The Sword of Kaigen

by M.L. Wang

It wasn’t a question of whether or not he was going to die. It was a question of whether he would die quickly, with all his spirit intact, or slowly, after the evils of the world had ripped and beaten every shred of optimism out of him.

reference to the title of the book

discovered Carythian sarcasm

Misaki and Firebird talking - Carythians have a sense of humour and use sarcasm

The next time she advanced, she made the same decisive slice toward his neck she had attempted several times now. He evaded as she knew he would: falling back just far enough to be out of her swing radius but still close enough that a powerful launch off his back leg would shoot him back in for an attack. However, instead of facing him as he sprang forward, she spun, letting the momentum of her follow-through carry her into another, downward slice in the same direction as the first.

great, dynamic fight narration!

We are the Sword of Kaigen.”

shook the snow from his sleeves, his jiya sending it wide in twinkling clouds.

This is why the tide-bringing moon follows the drying sun, why day follows night, why men marry women.

They had all come out of the same ocean, hadn’t they? At the beginning of the world?

Where was the magic in something that didn’t seethe between extremes?

“They’re my parents. They know me better than anyone, and I trust their judgment. That’s how I knew they would like you.”

Quote for emi!

A voice for the silenced, a shelter for the defenseless, a pair of fists for the powerless.

gravel crunching beneath its tires.

Misaki couldn’t deny the observation, but neither could she voice the deeper problem. I’m attracted to danger.

I dreamed of the Ranganese or some as-yet-unknown enemy sailing against our Stormfort, just so I could slake that thirst. Then one day, the thirst disappeared. Do you know what day that was?” Misaki shook her head. “It was the day you were born, Misaki. Since I started building something better and more beautiful than a fighter’s glory, the idea of war has made me sick.

Why had she expected him to magically grasp things she barely understood herself?

The regrets of a spirit’s loved ones could also tie it down.

Misaki’s realization

Im Goin to fucking cry

trying to remember a dream.

This wasn’t the Livingston adventure story where her actions had no consequences. Here, her children could die.

If he was going to move forward in the knowledge that he was a killer, that killing needed to have meaning.

“The anger is not going to go away,” she repeated in a stronger voice, “but you are going to face it and tame it, like a man.”