This is the second novel in the author's Kojiki series. (While it can be read alone, I'd still recommend you read the first novel before this, just to get the fuller picture.)

KOKORO is a well-written and engaging blend of sci-fi, fantasy, and Japanese mythology. It contains some interesting twists on tropes/classic elements, and plenty of new ideas. It's not my favourite kind of SF, but I enjoyed reading it. Recommended if you're looking for something a bit different.

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 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 a whole different sort. Unless the states 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 a steampunk feel with fantasy. 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 and depth in 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, there 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 in the world, none of it is done is situated it slows the overall story down. And while some of its 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 you’re mesmerized by choice of phrasing, it fits the story. The dialogue pacing, description of the world and the way in which it all hangs together really works well to build the story. They are well-honed tools to build the narrative.

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 today. (They also have the best book covers as the above gives evidence. Visual Signs Part 1 for more examples.)

This will be a briefer review than normal for a number of reasons which I will currently keep to myself.

As with the first book in this series, <em>Kojiki</em>, I struggled to enjoy this book.

I felt like I understood the characters a little better this time around, but I really never cared about them. This still felt like I was reading an episode of an anime cartoon (though one of more serious bent) mixed with a touch of soap opera. Characters typically drive a story for me, no matter how strong the plot, so if I'm not engaged by the characters it's an up-hill battle to keep me interested (though it's happened - and recently).

The action was a bit uneven, but when it worked, it worked really well. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to really hold me.

This was one of those books that, when I was done I thought to myself. Well, that's done. On to the next. No reflection on what I'd just read, no wishing it would go on. Nothing. It wasn't horrible - not like those books I just wish would be over with - but not worth recommending either.

Looking for a good book? <em>Kokoro</em> by Keith Yatsuhashi is a follow-up to <em>Kojiki</em>. Fans of <em>Kojiki</em> will likely enjoy this. The rest of us, probably not so much.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

For the biggest part of Kokoro I felt like I was missing a lot of it. It is of course my own fault for not realizing it was a sequel before getting the book, but still this is one of these books I would certainly not recommend reading as a stand-alone as you will probably feel as lost as I did.

It's presented as a combination of Japanese folklore and science-fiction, and at times it felt like I was reading a manga (without the pictures), but the story moved incredibly fast and was at times a bit overwhelming. Due to this, I never really got invested with the characters, either on Higo or on Earth. If I had liked Kokoro better, I would have certainly checked out Kojiki too, as I would have like to see how it all started, but as it stands, I'm rather hesitant and think I'm going to pass.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I didn't get on with this one and couldn't finish it. I managed about 25% but it took me over a month to get that far.

There was a lot of switching viewpoints and switching between the past and the present. There's too much going on, it's hard to keep track of who the characters are, what they're doing and whose viewpoint we're in, and the action scenes are confusing.

Kokoro is a fast paced action novel with characters who try to save two worlds while confronting their deepest secrets and their struggle to accept themselves. While the first book, Kojiki, felt disjointed at times, Kokoro gives us characters we root for in a plot that demands their inner demons.

My favorite part of this book was the characters. Last time around I felt that there were too many characters that demanded attention. However, in Kokoro we revolve around a much smaller, more concentrated group of heroes: Regan (the chief commander of the Higo force), Baiyren (Prince of Higo), and Juno (Baiyren’s lover).
Even though the synopsis only speaks about Baiyren, my favorite characters were the women of this book: Regan and Juno (especially Regan). Despite enjoying Juno more in the beginning, Regan’s character slowly evolved into a much deeper storyline.

Speaking of which, the storyline was fantastic. Not only did it involve the larger arc of Baiyren and the conflicts on Higo, which spill over to Earth, but it devoted time to Baiyren’s emotional dilemma and Regan’s backstory. These aspects made the plot richer and combined with the added character relatability, won me over entirely.

There were just a few things I wanted to mention which frustrated me. My pet peeve is a lack of detail about the world setting and I felt like the descriptions of Higo were lacking in this regard. However, this is, make no mistakes about it, an action story. It is chock full of battles, armored suits, and conflicts. The fantasy aspect in this sequel is less than before, not focusing on the gods, but more on the people (and by this I mean actual humans).

Ultimately, Kokoro delivers a fast paced adventure, sweeping us off our feets and into the world of Higo. Delving into new worlds and characters, we see through their eyes and they make their way into our hearts astonishing us with their love, humbling us with their bravery, and making us weep with their pain. While on the surface we see a tale about heroism, action, and finding your calling, beneath we find a story of forgiveness, inner truth, and finding our family.

I did not finish Kokoro by Keith Yatsuhashi, I read the first book, Koijiki last August and even though it definitely had some flaws, I quite liked the world Yastuhashi created. However, I couldn't bring myself to finish Kokora, it was a bit all over the place and it was pretty confusing. I felt like all the characters were the same and when I realized I was forcing myself to read the book, I decided to put it down. I'm sure some people would enjoy this series, it has some cool elements (the world, the unusual magic and Japanese mythology) but infortunetely, I just don't think it's for me. I always feel bad when I don't finish books I was sent for reviews but I prefer that to forcing myself to read. For me reading is something I do to relax and I don't want to feel any pressure to read anything, especially because if I had read this up until the end, I would have probably hated it which isn't really fair since it's just not for me.

Kokoro is an impressive follow-up to Kojiki. Yatsuhashi managed to scale his story to magnificent sizes and creates a cast of characters that are delightful, complex, and have compelling arts.

My favorite thing was that in spite of the size of the world building, there was still room for intensely personal stories. The entire conflict within the royal family of Higo really captured my attention. In the end, I appreciated the sense of villainy on a cosmic scale and how people ultimately brought the story forward.

In terms of gripes, I'm not sure most of the Earth intro needed to be there. It bogged down Juno's introduction, but in the end, mattered for the tale to come full circle.

If you want a well-crafted science fiction with solid character that goes beyond just world-building, definitely give this sequel a go.