European girl. Renko rode the Palomino, Kiku. She shivered despite her coat; it was cold. Kiku blew out steamy breath. As the filly had pointed out when the two had met, they matched."

As Azuki confronts simmering underlying worries that spring to life during the course of yet another journey that charges her to change, various levels of Japanese culture and society are brought to life: "Lady Satsuki settled the musicians and they began to play. Japanese people had taken to Western music with a vengeance, and many had become accomplished musicians more quickly than anyone expected. Lord Eitaro and Lord Toshio came through the garden with another group of guests, including Yuta."

As in the previous Toki-girl and Sparrow-boy adventures, Youmans crafts a powerful history-based fantasy atmosphere that will attract both fantasy readers and those interested in historical accounts.

The blend is truly magical as Japan's Meiji Era (1868 to 1912) comes to life through Azuki's eyes and heart. As she finds herself confronting Yuta-sensei, uncle and guardian of the Toki-girl and the Sparrow-boy, and his warped vision of war and opportunity, Azuki finds herself confronting mentors and supporters as well as those forces that would twist their lives.

It should be noted that this is the longest book of the series, yet. Young adults will find it and the peppering of black and white illustrations throughout a fine addition to the series that also holds the possibility of proving a satisfying, epic stand-alone read to newcomers." - Diane Donovan, Author, San Francisco Relocated

"The Shadows of War, the eighth book in Claire Youmans’s The Toki-Girl and the Sparrow-Boy series, centers on the antics of shapeshifting children and regal dragons who live in a fantasy version of Meiji-era Japan.

Their beautiful, innocent world is touched at its borders by the wars waged by adults. This novel and its cast of characters will appeal to readers who seek energetic dialogue and emotional gentleness.

The series is named for the girl Azuki and the boy Shota who can both transform into birds. Their adoptive parents in Kyushu have already died, and the siblings have gone forth into the world. At the beginning of The Shadows of War, Azuki and Shota see Japanese ships heading south through the Genkai-Nada Channel. No one knows how far they might go: to the Ryukyu Islands, or even Formosa? Meanwhile, news of the secession of the southern region of Satsuma is announced.

The story is set in the late 19th century, so horses and boats are prominent. Readers learn about Japanese culture at the time, including calligraphy, painted scenes on fusuma sliding doors, matcha-flavored cookies, and tea; the Setsubun holiday ritual to cast out demons; and the apparent influence of the West, such as a growing preference for cotton over silk robes. An inquiry into unexplained phenomena leads toward the possibility of a mischievous ghost called a “zashiki-warashi” (“guest room child”). Horseback riders practice tachisukashi: standing in the stirrups while aiming a bow and arrow.

For younger readers, the exuberant scenes of learning to fly will be especially delightful to read aloud or act out. Talking dragons and birds experiment with the moving air in thermal columns. “We can grip talons and fly one up and one down and flip each other,” the eagle-boy Akira explains. “We use the thermals to ascend as a pair, then break and dive to come together again just above the waves and rise again, circling.” Fellow shapeshifters also help teach the small, growing boy Susu the basics of flying.

Older readers may be interested in following intricate social networks and their formal interactions. There are also character relationships that will interest different readers on different levels, as, for example, when two dragons quietly evolve their friendship. The dragons spend time talking in a magnificent cavern where one of them, elegant and artistic, has built a throne in “a smooth dragon-sized basin” surrounded by igneous rock “like natural lava to create a high back” and then “to meld smoothly into the cavern floor.”

The novel repeatedly observes that individual shapeshifters may prefer to inhabit one of their forms, human or animal. Though the person may give a reason for the form they prefer, a reason isn’t really necessary. This cleverly reveals characters’ personalities and describes the real-life concept of personality.

Young readers of varying ages will find much to appreciate in The Shadows of War. They are given a rich description of what it was like to live in Meiji-era Japan, and they are offered the chance to imagine what it is like to have wings." - By Tucker Lieberman, Independent Book Review