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Squirrels are not creatures of the night. So sitting there on that stump in the dark trying to mend embroidery—trying not to stab myself with the sharp needle while keeping my ears pricked for any strange sounds—wasn’t easy on my nerves.
I fetched Masugu’s short sword from where my bedroll still lay, warm and inviting. The black lacquered sheath made a nice, hard surface for me to work against.
As I picked out the orange threads, cutting them with the tip of the needle, my mind worried at our destination. The capital.
Lord Oda.
Could I kill him?
Did I hate him?
I knew I hated the idea of him. I hated what he had done to my father, to Emi and Toumi’s.
But to kill him?
By the light of the waxing moon, I removed the threads of the Hōjō mon. One by one, I dropped them into the soot-covered embers of the fire. There they would briefly catch flame, writhing like snakes as they burned.
I was left, finally, with the blank white disk of the Mochizuki. The Full Moon.
A convenient emblem for a clan of spies and assassins.
I was just finishing the top blue stripe to the mon on my kimono when one of the horses snorted. I responded with my own snort of amusement. Do horses dream? What do they dream of? Running? Long, green grass and clover? Stomping on snakes?
Another sound broke my reverie, however—whispers. The sound was barely audible above the smooth rush of the water and the gentle rustle of the night breeze in the leaves overhead. But I was sure it wasn’t my imagination. Low voices came from the direction of the horses, like stones rumbling down through a stream.
I found myself on my feet, the beautiful robe forgotten in the dust, and strode toward the riverside with my sword drawn.
So much for being a cautious coward. Continue reading Kano Sneak Preview: Creatures of the Night
We now have a release date for the next Seasons of the Sword book: March 1, 2024!
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.
The red-and-white disguise of the kunoichi awaits.
Is Risuko ready?
Author David Kudler will be speaking live online with librarian Charlotte King-Mills about his inspirations, the joys and challenges of writing outside his own lenses, and what keeps pulling his imagination back to the Land of the Rising Sun. He’ll also be taking questions, so have yours ready!
Check out the Zoom interview: Continue reading Kano is Coming, Author Talk + FREE Historical Fiction!
Happy holidays! Akemashite omedeto gozai masu!
Here’s the first sneak preview to Kano, the third book in the Seasons of the Sword series!
Obviously, there are spoilers for Risuko and Bright Eyes — if you haven’t read them yet, you might want to check them out first!
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Lady Hōjō,” sighed the Uesugi captain, “I can’t let you and your party through without an escort—there’s trouble on the other side of the province. We’ve already had to send half of the garrison west, so I can’t spare any men to protect you.”
Mieko gave him her most disgusted Lady Chiyome glare. “Ruffian.” She turned to me and Toumi, kneeling to her left in the captain’s office. “What will Masugu-sama think if we don’t arrive in the capital on time?”
I put my hand in her knee like the supportive lady’s maid that I supposedly was. “I’m sure the shōgun will understand if his cousin, your intended, has to change the wedding date.”
When Toumi gave a dismissive snort and muttered, “Sure he will,” Mieko covered her face in her hands and began to wail.
I handed her a silk handkerchief marked with the orange, three-triangle mon of her supposed clan.
The Uesugi commander ground his teeth, clearly unused to having to manage high-strung noble brides—or cunning kunoichi. “My lady…” He closed his eyes. “Can I get you something, my lady?”
This was the cue we had been waiting for. “Please,” I simpered, “if this humble servant might fetch her ladyship some wine, that might help our mistress’s nerves.”
“Yes, yes,” grumbled the captain. “The stores are immediately across the courtyard, to the right of the main gate.”
As I bowed, Mieko sniffled, “Oh, you go with her, Toumi. She’s always getting lost.”
“Yes, my lady,” said Toumi in a more than passably respectful manner. Really, if you didn’t know her, you might almost have thought she was sweet. Continue reading Tiptown (Kano, Chapter 1)
I tell yeh, Bright Eyes. Men and women? A bloody mess. Every time. — Kee Sun on sex and gender, Risuko
Is “toxic masculinity” just a way of saying men are toxic?
I get asked a lot about why I decided to write about young women in my Seasons of the Sword novels. There are lots of reasons.
But an online conversation I was part of recently made one of them very clear to me.
In the conversation, someone argued that “toxic masculinity” was feminist code for the assertion that all men are bad/toxic.
No. No. No.
Teachers and students now have access to two new benefits in the Educators section of Risuko.net!
Working with a master educator, author David Kudler has added two sets of resources to those already available for studying Bright Eyes, book 2 of the Seasons of the Sword novels:
Continue reading Bright Eyes Resources for Teachers and StudentsWhen Cristopher Paolini’s epic dragon-rider fantasy novel Eragon came out, I had just conceived of the book that would become Risuko.
And Eragon depressed the heck out of me. Continue reading Thanks, Cristopher Paolini! (Or how Eragon led to Risuko)
I got into a conversation recently about whether historical fiction should be “prohibited” if it wasn’t “accurate.” (The discussion started over swearing in historical novels, but spread out from there.)
As a historical novelist… yeah. No.
I think that, of course, historical fiction should be as true to its time and place as it can be. But writing a story set in another time with 100% accuracy isn’t for historical novels — it’s for textbooks. (And even then, it isn’t possible, since so much of history remains up for debate.)
In fact, writing fully accurate historical fiction isn’t always possible. Or even advisable. So I’m glad there aren’t any HistFic cops out there to beat down my door.
There’s a lot that’s almost impossible to find out about life in former times. Dates, names, and outcomes of big battles, marriages, deaths — the important, history-making events of the ruling classes — are easy to learn. What people in a particular part of rural Japan would have had for breakfast in May, 1571? Not so easy.
And even those battles and things don’t always cooperate to allow you to tell the best possible story.
In Bright Eyes, my latest Seasons of the Sword novel, one of the historical characters had changed his name by the time in which the book is set. But if I used the correct name, it was going to be too much like that of another historical character, and I was worried that similarity would confuse readers. Also, the new name was a very famous one — and I didn’t want to give away what happened to him later to the historically literate. (Mind, if they’re real Japanese history buffs, they already know. But why make it easy, right? 😉)
Historical fiction isn’t pretending to be historical fact. It’s just doing it’s best to weave a consistent tale within a long-ago setting. Like fantasy or science fiction, it’s trying to tell a good story — only someone’s already done the world building.
I’ve been asked many times how old Risuko and the other girls are in the Seasons of the Sword books.
Since these are young adult novels, it’s a good question. It’s one, however, I specifically chose not to answer in the text of the books. Before I answer, I need you to know that my answer will include some spoilers for Risuko. Just so you’re not surprised. Continue reading How old are Risuko and the others?
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking recently about gender.
I’ve been thinking about gender because I’m writing a series of books in which it plays an important role. But it’s also on my mind because it’s very much a part of the global conversation these days. Issues of women’s rights in general and transsexual men and women’s rights in particular flare regularly in my morning news feed. My wife is teaching an online class in theater and gender that looks at these subjects in depth. The subjects comes up frequently in my conversations with my daughters and with my friends.
I’m just old enough that when I was young we didn’t make any distinction between sex (as defined by one’s physical appearance) and gender (one’s identification and behavior). Certain toys were girl toys and others were boy toys. Some boys were girly and some girls were tomboys. When I reached high school, we were taught that people with XX chromosomes were female while people with XY chromosomes were male.
That’s just the way it was.
Continue reading Gender, Risuko, and Granny Weatherwax
