The last time I read and reviewed this book was back in 2010, when my posts included spoiler-filled synopses that were as long or longer than the reviews themselves. I figured that a new review was in order, especially since my opinion of this book has improved.

After Balsa, a female bodyguard, rescues young Prince Chagum from drowning, she finds herself being roped into being his protector. Chagum is believed to be possessed by the same creature that once caused a terrible drought. It's thought that the drought will be averted if Chagum is killed, so the Mikado himself has ordered several assassination attempts against him. Chagum's mother, the Second Queen, enlists Balsa's help to save him.

While Balsa attempts to hide Chagum and keep him safe from his pursuers, she also seeks out several friends in the hope of figuring out what's going on so that she can somehow both save Chagum's life and prevent the drought.

The first time I read this book was, I think, too soon after having seen the anime. They're both good, but the time I spent noting similarities and differences to the anime made it hard to judge the book on its own merits (yes, I know the book came first, but my first exposure to the story was the anime).

Balsa makes me wish more than the first two books in this series had been translated into English. She's a great character - an experienced and talented warrior with an intriguing past. In general, the book had some nice gender role reversal, with its female stoic warrior character and male healer interested in the spirit world. There was a hint of potential romance between Balsa and Tanda, the healer, but it was handled in a very low-drama way. Tanda was a little frustrated at Balsa's lack of desire to settle down, but it never got to the point of wrecking their friendship.

The "found family" aspect involving Balsa, Tanda, and Chagum was nice. I enjoyed that restful period of the story before everybody had to worry about Chagum's safety again, and it was nice to see Chagum becoming more comfortable and confident in his life as a commoner.

One of the things I really liked about this book was the way the setting and its history mattered. This was very much a story about how knowledge is lost or changed over time. Near the beginning of the book, readers get the history of how New Yogo was founded, but it's entirely from the perspective of the Yogoese, who are currently the area's dominant ethnic group. Later on, readers get more sides of the story - the secret history that only the Star Readers know (which is, again, Yogoese history) and Yakoo stories.

The Yakoo were the people who originally lived in the area where New Yogo was founded. (Supposedly they fled out of fear when the Yogoese peacefully tried to contact them, and I think the Yakoo side of the story agreed with this or at least didn't refute it, but I don't buy it.) They'd lost much of their culture and traditions, and what was left was sometimes mixed with Yogoese culture to an uncertain degree. It gave me shivers to think how close everyone came to not having the knowledge they needed during the chase at the end of the book.

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed rereading this. I haven't read the next book in the series yet, but I'm now looking forward to it even more.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

I reviewed this way back before I ever assigned anything star ratings, but judging by my review I probably would have given it 3 or maybe 3.5 stars. Now, though, I'm leaning towards 4.5, even with the occasionally stiff writing/translation. I loved Balsa, the found family aspect, and the way the ending depended on deciphering old stories and traditions (and the future depends upon keeping them alive).

I think this might be the last card that Tannat and I needed for the Red Group game, but I'm not entirely sure.

Still loving this. I don't know if it's just that my perspective has changed, or if it's benefited from me not having recently seen the anime and therefore not constantly noting changed details.

That said, I'm still thinking about the anime. I'd like to rewatch it, but one thing I realized during this reread is that, if Cathy Hirano's translation is accurate, it was whitewashed. Balsa is Kanbalese, Tanda is Yakoo, and Chagum is Yogoese. One way you can tell that Tanda is definitely Yakoo is by his skin color. He's described as having "dark, almost black skin" (83) that contrasts with his "brown, unruly hair" (84). Balsa is tanned, and Chagum is probably pretty pale (I can't find an exact description). Here's what the three of them look like in the anime:

That's Tanda in the middle with vaguely darker skin, sort of. And hey, look how tanned Balsa isn't.

I'm definitely enjoying this more the second time around. And I forgotten about some of the things I liked during my first reading, too, like the way Uehashi included a few typical characters and then flipped their usual genders. For example, there's the serious and competent warrior character, who in this case is female, and the kind younger healer with an interest in the spirit world, who in this case is male.

And now we have a badass 70-year-old woman who just used trickery to defeat a couple Hunters in less than a minute.

"They had made a disastrous mistake. It have never occurred to them that Balsa would be able to withstand the assault of three Hunters. No matter how great her reputation, she was, after all, only a woman; no one had imagined she could be so strong."

Oh, I love Balsa. :-D