The Sword of Kuromori by Jason Rohan (Young Adult, 10E/10E, short 'n' sweet review)

May 2014, Egmont, 336 pages, Paperback, Review copy 

 Content: demons etc, some fighting, scary parts, some humour, 

Summary from Amazon (I don't gain anything by mentioning them)

Ancient monsters bite off more than they can chew in this action-packed adventure set in modern Japan

Kenny Blackwood arrives in Tokyo to spend the summer with his father and is stunned to discover a destiny he had never dreamed of when he finds himself in the middle of a hidden war that is about to explode.

Racing against an impossible deadline, Kenny must find the fabled Sword of Heaven and use it to prevent the disaster. But a host of terrifying monsters is out to destroy him, and success will come at a price.

With clever, fearless, sarcastic Kiyomi at his side, Kenny must negotiate the worlds of modern and mythic Japan to find the lost sword, before it's too late.

Nayu's thoughts

This is an awesome Japanese adventure-Kyomi has a prominant role so don't be put off by the male oriented cover like I initially was. After being in contact with Jason I agreed to give the book a go, and I so didn't regret it! Kyomi is the best heroine ever (despite not being the heroine)! Her skills are continually saving Kenny from danger, especially in the early stages when he has no clue what's going on. Imagining her as the central character has me grinning at my laptop. 

To me Kyomi is the protagonist, not Kenny, who is understandably spooked by everything that happens but rallies round at the end and through his view on life does what Kyomi wouldn't be able to do. No I'm not talking about the conjuring fire in the palm of a hand, I'm talking about managing to defeat a creature who knows everything that anyone playing against him does through mind reading. That's impressive. Kenny is the one who figures out how to travel faster than humanly possible when time is of the essence and the Japanese bullet train isn't fast enough, but Kyomi can hold her own in a fight and her skills are invaluable to Kenny, as is her heart. 

There's not heaps of romance amongst the plentiful action and next to no time to moon over each other. Upon finishing the book I had a theory about what may happen next which I discussed with Jason, who hinted I may be a little bit correct so it's onwards to book 2 for me!