Dragon Sword and Wind Child (Tales of the Magatama, #1)

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Dragon Sword and Wind Child (Tales of the Magatama #1)

by Noriko Ogiwara, Cathy Hirano (Translator), Miho Satake (Illustrator)

4.1 of 5 stars 4.10 · rating details · 390 ratings · 49 reviews

In the land of Toyoashihara, the forces of the God of Light and the Goddess of Darkness have waged war for generations. But for 15-year old Saya, the war is far away and unimportant--until the day she discovers she is the reincarnation of the Water Maiden and a princess of the Children of the Dark. Raised to love the Light and detest the Dark, Saya must come to terms with...more

Hardcover, 286 pages

Published October 16th 2007 by VIZ Media LLC (first published 1988)

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Jan 01, 2009 Firekeeper rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: completely-amazing, fantasy, highest-shelf, original-innovative-creative

If I were to choose one thing I liked best about this book, I would probably choose the way that Ogiwara takes a bucket of fantasy tropes (magical swords, Chosen One types, Light and Darkness, etc.) and dumps it upside down. At first glance it seems like a rather cliché story, but read it and you will discover something strikingly original and beautiful.
Or I might choose the fact that this book struck me in the same way Ratha's Creature did. Original, interesting, a roller coaster of action with...more

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Mar 04, 2012 Maya rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of Asian Fantasy

Shelves: asian-fantasy, great-fantasy-reads, hidden-gems, good-romantasy-paranormal-romance

Noriko Ogiwara grew up reading Western Fantasy books such as Narnia. While she loved those, she also kept dreaming of a fantasy set in Asia. In the end, she simply went ahead and wrote one herself. Dragon Sword and Wind Child is the first book in her Magatama-series, but it is also a stand-alone novel that can be read on its own.

Saya, a slightly tomboyish girl from a tiny village, would be living a perfectly normal life, if it weren't for the intense nightmares that keep reminding her of her dar...more Noriko Ogiwara grew up reading Western Fantasy books such as Narnia. While she loved those, she also kept dreaming of a fantasy set in Asia. In the end, she simply went ahead and wrote one herself. Dragon Sword and Wind Child is the first book in her Magatama-series, but it is also a stand-alone novel that can be read on its own.

Saya, a slightly tomboyish girl from a tiny village, would be living a perfectly normal life, if it weren't for the intense nightmares that keep reminding her of her dark past as a war orphan. A religious war, or it could be called a crusade, waged by the army of the God of Light against the people who refuse to worship him, derogatorily called "Ground Spiders". Up until now, all that has meant very little to Saya herself, but then she meets the demons from her dream and is about to play an important role in this century-long conflict.

The world of Dragon Sword and Wind Child is inspired by Japanese mythology, the "Record of Ancient Matters" (Kojiki) in general, and it is especially reminiscent of the myth of Izanagi and Izanami or also has characters loosely based on the shinto gods Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi and Susanoo.

However, the author has still created a world very much her own, which you can consider as a fantasy version of Japan, but also simply as a fantasy asian-inspired setting. I certainly didn't catch all the references (even though the book does feature a very interesting afterword and glossary) and apart from the names the Japanese influence on the story might not even be all that apparent for general readers.

The writing isn't exactly polished, but nice enough. Quite a few lines I genuinely enjoyed and for a debut work imho it is definitely a fine effort. The translation is very well done. A sentence here and there could probably have been turned into slightly more natural sounding English, but that's a minor issue.

The book does have its weaknesses. It is quite short, yet a lot happens in the story and some parts were maybe handled a bit too fast. F.ex. I found Saya's extreme depression to progress too rapidly and I didn't really get the feeling that a whole month had passed. The recovery also happened very fast, but that one got explained and did make sense, so I didn't mind so much. Still, sometimes Saya has some kind of flash of genius und just understands something completely, which enables the story to progress. The whole reincarnation thing kind of explains it, but it still felt a bit too easy for me. I also felt that the foreshadowing wasn't done particularly well and the ending had some parts that went just a bit too nicely.

