Tomoe Gozen (Tomoe Gozen #1) in Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy"

Oct 17, 2021 Robin rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: japan, fantasy

While I found the idea of a female samurai sword & sorcery protagonist appealing, I was a bit let down by the book itself.

The book starts off strong. Tomoe finds herself under the sway of an evil not-Chinese sorcerer, who compels her to join a demon horde and slaughter thousands of her former master’s warriors. She manages to free herself from this magical influence, but the damage is done: her master is slain and her honor as a samurai besmirched. She goes off on a journey to restore her good n While I found the idea of a female samurai sword & sorcery protagonist appealing, I was a bit let down by the book itself.

The book starts off strong. Tomoe finds herself under the sway of an evil not-Chinese sorcerer, who compels her to join a demon horde and slaughter thousands of her former master’s warriors. She manages to free herself from this magical influence, but the damage is done: her master is slain and her honor as a samurai besmirched. She goes off on a journey to restore her good name.

Unfortunately, the book that follows is largely directionless and disjointed. It’s more of a sequence of events than a cohesive narrative. Tomoe is afflicted by a curse early on in the story that gets resolved about halfway through the story, and the book concludes with a duel with the shogun’s champion, who she encounters early on (not that there’s much of a dramatic build towards this duel, or a sense of inevitability), but there’s not really a driving plot. Tomoe wanders and experiences strange events involving magic and monsters.

The decision to set the book in an alternate world is a strange one. I suppose setting the story in “Naipon” rather than Nippon offers some cover for inaccuracies and allows license to do a “good bits version” of historical Japan. But Tomoe is a historical (if mythologized) figure and real world locations and religions are used, rather than fictionalized substitutes. Real Japanese terms appear frequently throughout, if occasionally misspelled or misused. Characters sometimes have names that would be unpronounceable in Japanese (“Noyimo”), and the western first name-last name order is used. I wished Salmonson had committed to either sticking close to the real Japan or taking a much freer hand with the source material. Her “Naipon” seems like a frustrating half-measure.

Published in 1981, this book is notable for using a non-Western fantasy setting and for having a lesbian heroine, but the plot wasn’t especially engaging. ...more

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Mar 12, 2025 J.W. Wright rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy-science-fiction

In the realm of Naipon, an alternate Earth version of Japan, Gods, magic, monsters, and demons are as real as anything else. It is through a portal in the dreams of the people of Japan through the ages that the Japanese people have seen this alternate dimension similar to theirs, and believed they were seeing the unseen in Medieval Japan. In a way, because of overlapping dimensions in the multiverse, this is true. Enter the female samurai Tomoe Gozen, a once-heroic warrior fallen from grace when In the realm of Naipon, an alternate Earth version of Japan, Gods, magic, monsters, and demons are as real as anything else. It is through a portal in the dreams of the people of Japan through the ages that the Japanese people have seen this alternate dimension similar to theirs, and believed they were seeing the unseen in Medieval Japan. In a way, because of overlapping dimensions in the multiverse, this is true. Enter the female samurai Tomoe Gozen, a once-heroic warrior fallen from grace when she was lured in by the powers of darkness. With everything she has, she tries to redeem herself of the dark stain of dishonor upon her name. This is her story…..

I must confess that I haven’t read much Oriental/Asian-flavored fantasy. The only one I read was a certain trilogy printed in the early 2000s that I found quite lackluster and disappointing and I only made it through the first book of it and just a couple of chapters of the second book before I quit. The title of this Asian-influenced fantasy trilogy shall remain unnamed and so will the author as I do not wish any feelings to be hurt. I thought it was about time I read another Asian-inspired fantasy that has been sitting on my shelf for quite a while; The Tomoe Gozen Saga by Jessica Amanda Salmonson. The first book is eponymous in its title. Jessica Amanda Salmonson is an author who was involved in the wave of sword and sorcery/heroic fantasy authors in the ’60s through the ’80s who put more of a social/diversity consciousness into the genre, such as Michael Moorcock and Charles R. Saunders. She is also known for her novel The Swordswoman and is known as the editor of the Amazons! anthology series of female-led sword and sorcery/heroic fantasy stories.
This particular work of heroic fantasy is a bit different from the works of Howard, Wagner, Moorcock, Leiber, Saunders, and the like because it is not so savage, barbaric, and Gothic in tone. It has the fluidity and grace of Medieval Asian culture, naturally, however, there is much violence, bloodshed, gore, and darkness of its own kind in the story so in a way it does fit in with the works of the aforementioned authors in its own way.
The world, as mentioned in the prologue to this review, is an alternate universe version of Medieval Japan; one in which women have a higher status that they did in the Medieval Japan of this particular universe, however, certain strict patriarchal laws are still in place, so it is not total equality. Women can be samurai, and women can be feudal lords. Tomoe Gozen is a particularly interesting case as she is a type of brooding anti-hero samurai, trying to redeem her own darkness brought about from falling under the thrall of an evil sorcerer. So again, like other works of heroic fantasy, i.e. Elric from the Eternal Champion Cycle by Moorcock and Kane from Wagner’s Kane Series, the anti-hero element is certainly present here in its own way.
Also interesting to note is that Tomoe Gozen has a same-sex romantic relationship with the high-born daughter of the feudal warlord she serves. This happens to be the first same-sex romance I’ve encountered in a fantasy novel and in fiction overall, and it is quite well done. It shows that LGBTQ+ folk, just like everyone else, only want to be loved and accepted, and it is quite heartwarming.
This novel is not at all short on its fast pace and action. Everything happens at a rather fast clip and there is no shortage of action sequences. I honestly can’t remember one spot where the story dragged at all.
Along with fast-paced, thrilling action and romance, this novel is packed to the brim with adventure, espionage, horror, and political intrigue. Gozen must face wicked sorcerers, enemy samurai, bandits, demons, monsters, and shadowy ninjas. There are sword-fights aplenty and engaging battles, both large scale and small. Also, the Asian-inspired illustrations by Wendy Adrian Shultz throughout the book are very atmospheric.
In summation, this is an underrated masterwork of fantasy that honestly should have received a bigger reception. I thoroughly enjoyed it and am going to continue reading the trilogy. I give Tomoe Gozen by Jessica Amanda Salmonson a 5 out of 5. ...more

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