Kokoro is the second of the Kojiki series. As a bit of background, Kojiki provides an interesting dive into a Japanese-flavored mythology that mixes current times with ancient gods and their guardians. (Note: in this review, there’ll be spoilers regarding Kojiki, but not Kokoro.) Keiko Yamanaka was led to follow a vague trail left by her father upon his death. This led to Tokyo and a gateway into the land of gods (Kami), guardians and epic struggles. While Keiko struggles with this new world, her new found friend, Yui Akiko, must find her place in it as more than just the daughter of a powerful Kami. Of course, all of this is tied to love, loss, babies, and power. (What else matters when you’re immortal?)
Kokoro takes this a step further in the aftermath of the events of Kojiki where we journey to a new world, Higo. One interesting aspect of Higo is that the inhabitants originally met with their creator god and knew their own (partial) origin story, albeit through the haze of time and corrupted mythology. This knowledge colored all of the relations between the priesthood class, the Royal class, and the people. For the priesthood class, they don’t simply look through a glass darkly, they look through a smoke-smudged and besmeared pane of barely visible glass. Their own ambitions in the rivalry with the king as well as the limited knowledge they actually have of their origin, move them to build their own origin story. Some would say this is a bit like earth. I would disagree, but it does make for an interesting dynamic. [Note: I received an advanced reader’s copy of Kokoro on Netgalley whereas I bought Kojiki on my dime. On a separate note, I read this book a long time ago but have had to take a long hiatus of book reviews. I’m glad to have finally had an opportunity to write this one.]
While Kojiki focused on a sort of war of the gods and prevention of a second war, Kokoro focuses on the inhabitants of that world in the politics thereof. God’s will play a role but not nearly as fundamental a role as they have with Kojiki. While both novels take place in contemporary times, so much of the novel is taken up in either the god’s world which is semi-timeless or Kokoro’s world, Higo, where there technologies of a wholly different sort. Unless you’re back on earth, you feel like you’re in a whole other time for much of the novel.
World building: In Kojiki, Keith Yatsuhashi creates a detailed, richly conceived world loosely based on Japanese mythology taking the formal elements as its basis. Mr. Yatsuhashi does a great job weaving modern day earth with these elements and its history as well as describing the physicality of the world of Kojiki. While given a contemporary setting, like Kojiki, the time period plays less of a role in Kokoro since most of it takes place on Higo (the alternate world/planet created by Roarke, the Earth god, not the former Japanese province.) which has alternate technology and culture which combine to give a steampunk feel with fantasy overtones. Not only does he build a great planet, allowing its many features to unfold over time rather than skipping off to some long exposition, his political milieu, alternate semi-steampunk like technology and interesting mythology add depth and meat to the story.
Characters: In Kojiki, Kami and their guardians each have their unique personalities. While the guardians are bound to serve the Kami, these are no sycophant doormats. Some have a bit more sass than others, but they are certainly individuals with their own drive and focus. The different Kami, with their separate abilities and focus, provide for nice variation among the pantheon of gods. There’s also some good complexity amongst the relationships with each other and their unique skill sets. Adding to that complex richness is the set of rules that govern the Kami and their guardians. For example, no Kami ought to attack another’s guardian. There should be a one-to-one correlation between Kami and guardian. In Kojiki, Vissyus is a delightfully tragic figure whose descent into madness bears the mark of unrequited love and unbridled ego. In Kokoro, the ache Roarke has for his late love is palpable and flavors all aspects of Higo. As a more human story with both antiheroes and conflicted villains, the characters are well fleshed out. While they could be layered with more complexity, they’re certainly multidimensional and interesting. For me, the key becomes, at least for the protagonist, do I care about him or her? Am I invested in these characters in the story? And here I’d say yes. While I’m not totally sympathetic to the protagonist, Baiyren, he did get me to care. I particularly liked the way Keiko morphed and grew in the story.
Narrative: This story provides plenty of curves, pulls you in with additional interests and moves forward at a brisk pace. While there is plenty of time taken to develop the characters and the world, none of it slows the overall story down. And while some of it is fairly straightforward and relatively easily guessed, there are plenty of curveballs as well.
Word Craft: Mr. Yatsuhashi wordsmithing works and it works well. While this isn’t a book that mesmerizes you through the choice of phrasing, it fits the story. The dialogue pacing, description of the world, and the way in which it all hangs together really work well to build the story. They are well-honed tools to build the narrative.
Keith Yatsuhashi
I highly recommend Kokoro for your reading pleasure. As a series, it strikes the perfect balance of some character carry-over and development within the construct of the overall mythology whilst furrowing new ground in Higo. Angry Robot Books have never let me down in publishing choices and that remains true with this series. (They also have the best book covers as the above gives evidence. Visual Signs Part 1 for more examples.)
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