Can One Girl Win A War? Tenth Anniversary Edition - with new author essays on the history behind the series
In the chaos of Japan's century-long civil war, young Risuko is sold to the legendary Lady Chiyome and taken to a remote mountain school. There she's trained alongside other girls in skills no one will explain - cooking, dancing, spying - for a purpose she's not meant to understand. But Risuko is a climber. She goes where she's not supposed to go. And what she discovers will thrust her into the heart of a conflict that could reshape a nation.
Book 1 of Seasons of the Sword - a complete four-book series:
- Risuko (Winter)
- Bright Eyes (Spring)
- Kano (Summer)
- Murasaki (Autumn)
Samurai, assassins, warlords - and a girl who likes to climb
It's 1570. Kano Murasaki - called Risuko ("Squirrel") - is a fatherless girl living in a ruined village, more comfortable in the treetops than on the ground. When the enigmatic Lady Chiyome purchases her from her desperate mother, Risuko is carried across a war-ravaged landscape to a mountain compound called the Full Moon.
There, she and two other recruits are trained by kunoichi - spies, bodyguards, assassins - in an education disguised as domestic service. Kitchen work becomes blade training. Dance becomes combat. And the women around her are far more dangerous than they appear.
But someone at the Full Moon is hiding a secret. When betrayal strikes at the heart of the compound, Risuko must decide what she's willing to become - and what she's willing to do - to protect the people she's come to love.
Risuko is the first book in Seasons of the Sword, a complete, award-winning, four-book series set during Japan's turbulent Sengoku period. Rich in historical detail, sharp with political intrigue, and driven by a heroine who keeps climbing higher than anyone expects.
What the Critics Say:
"Tight, exciting, and thoughtful... The characters are nicely varied and all the pieces fit into place deftly." - Kirkus Reviews
"A powerful and relentless coming-of-age adventure... Risuko's development and evolution are fascinating to watch." - Foreword Reviews (spotlight review)
"Vividly portrayed, flush with cultural detail, and smoothly written." - BookLife
BAIPA Book Award Winner
Kudler, David: - David Kudler is not afraid of heights. He just has a healthy respect for depths. "I'm as surprised as anyone," he says, "that I've written a series of books featuring a young woman who loves to be as high up in the air as possible." His multi-award-winning, recently completed Seasons of the Sword series of historical adventure novels (Risuko, Bright Eyes, Kano, and Murasaki) have been featured in Foreword Magazine, Kirkus, and others. Risuko graced the cover of Publisher's Weekly.Also an editor and publisher, he's overseen the publication of more than two hundred titles including Joseph Campbell's best-selling Hero with a Thousand Faces, an exploration of hero stories from across the ages and around the world.He lives just north of the Golden Gate Bridge with his wife actor/teacher/author Maura Vaughn, their wordsmith daughters, and their (apparently) non-literary cat.
