Risuko (Seasons of the Sword, #1)

by David Kudler

[Beth C.]

Risuko - Squirrel - is a young girl in Japan set in the feudal days. Her father is dead, her mother struggling to keep them all alive. Then one day, her mother sells her to a lady - and so begins her training as a Kunoichi, a Japanese lady warrior.

The premise sounded interesting, as did the time and place - unfortunately, the book failed to live up to that promise. Without giving any spoilers, I can say that when one of the characters is written so completely awry that it jerks the reader out of their suspension of disbelief, that is a problem - as is the fact that any reasonable reader will see the conclusion coming a mile away.

In the book (again, no spoilers), there is a chef who is from Korea. Remember, this is during the feudal days long ago. However, this Korean chef has the speech pattern of a southern cowboy, minus the "ya'll". It's terribly jarring, and I can't help but think that there must have been some other way of differentiating him from the Japanese around him? In addition, the ultimate outcome of the story - more precisely, who might be the "bad guy" - was obvious from fairly early. There was no big suspenseful moment, just a realizing of the story arc that was coming.

Overall, the story itself was somewhat interesting, particularly considering this is based on a possible reality. However, those two issues I mentioned definitely detract from the story as a whole. Frankly, the explanation at the end was of more interest than the story once I got to the Southern Korean and the obvious plot hook.

This story is the first in a series, and sadly, it is not one I will continue.