Content Warnings - will contain mild spoilers (also, sorry for the repost, I think KZfaq is deleting the comment because of some of the words so I have to censor it) death of children, r *pe, dubious consent in sex, s *icide,

"better to die sharp in war than rust through a time of peace" ooh, this quote is a nice one to put on a bookcover

this book sounds like an emotional rollercoaster that could have the potential to break my heart.... *adds to tbr*

The best standalone books I've read. Ever. Glad you loved it, too, Merphy! You're not over-hyping, this book DESERVES so much more hype!

The female friendships in this book are probably the best I have seen yet.

The Sword of Kaigen is probably the most masterfully written fantasy novel I've ever read. The amount of character nuance with ALL the characters (main and side), the level of worldbuilding (especially with cultures and values), the sheer amount of stuff that happens in the book-it's literally crazy that this book is ONLY 600 pages. Truly awe-inspiring quality of writing, and absolutely worthy of being my favorite fantasy novel of all time.

This is the earliest I’ve ever been. Also, time to add another book to my never-ending TBR.

This is how I described The Sword of Kaigen: "Take the elemental badassery of Avatar: The Last Airbender and mix it with the special bloodline techniques of Naruto and the family drama of Game of Thrones. On top of that add some of the best action AND the best character development I've ever read. "

Just finished this. I have never been more sad to be done with a book. What a beautiful exploration of human resilience. I love the line "You learn over time that the world isn't broken. It's just... got more pieces to it than you thought. They all fit together, just maybe not the way you pictured when you were young." Misaki had to teach that to her son. Then she had to teach that again to herself.

Standalone? In my epic adult fantasy? Heresy! Heresy, I say!

I know EXACTLY what character you were talking about around the 10 minute mark. That is the BEST character development I've ever read over the course of one novel.

I read this last year. The book has some issues, but its good parts are SOOO outstanding, you easily forgive the so-so. Also, it is one of those books that remains with you. I found myself liking it even more on reflection and discussions. Even though it has some of the best fighting scenes I have read, it is the aftermath of the war that makes it standout. Its most heartwrenching scene was probably its quitest. Oh! and Misaki is hands down one the most badass mothers!

I cried so much reading this book...

I just read it! AND OH MY GOD, MY HEART WAS BROKEN! spoiler I CRIED OVER MAMOROU'S BRAVERY, OVER MISAKI & ROBIN'S LOVE, OVER MISAKI & TAKERU'S ARC. THIS BOOK IS UTTER PAIN. THE IGNORANCE OF PEOPLE UNDER THE EMPIRE'S PROPAGANDA, THE CHARACTER'S REACTION IN DEALING WITH THIS INFO, THE MULTIPLE MISCARRIAGES, THE RIGHT LOVE AT THE WRONG TIME, THE MAKING THINGS WORK WITH YOUR FAMILY OH MY GODS

Yasss Another review from Merphy is a new book for me to read 🤩.. “And oh my goodness is it worth it!!!” -That’s the key word

I definitely must read this book. Your channel is really great, watching a video just brightens my day. I was not a book person but watching your channel made me start reading books. Thanks for the inspiration

This book just blew my mind. Easy became one of my favorite books of all time. Eye bawled my eyes out with it. SPOILER . . . . . . OMG Takeru's character development was so satisfying! I'M SO MAD IT'S A STANDALONE.

Your rambling, gushing reviews are my favourite. Whether you really love or really hate a book, it's nice to see how passionate you are. 🏆

omg i'm glad i'm not the only one who lost their mind over how good this book was omg the action scenes were awesome, yeah. and the character work... omg the character work was so good. The character arcs were so gooooood Misaki was so gooood It was so refreshing Misaki as a POV character. There are so few mother POV characters in fantasy, and... And it was super refreshing having a middle-aged(?) character experience a character arc. Like... I don't know if I'm wording this very well, but so often in fantasy it's the young kids or the teenagers who get to experience all the character growth, but in Sword of Kaigen, Misaki gets to grow a lot as a character, and I loved it. Not enough mothers in fantasy, imo. And Misaki was written so well I suspect a lot of people would get frustrated by her character in how she behaves early in her arc, but its a part of the culture... it was so good to see her break out her passive(?) behavior and let her bad ass self show. And the father... omg that guy... His character arc turned out great, too. Such a... These characters are so Japanese. I don't know how to explain this to anyone non-Japanese, but I loved it. I'm sure some Westerners will have difficulty understanding or sympathizing with these characters, but I loved it.Aaah, it's been a minute since I read Sword of Kaigen, so I kinda forget somethings, but man I loved Sword of Kaigen. Glad Merphy finally got around to reading it.

