Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl. Every Tuesday, you pick ten books on that week’s topic. This week, a very interesting theme: Books I Loved that Made Me Want More Books Like Them. So here we are, talking about some kitsune lore.
Once upon a time, I used to be obsessed with this trope — all thanks to the gorgeous Japanese anime show Kamisama Hajimemashita (lit: I Became a God), based on a manga of the same name. Unfortunately, while werewolves and dragons are all too common, the sly Fox doesn’t get much mention.
I’m cheating here because I am taking these from an older post, but it’s such a fun topic!
| 1. An Artificial Night by Seanan McGuire I want to avoid spoilers here, but this is my favorite of the October Daye series and has a Kitsune who was once not a Kitsune! |
| 2. The Fox Woman by Kij Johnson Of the star-crossed love variety: one day, a kitsune falls in love with an exiled human. What will she give up to become human? |
| 3. Plenilune by Jennifer Freitag When are foxes not foxes? When they are under a wicked curse from a wicked brother who wants the throne for himself. |
| 4. Tsumiko and the Fox by Forthright A multi-tailed fox-like creature has been enslaved to a human as per family tradition. Very much in the spirit of anime and very unique. |
| 5. Shadow of the Fox Series by Julie Kagawa This comes across as YA, but is actually quite complex and grand with loads of Japanese folklore motifs thrown in. |
| 6. Mr. Fox by Helen Oyeyemi The fox, by turns, becomes the muse, the lover, and the hunted in this Bluebeard retelling. |
| 7. Wicked Fox by Kat Cho This is based on the Korean gumiho myth: the kitsunes possess magical “fox-beads” that can save lives. But at tremendous cost. |
| 8. Red Winter Trilogy by Annette Marie Not a favorite, but this too comes close to the Japanese fox yokai folklore and had some lovely illustrations. |
| 9. Lady of Gems Series by A.E. Marling This one has a murderous fennec fox, and only the Lord of Feasts can save sorceress Hiresha from being sacrified in marriage to it. |
| 10. The Generation V Series by M. L. Brennan Have heard good things about this Urban Fantasy series, in which the part-vampire hero has a kitsune sidekick. |
Have you read (and hopefully liked) any of these books? Do you remember any books about shape-shifter foxes, kitsunes, or just foxes in general? Add to this list, please!
22 replies on “If You Like: Kitsune Lore”
Ooh, Mr. Fox sounds good!
My post: https://lydiaschoch.com/top-ten-tuesday-books-i-loved-that-made-me-want-more-books-like-them/
It is *quite* mind-boggling!
I’ve got Shadow of the Fox sitting on my shelf waiting to be read! I’m super excited to give it a read.
Kagawa has created a really complex world! I’m not sure whether one should read up a bit on yokai (Japanese demons) and kitsunes before going into Kagawa’s series, or just go in blind and enjoy the ride~
I’ve read some of Annette Marie’s other books and really liked them so I definitely need to check out the Red Winter trilogy. Great topic choice!
I’ve heard she writes some great Urban Fantasy too, need to check those out. Thanks for visiting, Kyla!
Shadow of the Fox is one of my favorite books. I’ve also read the second one but still need to read the final book. But I’m sure I’d love it as well.
Yeah, I was really surprised by Kagawa’s work – I thought it would be all YA, but it turned out to be surprisingly darker.
Kitsune seem like they’re getting more attention? And I’m very tempted to try the October Daye series- I like urban fantasy but don’t read a lot of it, oddly. I’m curious about that series though. Have you ever read Wayward? It’s a graphic novel series and I can’t say how accurate it is or how it ended, I only read the first one… https://www.amazon.com/Wayward-Vol-1-String-Theory/dp/1632151731
I really think you’ll like October Daye series. The plotting is great and some great characters in the books. And it’s all about found families, so if that’s something you like… I hadn’t heard of Wayward before. It looks great, thank you for the rec (as always)!
Now I need to check that manga.
I was trying to think about foxes about my readings, but the closer I got to is a coyote! But a cool talking coyote: https://wordsandpeace.com/2016/01/20/book-review-etta-and-otto-and-russell-and-james/
sorry, I meant the anime!!
Coyotes are cool too! And that anime is super cute. The episodes are very short, 20 minutes each maybe? It might seem for the younger audience at first, but there is a time travel mystery at the heart that grows stronger over the 4 seasons.
The October Daye book is the only one with kitsune I’ve ever read (love that series!), but now you have me intrigued! I believe Gail Carriger’s San Andreas Shifters series has a kitsune as well, but I haven’t actually read those yet.
I hadn’t heard of Gail Carriger’s series! I remember her Parasol one, which I think recently got made into manga too. Thanks for the rec, will check it out for sure~
I really don’t read fantasy, so I can’t think of any fox books I’ve read. Guess I’m missing out, huh? Fun list!
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
Haha. Oh well, I’m sure there are some non-SFF books too out there that are all about the Fox!
I need to read Kat Cho one of these days! Thanks for sharing!
I haven’t read Kat Cho, still on my TBR. But I’ve watched several Korean movies/ shows on the “gumiho” and its fox-beads. They have some neat tricks!
Several of these are on my TBR, and I enjoyed An Artificial Night back when I read it. The only fox story I’ve read that I can think of at the moment is The Sandman: The Dream Hunters by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano. It’s a lovely piece.
I’m still to start off with Sandman — which is a real shame. Kitsunes are one more reason to read it 🙂 Thanks for telling me about it!
I’ve only read Red Winter from your list, but these all sound amazing!