At twenty years old, she got hired in an IT corporation, where she spent the next decade forgetting everything she ever learned in school, including the Japanese language. She was a student at the Bucharest University of Foreign Languages, Japanese Major - English Minor, where she fell in love with Japanese History and Ancient Literature. I like it.Xia Xia Lake decided a couple of years ago that she wanted to spend her free time writing stories about mythologies. The cover is cute and fits the story perfectly. It’s short and free, so there’s really nothing to lose. It made me curious to find out more and I happily read part two. Overall, the story felt a little bit short. I don’t want to reveal any details about the plot, they would probably be a spoiler. The story itself is incredibly romantic, beautiful and yet heartbreaking all at once. The author did provide a link with explanations at the beginning of the story, though. You don’t need to be an expert on all things Japanese to understand and enjoy this story, but you should probably be familiar with common Japanese terms and titles. That didn’t stop me from fully enjoying this book. I’m somewhat familiar with Japanese folklore, but I’ve never heard of this play before.

I love Japan, I love mythology in general, and I love fantasy and Kogitsune is a combination of all three things. I just couldn’t resist a historical fantasy novel set in medieval Japan and it was absolutely worth the time. Usually I don’t read short stories, but “ Kogitsune” did not just tempt me with its blurb, but also with the promise of a real novel for the next part. Or download it from Smashwords for free: ‘Kogitsune’ is a retelling of the famous Noh theater play ‘Kokaji’, a story about a swordsmith who requests the help of the Inari god to build a sword for emperor Ichijo (980-1011). However, the vast differences of the worlds they live in can’t be ignored, as their relationship is frowned upon by both humans and spirits.Īs Kogitsune’s feelings for his human friend turn from friendship to something deeper, he will learn that love can be all consuming and heartbreaking. A friendship between a young fox god and his human childhood friend is built on deception, but grows stronger and purer as it’s driven by common purpose. A coming of age story set in medieval Japan.

Kogitsune by Xia Xia Lake