This book was so, so good, and your review here was pretty spot on. I’ve been sitting in a book hangover since I finished it a few days ago, and it’s definitely one that I will be re-reading at some point. It’s a new favorite. 💞

I’m so glad you picked this book for February cause that’s what finally made me read it!! I absolutely adored this book! It’s everything I want in my fantasy. I also thought the setting and the atmosphere was really great, like I could picture the scenes so clearly and vividly, especially in all the snow. Some of the scenes are now forever etched in my brain. I’m so glad that you also enjoyed it!!

I absolutely adored the SoK. The falling action at the end *Chefs Kiss* I loved seeing all of the ramifications of war.

I was SO EXCITED to hear your thoughts, Merphy. This is, so far, my favorite book of 2021. By far. So amazing. I cannot push this book hard enough.

THANK YOU for making me add this book to my wishlist, it was the best book I’ve read this year, and now is on my list of favorite books. Wow, loved the action scenes, the aftermath of the battle is brutal, but amazingly written, and the discussion on motherhood is also phenomenal

Hey Merph, long time patreon supporter until Covid but I just wanted to say thank you for making this video. This book helped me process some stuff in my own life. It was rough but beautiful.

I picked this book up in a sale last year after Daniel mentioned it but haven't started it yet, but once I'm done with The Burning God I think I'll jump straight into this given how positive you are on it!

I cried so hard reading this book that it literally hurt and I had to take a bit of a break lol

I bought this a few months back but haven’t gotten around to it, thanks for making me excited about it again!

Wow I just read this book last Saturday. Amazing timing!

Nothing wrong with a gushing review as long as it’s how you felt about the book! Definitely going to check this book out

I am so happy you had such a similar experience with this book that I did!! It was just such an amazing experience. Spoilers below: When we were in the battle scenes and that one character died I had to put the book down for a day, its been so long since a fantasy book has emotional effected me THAT much. Like I was hurt and kept waiting for something to happen but she committed and I respected her so much for that and its probably why its a new all time favorite.

This is the first book I read fully in few years due to people recommending and glad I did the story really sticks with you making it hard to put down

This was one of my favorite books I read last year. I really loved the female friendships and I especially loved the motherhood representation, especially seeing a mom who doesn't really fit into motherhood very well to start with!

The book is absolutely fantastic. The only complaint I had with it (and it's a minor one) is that I felt like the mysteries in the first act could have been built up a little longer. It felt like the book went from 0-to-60 in the blink of an eye. But in order to do that Wang would have had to probably make this a Duology, which she didn't want to do, so it's pretty minor. With that said though, I've never read a book that had essentially a 300+ page fight scene that was as gripping at this one. Probably one of the best overall written books I've read in a long time.

omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg i love Sword of Kaigen i haven't even watched the video yet but omg i loved Sword of Kaigen omg

This perfectly captures the book for me. Completely agree with you!

This is one of the best fantasy books I've read in a long time, it provokes such strong emotions...you did very well to describe the nature of the book without spoilers....

I'm 17 and interested in reading this due to the love this has received by certain book tubers. Thank you for the content warnings as I will come into the book more prepared for those things.

I want to buy this book, but the only place I can find it, it’s like 40 bucks when you factor in shipping. Edit: Caved. Bought it.

I finished Sunday this Book and it was awesome,just like you said,I was sad that it is over.

I already had this book on my to-buy list, but now I want to order it now! :D

This book made me feel a bunch of things. Loved it!

