purnima ☕ reviewed The Sword of Kaigen by M. L. Wang
An Asian fantasy that centers defiance of power structures and should be on your reading list!
5 stars
The Sword of Kaigen is about war, family, community, and magical powers—but it’s also so much more than that. At the very heart of this story is hope, growth, self-realization, the will to keep moving forward … but above all, defiance. Defiance of the character’s own expectations, defiance of societal and gender norms, defiance of the government.
This masterpiece of a story is set in a small part of the Kaiganese Empire, high up on the ice-covered Mount Takayubi, which, for all intents and purposes, is cut off from the rest of the world. Various families live on this mountain in a class hierarchy—at the very top, almost reaching the clouds, is the village that the Matsudas and Yukinos, houses that have ruled over the mountain for many centuries, inhabit. The Matsudas are at the center of this book, with the multi-voiced narrative alternating between Mamoru, the eldest son …
The Sword of Kaigen is about war, family, community, and magical powers—but it’s also so much more than that. At the very heart of this story is hope, growth, self-realization, the will to keep moving forward … but above all, defiance. Defiance of the character’s own expectations, defiance of societal and gender norms, defiance of the government.
This masterpiece of a story is set in a small part of the Kaiganese Empire, high up on the ice-covered Mount Takayubi, which, for all intents and purposes, is cut off from the rest of the world. Various families live on this mountain in a class hierarchy—at the very top, almost reaching the clouds, is the village that the Matsudas and Yukinos, houses that have ruled over the mountain for many centuries, inhabit. The Matsudas are at the center of this book, with the multi-voiced narrative alternating between Mamoru, the eldest son and heir, and Misaki, his mother, who has three other children. The family is known for having the blood of gods in their veins and fighting techniques passed down over generations, making them the most powerful and revered warrior clan in the region. Every son born into this house knows his destiny—to become the best warrior of them all and perfect the Whispering Blade, a technique that’s only the Matsudas can become masters of but not all manage to.
This barely scratches the surface of the extensive world-building that M. L. Wang has done, from the various clans and their specialties and customs to the technology, progressive gender roles, and disparities outside Takayubi as well. Wang brings in layers upon layers of conflicts, traditions, misinformation, and disillusionment with the government and other societies, all derived from Japanese culture and the country’s strained relations with its Asian neighbors. It’s a testament to her writing that she’s spent so much time exploring the many facets of the world in this book, all the while revealing bits and pieces of the characters’ lives and personalities until they become whole.
You learn over time that the world isn’t broken. It’s just… got more pieces to it than you thought. They all fit together, just maybe not the way you pictured when you were young.
In the story, we see Mamoru, an incredibly talented boy who’s under a lot of pressure to succeed, go through the process of realizing that everything he knows about the kingdom, government, and the warriors’ purpose here is a lie. Kwang Chul-hee, a new transfer student at the elite Kumono Academy, brings with him unpleasant information, supported by proof, that everything Mamoru knows about their history is mere propaganda fed by the Kaiganese government to portray the image of being all-powerful and undefeatable, while breeding warriors cut off from technology, progress, and news of the outside world and filled with a single-minded sense of responsibility and patriotism, willing to sacrifice themselves for the kingdom in a heartbeat. Wang unhesitatingly throws truth after truth at Mamoru, making him confront the reality of the situation and question himself—what exactly is he training and fighting for? What is that he can hold on to when his entire universe shifts and implodes? What does it mean to call a place home? Witness his transformation through a nerve-wracking journey that will make you smile and scream and cry in equal amounts.
This type of questioning is a large part of every character’s growth. In a scene featuring Misaki, Setsuko—her sister-in-law, a fisherman’s daughter who married into the Matsuda family—and their friend Hyori Yukino, the seeds of doubt are sown in Setsuko and Hyori’s minds, and we get a hint that Misaki is not who she seems to be, that her role as a demure wife and mother is not all that defines her.
“You… are you saying our government would lie to us?” The answer was ‘yes,’ of course, but Misaki couldn’t say that straight. That just wasn’t the sort of thing you said in Kaigen.
With this, we start venturing into Misaki’s past, her backstory and experiences slowly unraveling with each chapter, revealing her skill with blades, her stealth in the shadows, and her fierce need to protect her own. There is a lot that Misaki knows but leaves unsaid, her past having been shoved into a corner of her mind and locked away tight, just like her freedom in the Matsuda household.
Misaki is a complex character, embodying both strength and tenderness, full of shrewd awareness but also drowning in her own guilt and regrets—so enveloped in her duties and bitterness, in fact, that she loses touch with her true self as well as her children along the way, later realizing that she’s not been truly present as they grew up. This kind of self-awareness and introspective growth is seen in the way her approach to her husband progresses as well, and she goes from being a wife whose lips are clamped shut, always deferring to her husband, to the independent and powerful woman she’s always been but forgot along the way. The author strikes a balance between the traditional gender roles in the society and Misaki’s yearning to take control of her life, something that steadily develops as she faces her inner demons, and alongside this, so do her interactions with her son.
"Caring for my family meant putting away the fighter, so I did.” Mamoru was quiet for a moment and Misaki looked up to find him staring at her with a confused expression on his face. “What is it?” she asked. “Why do you call yourself selfish?”
There is nothing predictable in this book. Characters that I felt nothing for in the beginning or scorned their actions as the plot progressed ended up tugging at my heartstrings as their own issues were slowly unpacked, transforming them from monsters to humans. Plot twist after plot twist had me feverishly turning the pages, staying up the night and overloading on coffee the next day at work, wishing I could keep everything else aside and drown in these pages.
The prose is a delight as well. Vivid imagery and well-timed, hard-hitting punchlines are scattered through every chapter of this book in just the right amounts, and M. L. Wang has a way of making you an emotional wreck with the most silent, softest of scenes, then have you at the edge of your seat with fast-paced action a couple of pages later.
The author also brings in several insightful moments that highlight human nature and tendencies in various situations, whether it’s personal conversations between characters or moments that highlight the societal imbalances. Even characters that initially do not seem as important to the overall story gradually face their own struggles and have moments of calm, clarity, and wisdom.
As the characters grow and their personalities evolve, so does the reader’s understanding of the political dynamics, the murky grey areas beginning to develop transparent patches. I felt the grief, the terror, the exhilaration, the shock, the pain—every single emotion and churning revelation that the characters went through jumped from the page, making my heart pound in my throat. And ever so often I had to stop, take in the effectiveness with which the author has portrayed such hard-hitting themes parallel to the situations and trends in the real world and yet enveloped in so much magic and wonder.
They may have grown up in a culture of denial, but when the bloody truth stared them full in the face, they were more than capable of comprehending it. They were more than capable of anger.
This book is a page-turner. It’s incredible how perfectly paced and smooth this is despite its complexity—the action scenes, dialogues, shifts in the narrative, exposition, and suspense are all masterfully balanced to keep the story moving forward, making this a fantastic and thrilling read.
I only wish it didn’t have to end.
