Seasons of the Sword

Seasons of the Sword

Can One Girl Win a War?

My name is Kano Murasaki, but everyone calls me Risuko....

Though Japan has been devastated by a century of civil war, Risuko just wants to climb trees. Growing up far from the battlefields and court intrigues, the fatherless girl finds herself pulled into a plot that may reunite Japan -- or may destroy it. She is torn from her home and what is left of her family, but finds new friends at a school that may not be what it seems.

Magical but historical, The Seasons of the Sword follow her along the first dangerous steps to discovering who she truly is.

Historical adventure fiction

Samurai, assassins, warlords... and a girl who likes to climb

Risuko - A Kunoichi Tale Bright Eyes coming May 5, 2022 Kano: A Kunoichi Tale (Seasons of the Sword #3) is now scheduled for release on April 30, 2024.

Risuko

Seasons of the Sword #1

Winter

Can One Girl Win a War?

Growing up far from the battlefields and court intrigues, a fatherless girl finds herself pulled into a plot that may reunite Japan — or may destroy it.

Bright Eyes

Seasons of the Sword #2

Spring

Can One Girl Stop a Killer?

Two armies have invaded Lady Chiyome's school for shrine maidens (and assassins). Someone kills a Takeda lieutenant, staging it to look like suicide. Can Risuko figure out who would do such thing?

Kano

Seasons of the Sword #3

Summer

Can One Girl Save a Nation?

Through raging battles and deadly court intrigue, Risuko must follow a path narrower and less stable than any pine branch. And the consequences should she fail are sharp and hard as rocks below.

COMING April 30, 2024

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Kunoichi Companion Tales covers

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Kunoichi Companion Tales

David Kudler, author of Risuko: A Kunoichi Tale, is releasing the Kunoichi Companion Tales, a series of prequels to his teen historical novel novel series, Seasons of the sword. These stories introduce characters and themes from the Seasons of the Sword novels, and are currently available exclusively to Risuko subscribers. To read the stories for free, subscribe now.

Kunoichi Companion Tales
Kunoichi Companion Tales introduce characters and themes from the Seasons of the Sword novels, and are currently available exclusively to Risuko subscribers, along with news, blog posts, and other exclusive gifts!

To read the stories, subscribe now:

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Kunoichi Companion Tales

This series of short stories, set before and between the novels of the Seasons of the Sword series, is available exclusively to our subscribers and to our Kickstarter supporters.

There are at least nine planned stories, each exploring the origins of Lady Chiyome's army of "dangerous flowers":

Kunoichi Companion Tales

  1. White Robes — Mired in her own grief, Lady Mochizuki Chiyome encounters two young women who give her a whole new, much more interesting opportunity (now available!)
  2. Silk & Service — A young Takeda warrior meets a servant who is much more than she seems (now available!)
  3. Waiting for Kuniko coverWaiting for Kuniko — Mieko is waiting at a rendezvous behind enemy lines. In the rain. Without a hat. The person who comes up the road is the last person she expected to encounter.
  4. Wild Mushrooms — A Hōjō commander is delighted when two pretty young shrine maidens enter his camp on the evening before a battle. Perhaps he shouldn’t have been. (now available!)
  5. Ghost — At a banquet to celebrate a new alliance, Chiyome contemplates murder, and discovers a new servant (now available!)
  6. Schools for Talented Youngsters: Monthly Headmistresses’ Dinner — Three unique ladies get together once a month to share the joys and challenges involved teaching young ladies with very particular… talents. (Historical fantasy/crossover — now available!)
  7. Shining Boy — Plucked off of the streets of the capital, an orphan girl tries to figure out what story she's wandered into (Coming soon!)
  8. Blade — Toumi doesn't want anyone messing with her business (Coming soon!)
  9. Little Brother — Returning to the monastery turns out to be as hard as leaving it was (Coming soon!)

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News from the Full Moon

Shōgun Returns

Have you been watching the new miniseries Shōgun? I’d love to discuss it with you!

Based on the 1975 novel by James Clavell, Shōgun follows John Blackthorne, an English ship’s pilot (anjin) who finds himself shipwrecked in Japan in 1600 — some 30 years after my Seasons of the Sword books. The empire is in the endgame of the century-and-a-half-long series of civil wars. Blackthorne finds himself both a pawn and a player in a deadly game that will lead to the birth of a new Japan.

Continue reading Shōgun Returns

Meeting the Queen Bee (Kano sneak preview)

Here’s another peak at Kano, book 3 in Seasons of the Sword (coming April 30, 2024).

Risuko and her friends have finally reached the capital. In this scene, they’re headed to an evening at the theater with Masugu’s older sister Yamamoto Yaeko. They’re there to meet an important new character: Lord Oda’s young half-sister, Lady Hachihime.

David Kudler

Meeting the Queen Bee

The theater was in a building that looked as if it had been a temple at some point. Over the wide doors, in gold leaf so faded and flaking that it was barely legible, a legend read, The blessed hear about the Buddha of Infinite Light and call him to mind again and again in the Pure Land.

Richly dressed men and women flowed through the entrance, but just to the side a tiny lady in a bright furisode [a long-sleeved kimono traditionally worn by unmarried women] was berating the leader of a small group of armed men. “No, Kuroi, I won’t have you coming into the theater with me like a bunch of sharks and scaring everyone away.” When the man just grunted, she looked over to us. “Look! There’s Lady Yamamoto and some friends. They don’t need guards. Who’s going to attack me in the theater, silly man?”

The soldier tried to object, but the young woman turned her back on him and strode away toward us, daffodil-bedecked fan sweeping negligently before her. “Yaeko!” she called. “How lovely to see you! Who are these lovely ladies?”

Continue reading Meeting the Queen Bee (Kano sneak preview)

New Year, New Historical Fiction Giveaway!

Start your new year off the proper way

With a trip to the past!

Adventure, romance, espionage, fantasy, and more — set in periods from ancient Rome to the English Regency to the American West to the Japan of samurai and battling warlords. Two dozen bestselling authors have teamed up to offer a delightful selection of new books. Available for a limited time only! Continue reading New Year, New Historical Fiction Giveaway!

Kunoichi Companion Tales covers

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Seasons of the Sword