At the same time the book does manage to have depth and complexity. Dragon Sword and Wind Child deals with how religion and culture change over time, how one people will influence another, how one religion or culture will assimilate and modify other already existing customs. The issues of light vs darkness, life vs death, nature vs “civilization” and, at the end of all, coexistence and tolerance play a major part in the story and convey a nice, if idealistic, message.

Saya is a fine heroine, who gets her fair share of character development. She questions herself and things around her, makes mistakes, but also learns from them. She's not your usual YA bratty main character. Torihiko and Chihaya are also very like-able characters and the interactions between Teruhi and Tsukishiro were well-written and both act as individuals. I appreciated f.ex. that Saya realizes that the love she feels for the prince is based for a fair part on physical attraction. There is also no instant-love, quite the contrary and no teenie drama.

Actually this book could be counted as one of the first YA paranormal romance novels I read. And if the publisher would just market it as such, it surely could be getting a few more sales. With reincarnation, gods and doomed love, there is absolutely no reason this should be any less successful than f.ex. Starcrossed.

To sum it up, Dragon Sword and Wind Child can be enjoyed simply for its fantasy story, which is exotic and fresh, but also for the different issues it tackles that are very real and exist in our world just as much as in this imaginary setting。

If you are a fantasy reader, who is at all interested in Asia or Japan in particular, this book is a must-read. For others it is worth reading at least once, if you'd like something different from the general YA fantasy books available in "the West".(less)

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Jan 16, 2011 Jayme rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Jayme by: Kaion Vin

Shelves: 2011, fantasy, mythology, young-adult

It took me a while to get into this book, but it wasn't the story's fault, I think it was the translation. It felt very cold and didn't draw me into the amazing story that was unfolding right underneath the completely passionless words. But once I got used to that, the story was incredible.

While reading it I kept wondering if it was based on actual Japanese mythology. It had a real pagan, Greek or Celtic kind of saga feel to it, but Japanese instead. The afterword told me this was exactly what...more

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Aug 15, 2007 Kami rated it 4 of 5 stars

Why is it that lame books stay around forever and good books, like this one, disappear off the face of the earth. I had to look this up under amazon.ca to even find it. Ridiculous. My only hope for society is that I tried looking up Catherine Called Birdie, (which I detested) and couldn't find that at all. Anyway, I liked this book a lot. It was kind of odd, much to my liking. It was set in Asia, or it's magical equivelant, and involved a quest, a sword, invading armies, that sort of thing. Not...more

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Feb 18, 2013 mich rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is a gorgeous story, but not without flaws.
Saya is our protagonist, an "ordinary" teenage girl who learns that she is the one destined to have the power to awaken and still the Dragon Sword, the only weapon that can end the war that is raging between the Light and Dark. I know, sounds a bit too familiar, a bit generic right? Still, I found myself quickly pulled in by the beautiful atmosphere of the story.

I was instantly intrigued by the story's concept of Light and Dark. One side is led by...more This is a gorgeous story, but not without flaws.
Saya is our protagonist, an "ordinary" teenage girl who learns that she is the one destined to have the power to awaken and still the Dragon Sword, the only weapon that can end the war that is raging between the Light and Dark. I know, sounds a bit too familiar, a bit generic right? Still, I found myself quickly pulled in by the beautiful atmosphere of the story.

I was instantly intrigued by the story's concept of Light and Dark. One side is led by Prince Tsukishiro and Princess Teruhi, the children of the God of Light, who represent life and so they are immortal. On the other side are those who follow the Goddess of Darkness, of death, of earth. Her people die and are reincarnated over and over. Saya is the reincarnation of the Water Maiden, a princess who is born on the side of Darkness but who is always drawn to the Light and, more specifically, to Tsukishiro. While she does not remember her past lives, we are given hints of a relationship between Tsukishiro and the last Water Maiden, Sayura, who killed herself. This book weaves the tale of Saya as she decides what side she will fight on, and the consequences of her choice.

