Blurb:

For centuries, the Yaseki have fought the corrupted souls who seek to plunge Japan into darkness. But the fragile balance is now shifting toward the forces of evil.

Ren Fudō, a young Soul Hunter blessed with the blood of the kami, receives a mission from Amaterasu Ōmikami. This simple errand is a spirit-given chance to pay off his debt to the Yaseki.

But as he and his new companion, a shrine maiden possessed by a violent land kami, take to the road, Ren remembers that spirits never give for nothing. The mission turns more dangerous and crucial with every step.

The future of Japan now rests on their shoulders, and an army of Yōkai stands on their path.

Review:

Step into Japan many centuries ago with the story of Ren Fudo, member of the Yaseki, a secret tribe of yokai hunters that prevent innocents from succumbing to total annihilation at the hands of demons, ghosts, and more.

We start off with our main character, Ren, as a child, in his defining moment. A white tengu—a bird like man with a mask and more power than anything else imaginable—has, for some reason, decided to kill Ren. In the end, it grievously wounded his mother and fled before getting killed itself by members of the Yaseki, came to save the young boy. Thus begins Ren’s debt to the Yaseki. And his servitude.

His mother is in dire straits. She needs constant attention and a steady supply of resources, and it all comes with a cost. For saving his mother and keeping her in a catatonic state, the Yaseki have placed upon Ren a great debt he can pay back by serving the order of yokai hunters. He goes on missions for them, kills yokai, and takes their souls. Or whats left of them. Some of them earn him weeks, others days, others months, but in the grand scheme of things, his mother has many many years of debt accrued on his tab.

Then, upon his return to Ise Jingu, the heart of the Yaseki and spiritual power in Japan, an opportunity presents itself; take a mysterious shrine maiden with a troubled past to Kyoto on some secret mission. The payment would be insurmountable, and moreover, the quest might change the fate of the nation forever…

So embarks Ren on a fast-paced, emotional journey of slaying yokai, taming kami, and working alongside some of the most fascinating companions, including a famously stubborn princess that is actually the child of the goddess of the sun.

The combat in this book are well-thought out, logical, and pretty balanced. So often we see “plot armor” in our stories (though that term largely applies to television/movies), but we don’t get that here. Ren finds himself in many losing battles, on the receiving end of many bruises, batterings, and gashes. Its refreshing, all things considered, to see that not all things turn out the way we want them. I know its a fairly simple thing, but so often books fall into that realm of “the MC always wins because they're the MC,” so to not get that is always a welcome surprise.

Ren was a very fun character to follow. He starts off a bit brash and steadily evolves as the novel progresses. He slips up at first, saying that the shrine maiden is going to die, and slowly has to earn her trust back, and finds himself caring for her more and more with each chapter. The shrine maiden, Suzume, is a great character too. She has the god of a tree inside a spear that she carries, and this god uses her as a conduit to fight on occasion. The progression of these two felt real, heartfelt, and logical, and I enjoyed every second of it.

There were some supporting characters I loved even more. Namely a vulgar tanuki named Pon-Pon who is obsessed with alcohol and his own balls, but not in a weird way. I mean, it probably sounds like a weird way, but its not, I promise, its only a minor thing and it was amusing. To me, at least, but maybe your mileage may vary. Otherwise, Pon-Pon is an adorable, kind family man and a great friend to Ren.

Later there is a crustacean monk amongst the yokai that has his own aspirations, desires, monologues, and unique skillset. A very interesting scene all things considered, and one I wish I could have gotten a bit more of.

The plot and setting were unique, I thought. Though there does exist a possibility that I am not often looking for stories set in Japan, especially primarily written in english. Regardless, it was not something I’d come across before, though monster hunting stories are always favorites of mine. I can’t compare this quite to things like the Witcher, since Blood of the Kami is more YA and less grimdark, but any hunting of monsters is good at all for me. Furthermore, I love learning about and steeping myself in Japanese culture ever since moving to Tokyo for university. To read a book and say “I know that place, I’ve been there!” is always a lot of fun, especially when it isn’t just something boring like the Empire State Building in Percy Jackson (no hate, I love those books).

The enemy in this story—I won’t spoil it because it takes a while to be revealed—have a diverse extent of motives. Some are obvious, while others are yet to be revealed, and are only briefly hinted at in an epilogue. They tie in very closely with Ren’s story and how he concluded in Blood of the Kami, and I’m very excited to see how all of that plays out. He still has a great deal of debt, after all, and Japan isn’t entirely safe, either. Who can say what will happen?

Baptiste Pinson Wu is steadily cementing himself as one of my favorite authors. This is my second series of his I’ve gotten into, and I liked this one as much as the first. His prose is exemplary, his dialogue natural and flowing exactly as you’d want it to, and it creates a story that is fantastic from cover to cover. This one was a page turner, and I hardly wanted to put it down. A shame that I had to once I finished.

For fans of historical fiction steeped in wonder, growth, exciting combat, and driven by compelling characters, Blood of the Kami by Baptitse Pinson Wu is going to resonate with readers in a big way.