I read this awhile back, and man, this book is a rarity for me. I love this book, but I'm not sure I'll reread it. Usually books I like get read and reread all the time. I haven't revisited this since. It is just such a hard read at times with how real and raw it is. Heck, I love this book so much I'm supporting the author's patreon even though I don't even read the monthly chapters of her works in progress that she posts there (I'd rather just read a completed book when its done). I just adore how the aftermath of the battle and the emotions and the way it changed the characters lives is treated as just as important in the book as the battle itself. Seriously the book is so good. But suffer through the harsh parts again? I don't know when I'll be able to do that.

Sounds like a story I'd love. Just got the audiobook through your affiliate link!

I loved this book until the ending. It needed like 100 more pages of something. Or maybe there just needs to be another book. I hope Wang reconsiders!

i've got class after this, wish me luck lmao

Adding this to my TBR 🥰

Ok fine, I'm using you affiliate link and buying it! I've been thinking about buying this book since Daniel reviewed it last and I was being indecisive. Since I just pre ordered Daniel's novella the other day, I will use your link for this one instead😏

I loved this book!! Great review- so hard to keep spoiler free! I also want to go straight into the Theonite series- but ML Wang said book 3 of that series has been discontinued. But I do plan on checking out some of her other series. Just upsetting b/c Theonite series looks like it followed R & D- and FB?? Still highly recommend SoK and will read more from Wang soon.

One of the book reviewers I follow has this as his #1. I heard about it through Daniel, and just waiting to clean up my queue a bit before adding it in. That and the timing of my birthday is quite close.

I remember Daniel Green talking about this book a ton and I haven’t picked it up for the same reason I haven’t watched Titanic despite people calling it the best movie of all time. Everyone, *everyone* tempers the: “I love this book!” statement with “It ripped my heart out through its depictions of the horrors of war!” and, like, I don’t know if I want my heart ripped out, or if I need to see any more depiction of tragedy and evil than I do in the real world. I’m sure I would like the book, probably love it, but convincing myself to read it after so many people have described it that way... I’m still in a phase of my life where I want to read escapist, clear-cut good guy stories I guess.

Can I just say I really loved this book and am also REALLY annoyed in the best way that it is a standalone book because I NEED to know what happens next to these characters. The one thing I loved above all others is the fact that the main character is a married woman with kids, for me this is so unusual and made for a really interesting dynamics for the character and how she dealt with the events happening to her. The emotional investment in her was so much greater because of this and that major event during the book really was so much of a gut punch because of it😭😭

Everyone is talking about this book! It will become a popular book very soon!

Merphy, please do a spoiler review as well. It has been a while since I read this book, so it isn't fresh in my mind, and I am not sure I am following all of your thoughts in the spoiler free setting here. However, I do agree that this was an amazing book, and I wish there was more coming from this story, it really is a great look at how to write human emotions in an impactful way.

Oh, boy. This book is going to break my heart. I'm very eager to get started. Thank you.

I've have the ebook for a while and this video hype me again

The slow build with world-building and character exploration and then things just going down hard and painfully reminds me of Ursula Le Guin! I put this one down for a bit (my kindle died and I sort of forgot about it) but I'll be picking it up again now for sure

Sounds interesting, might check it out!

I know I’m late to the party but I finally started this book. So far it’s really good!! Waiting for the rollercoaster to fully take off.

I knew you'd love it !

Ahhh I’m so happy this book is gaining traction it’s so good!!!!

Really enjoyed this book, was excited to see there was at least another book in the setting - then disappointed when I actually read the synopsis and saw it was basically a different genre, using some of the same characters in a different world for a different (younger) audience.

SO GOOD! Everything you said was 100%! The action scenes were great and the emotional aftermath was tackled so well. I especially loved Misaki’s journey through her feelings toward motherhood. We don’t get a lot of kick ass moms in fantasy, and I super appreciated this book and character because of this representation. Also sad this is a standalone 🥲🥲

This book has been sitting on my shelf for a while now ... and now I need to read it 😂💀🔥

I need to read this book!

Did Daniel review this book by chance? Cause I only watch you and Daniel that does book reviews. And this feels very familiar . Great video btw :)

The Elder Empire books (kindle version) are free on amazon!

I'd so love a discussion (dear authors...) video on pacing. As a writer I am so confused as to what good/bad pacing entails for different genres. If anyone would like to give me tips, I'd highly appreciate it! (Also, you made me so curious to read this book!)