Unfortunately, this book has flaws that are big enough to turn off many readers. The characters are all a bit flat and Saya in particular is a very passive protagonist. (I normally like my female leads to be strong and decisive, however, I do think the point here is that Saya always desires to follow the Light which goes against her very nature as a child of Darkness, and so she's always caught between the two which leads to her feelings of being unable to truly belong on either side and with that comes insecurity, indecisiveness and passivity.) There is a romance that develops later in the book that I think could definitely have been left out. And while I actually like the feel of translated stories, I know that this can be a huge turnoff to some people. Also, the writing does get overly descriptive at times and borders on tedious. And the ending - well, I won't go into it but let's just say, I didn't care for it much.

Still, there are some truly thrilling, heart-racing scenes in this book. And, every once in awhile, a character would say something that would absolutely take my breath away. And the whole atmosphere or feeling or whatever of the story just captured me for some reason. I definitely wouldn't recommend this book to just anybody, but there was enough here for me to appreciate it for what it was. (less)

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Jun 06, 2011 Kelly Flanagan rated it 5 of 5 stars

I really liked this book. And that's in it's entirety. The characters were deep, multifaceted like all people are. The plot was full. It is another one for the shelf I considered calling 'the wall breakers'. Books that test the line between good and bad; right and wrong; darkness and light. They face the fact that all of any one thing is bad, that he world only turns with proper portions of all. None is bad or good on it's own, it is used that way. And nothing is made-created-grown-grasped that...more

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Jun 10, 2010 NebraskaIcebergs rated it 4 of 5 stars

I am not sure how I feel about this book. The ornate language reads like the classics that I grew up with and that turned me into a lover of children's books. The exotic worlds introduced within the book further made me aware that I was not reading any ordinary writer. Yet enough of the time I felt so confused that I am not sure how to react to this book.

Often I felt as if Ogiwara was explaining concepts alien to me, but which were so integral to the story that I remained unable to fully appreci...more I am not sure how I feel about this book. The ornate language reads like the classics that I grew up with and that turned me into a lover of children's books. The exotic worlds introduced within the book further made me aware that I was not reading any ordinary writer. Yet enough of the time I felt so confused that I am not sure how to react to this book.

Often I felt as if Ogiwara was explaining concepts alien to me, but which were so integral to the story that I remained unable to fully appreciate the book's depth. The closest experience that parallels is my first exposure to ethnic foods. For Chinese food to initially feel palpatable to me, I needed it coated in sweet sauce. For Sushi to feel comfortable to me, I needed it laden with tempura. The foods were so unusual that I could not fathom liking them unless they were made more familar to me. Ogiwara sets her book in ancient Japan and incorporates its mythology. The landscape and its people fascinate me, the way treasures do in a museum. Yet those treasures are often enclosed behind glass, forbidden to touch, and so remain items about which simply to feel wonder. At times I felt caught up in Ogiwara's tale of war and love, but often I also simply felt overawed in a world unknown to me in my North American culture. When it comes to food, I am delighted that now I can savor ethnic foods without additions. I fear I may need to better understand Japanese culture to develop a similar appreciation for Dragon Sword and Wind Child.

The book starts with Saya waking to a reoccuring dream. In that dream she met five people and soon enough she encounters those people in real life. They are the people of the dark or of the earth. They claim she is one of them. Later that very same day, while trying to make sense of their claim--because she was raised to worship the light, she meets the revered son of the God of Light: Prince Tsukishiro. He calls Saya the Water Maiden and invites her to join him in his palace to later wed.

So far, the book resembles a traditional good (light) against evil (darkness) fantasy story with some romance mixed in, but it quickly departs from this norm. Saya moves into the castle of light, is followed by one of the five earth people, encounters an argument between the prince and his sister who claims that Saya is indeed of the dark, and.... This is where I start to feel confused, for this struggle is not part of American folklore of which I am aware. It becomes even more muddled for me, when the people of the earth talk about death and rebirth while the people of the heavens talk about being immortal. I sense Ogiwara is talking about reincarnation, but am uncertain what other mythologies are covered.