You should do a spoiler review of this book. I loved it and after I read it, it took me a week and half to get over it lol!

Ir you're a fan of Avatar: The Last AirBender you should at least check this out. I read that the author M.L. Wang is a martial artist. I've studies martial arts for a long time and can tell that the author knows the scraps, scuffles, pivots, and near misses of a close quarters brawl and I love it. I was wondering while reading like, " yo, they way they described the pivoting of that kick is a little too exact to be coincidence". also, still the only book to make me cry. more when you upload the review with spoilers.

THIS BOOK DESERVES EVERY PRAISE IN THE WORLD😍 More people should read it !! I read it last week and still can't stop thinking about it !! Misaki is the best 😍

@Merphy Napier. What's the name of the outro song for the video and where did you get it????? It sounds really good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Should I start LOTR is it good Maam love watching u and ur review s

This book is phenomenal on so many levels. I think my favorite aspect was the realistic way in which this author handled everything. Family dynamics, character arcs, conflicts, fall out. So well done. It didn't feel like characters were unstoppable, undefeatable, untouchable. They had weaknesses and flaws and realistic consequences for their decisions. So well done.

I was so sure... That no... I won't add another book to my TBR. But damn... I have to read it now.

Oooooh buddy! right after I finish Gentleman Bastards this is top of my TBR! (PS: just finished Legendborn yesterday and you were right it RIPS)

I'm currently reading The poppy war and I think you would love it

Also liked this a lot, for much the same reasons you did. It read to me like a series of novellas, the best of which are absolutely great. The first "novella" is not the strongest, partly because it has yet to turn its focus on The Best Character. I'm fine with it being a standalone. I will certainly read more by this author.

Ya downloaded the book. Gonna start reading.

Yeah this is my favorite book. Like, ever. I'm so glad you enjoyed it, I love hearing what people think about this masterpiece.

I'm so glad that this book is finally getting the hype it deserves 💙

You know ? This story is wonderful because you have read it! Keep going! ❤️⚔️❤️

I liked this book as well. I am not sure I liked it as much as you did as I found the pacing during the action scenes jarring...but I loved loved loved the characters and character work, completely brought me to tears. Have your read another indie author Jonathan Renshaw, Dawn of Wonder?

Aaand now im excited. damn 💚

I really want to reread this again and I just finished it 2 weeks ago!! 😫

M.L. Wang did such a great job of worldbuilding, it would be sad to not see more in this world in future books.

Now I really want to read it.... and at the same time, absolutely terrified of it.

Oh my goddd the tears I've shed reading this book ;)

I love what I have read so far. But I don’t know if I want to continue. I am sure you know where I’m at in the book

Really enjoyed it. Appreciated the authors bravery in creating flawed, challenging characters. End result for me was very compelling character arcs. I also felt that this book had some beautifully tragic moments that really stuck with me

I'll be happy once I finally finish the Malazan book, it's decent but not really my favorite style. Also tying up my reading time my tbr keeps getting longer, which I just added this one to it as well.

I am 40% into the book and I can feel that something terrible is going to happen. And I'm a sensitive reader. But I heard the aftermath of battle is the most amazing part of this book. And I want to see more Robin. So I'm taking risk but ik i will be f*king broke.

I feel like our tastes overlap a little bit in terms of character/action. I get really bored during long action scenes because I'm just ready to see the impact on the characters. After the momentary thrill of action, I'm ready to move on to the character moments haha. Definitely going to check this book out!

« I know different readers are different. » - Merphy, 2021

Really wanna read this one

Masterful job of talking about all the great parts of the story without having specifics that would spoil non readers 🙂

100% agree.. this book was a freaking journey!!! I loved it sooo much!

Well, I got it on audio book. Between school, work, and being old, I have no idea when I will have time, but I will move it up the priority list to the greatest extent possible.

After reading this (which I thought was incredibly well-crafted and beautiful), I went back to read the..I guess pre-quel?...Theonite books. They showed a lot of promise, but for me, just didn't get there. If you read them, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

I'm definitely gonna buy