Often stories which appeal because of their exotic worlds fail to capture our imagination upon rereading, because our wonder lessens as we begin to assimilate these other worlds into our mindset. Japanese culture aside, I suspect I might want to give Ogiwawa's book another read. Through her elborate tale of fantasy, she explores faith, love, immortality, death, perfection, compassion, and an endless list of other ideas. As such, the book is far more complex than the average children's book and deserves esteem.(less)

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Feb 16, 2011 Marissa rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: japan

Imagine being the reincarnation of a powerful Priestess, but having no conscious idea of who you are? Yet, you’re haunted by dreams of your past life, knowing that there’s a part of you that doesn’t really fit in with the adopted family who raised you or the world you’ve come to know and rely on. This is what 15-year-old Saya has to deal with when her past life catches up with her and she’s thrust into a centuries old mythological battle. Saya must return to the people of the Dark, her people, a...more

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Jun 05, 2007 Hokuto rated it 4 of 5 stars

An intriguing read, with odd twists I didn't expect - I've heard that there are two more books in the trilogy, but I don't think they've ever been translated and it seems a shame, as I'd love to read them (and this one again!).

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Jan 22, 2008 Hana rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I love when books are loosely based on myths or legends that come from the author's country. This is a book aimed mainly for young adults, but I found that even as an adult you could enjoy it.

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Feb 27, 2011 Hannah rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anyone

Recommended to Hannah by: Sami

What a delight. This is geared towards young-adults, but I find so many good stories in that genre that it makes absolutely no difference to me.

It's hard to pinpoint what I enjoyed so much about this book. It has the classic fantasy elements that I so love in the Celtic-mythology based stories I often read. But it also is very distinctly Japanese. The translator did an excellent job (in my opinion) of maintaining the poetry of that language. The characters, the setting, many of the themes were...more

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May 22, 2010 Chandra rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: kids-young-adult, 2010_reads, sci-fi-fantasy

Author Noriko Ogiwara grew up reading and loving western fantasy epics. As such she was inspired to create a great fantasy epic which drew on Japanese culture and mythology. I think knowing this is vital going into this book. If you’re not a big fantasy epic buff (I’m not) this book may not be a perfect fit. I found myself feeling a little bored and detached at times – exactly the way I felt when I read Fellowship of the Ring. If you’re interested in exploring Japanese mythology (I am) this book...more

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May 24, 2013 Suzanne Rooyen rated it 3 of 5 stars

More like 3.5/5 stars.

So much to love about this book but sometimes the storytelling got in the way of the story itself.

Firstly, this is a translation of a novel originally written in Japanese. The prose was heavy handed at times and did't always flow smoothly. Other times it read more like an anime series and I quite liked it. I think some of the head hopping might've been due to translation, and might not have been the author's intention, however, it still threw me out of the story a few times...more

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Mar 10, 2011 Hirondelle rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

This was a different book than I expected. It has more similarities to the current fashion for YA romantic adventure fantasy ( the female main character getting a boyfriend who is a vampire/werewolf/angel/demon/dragon/god/whatevertheywillthinkofnext) in a very different tone (mythologic) and setting, a prehistoric type of fantasy Japan. I head this compared to The Lord of the Rings, or Narnia, or many other things, but I would only compare it to one of the longish chapters in the Silmarillion, b...more

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Oct 15, 2012 Marine_maiden rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: physical-book, owned-books, 2012, english-book-or-version

It's a story of dark against the light with a simple reason behind it, love. The main character of the story is a girl that is coming from Darkness but never knew it, so she has been worshipping Light all her life. She experienced a wide range of emotions, loneliness, fear, sadness joy, guilt, having crush, etc and it's described very good in the story development. Her maturity came after her various events in life along with her gullible friend she had taken away from the Light. I like how she...more

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Mar 29, 2011 Rahmidru rated it 5 of 5 stars

I adored this book as a child; I tried to steal it from the library at one point, because I couldn't find it in print to get my own copy! I was excited when I realized that Viz was re-issuing the book and promptly bought it again. It's an extremely cool story with a stroy female character and a supporting cast that is just as vibrant as she is. Beware, though, as it does contain issues that can disturb young readers (incest, child-murder, rape).

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Jul 27, 2012 pdarnold rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-fantasy

I really enjoyed this tale! I love reading stories with some mythological basis from all hemispheres! A journey from simple farm girl to heights one would hardly comprehend. Magic, Imperial like Japanese splendor, sword and sorcery, adventure, war, two opposites fighting as well as joining with each other, a bit of romance along with teenage crushing, 1 quirky raven and several monstrous gods. Worth the time.

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Jun 09, 2012 Lyric Rowan rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was a fantastic book! it kind of made me angry though. the plot twists capivated me. The way Saya was portrayed and her past made me cheer for her the whole way through! The only Problem i really had with the book was the Romance. I felt that that could have been brought to light a bit more then just the obviouse "I suddenly think he's cute" aspect.
I did approve of Saya and Chihaya. It was fantastic!

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Oct 25, 2012 Eric rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: japanese-literature

A nice fantasy epic. While I feel that the "main" character Saya does very little for the first 2/3 of the book and events are merely happening around her, the base story is too entertaining to earn a mediocre review. I will also say that the story wraps up quite nicely and there was more than one point toward the end that moved me emotionally. Definitely recommended.

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Jan 25, 2011 Mely rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult, 2011-read, 2011-by-poc, pbook

Reread, slightly updated translation; I don't remember it well enough to remark on the differences.

I get a little more out of it now that I know a little more of Japanese mythology, but I can tell I'm still missing a great deal. It also helps to think of the story as in mythic+folktale mode rather than novel mode (the difference between this novel and the sequel is striking), although Saya definitely suffers from first-novel-perfect-heroine problems, where the author describes her as having seve...more

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Jun 04, 2012 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

Dragon Sword and Wind Child is a hidden gem. Ogiwara weaves a lyrical, whimsical, complex tale about love, war, fate and religion. Although the English translation is beautiful, I can't even imagine how gorgeous and nuanced it would be in the original Japanese. As a warning to fantasy fans looking for their next escapism read, this isn't a romp of an adventure; rather it is a slow burn, character and idea driven myth.

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Nov 03, 2011 Regina rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010-before, asian, fantasy, i-own-this, mythology, romance

omg i loved loved this novel, for some reason the story stays with me long after i finished. i think chihaya and saya's love story is adorable. i love how they grow to love each other and didnt have insta-love like most stories.

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Mar 29, 2012 Zehel rated it 3 of 5 stars

Sedikit kesulitan membacanya karena hanya ada edisi bahasa inggris, tapi ini sebuah fantasi legenda yang sangat indah.
Tidak terlalu kejepangan, kalau menurut saya. Terutama karena endingnya.

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Jun 05, 2012 Paintedwings rated it 3 of 5 stars

It was good. It was kind of hard to follow and I wasn't clear on some things, but it was still good. The book says #1 meaning theres a #2 somewhere out there. I have yet to find it.

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Jul 30, 2009 Willow rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It's a really really cool 'origins of a nation' story. it is not as amazing a saga as Juuni Kokki/The Twelve Kingdoms, in terms of fantasy, but wonderful none the less.

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Feb 20, 2012 Kristen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a rare impulse buy for me since I'd never heard of this book until I came across it at the bookstore. I was very glad I read it. It's a translation of a Japanese fantasy book written in the tradition of the common British and American fantasies based on Celtic mythology, only using Japanese mythology from the Kojiki as the basis for the story. I loved the fantasy elements and am definitely planning to pick up the second book in the Tales of the Magatama, which has also been translated i...more

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Nov 13, 2011 Jenny rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was an enjoyable translation of a Japanese story. I really enjoyed all aspects of it and found it to be quite fun and sweet.

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Oct 24, 2010 Jennyvondoom rated it 5 of 5 stars

I read this for the first time when I was in middle school and it still remains one of my favorite books twelve years later.

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May 15, 2011 Sarah Sammis rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: borrowed, read-in-1998, want-to-re-read

I remember liking it and I remember the basics but not the specifics. I want to re-read it.

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Jan 27, 2011 Jay rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I liked this one, pretty interesting and sort of follows the way Japanese legends go. sort of.

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“I will never dream again. For I can never again forget who I am. I realized that when I couldn't escape from the pain.” — 4 people liked it

“It's true that some mistakes can never be amended no matter what you do, but that doesn't mean it's all right to give up before you even try.” — 4 people liked it

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