Guardian of the Darkness (Moribito Series #2)

by Nahoko Uehashi, Yuko Shimizu (Illustrator)

Overview

Balsa returns to her native Kanbal to clear the name of Jiguro, her dear mentor, who saved her life when she was six years old. But what should be a visit of truth and reconciliation becomes a fight for her life when she learns that Jiguro had been a member of King Rogsam's personal bodyguard. After Jiguro fled Kanbal with her, Rogsam sent the other bodyguards after them one by one--Jiguro's best friends, whom he had to kill to protect Balsa. Now, with the help of two Kanbalese children, Balsa must unwind the conspiracy surrounding Jiguro and the mystery of the Guardians of the Dark.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545102957
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	05/01/2009
Series:	Moribito Series , #2
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.10(d)
Lexile:	830L (what's this?)
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Nahoko Uehashi is the author of ten books in the Moribito series, which have sold more than a million copies and won many major literary awards in her native Japan. An associate professor at a Japanese university, she has a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology and studies indigenous peoples in Australia. She lives near Tokyo, Japan.

Editorial Reviews

"Having successfully protected young Prince Chagum in 2008's Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit, Balsa, a spear-wielding warrior, ventures to her rocky homeland of Kanbal in this sequel. Once again, Uehashi immerses readers in the culture, traditions, mythology—even diet—of the populace, creating a full, captivating world. Upon her return, Balsa rescues a pair of siblings in the area's caves (home to the mysterious hyohlu, the guardians of the darkness). She is soon marked as a fugitive, but with help she still uncovers a wide-ranging plot involving her deceased mentor and a scheme to attack the underground kingdom of the Mountain King. Uehashi explores themes of family and honesty with rich prose and compelling characters. Powerful and loyal, Balsa is the core draw (“Although her hands were bound and she was held captive, Balsa's eyes were filled with a fierce light, like a fighter ready to enter the ring”), but the cast of secondary characters are well developed and intriguing in their own right. Add to that some intense spear battles and a gripping finale, and this growing series has something for everyone." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Though a sequel, Moribito II stands on its own as an engrossing story of redemption, with seasoned warrior and bodyguard Balsa back in the center of it all. . . . Both [human and mythological worlds] come alive with the wonderful attention to detail, from descriptions of the geography, food, and social structure to the ceremony where humans come face to face with their gods. . . . [T]his series serves as a smooth transition between manga and straight narrative.” -- School Library Journal

AWARDS:

An ALA Notable Book for Children, 2010

Mildred L. Batchelder Honor for Translation, 2010

USBBY Outstanding International Book, 2010

From the Publisher

Having successfully protected young Prince Chagum in 2008's Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit, Balsa, a spear-wielding warrior, ventures to her rocky homeland of Kanbal in this sequel. Once again, Uehashi immerses readers in the culture, traditions, mythology-even diet-of the populace, creating a full, captivating world. Upon her return, Balsa rescues a pair of siblings in the area's caves (home to the mysterious hyohlu, the guardians of the darkness). She is soon marked as a fugitive, but with help she still uncovers a wide-ranging plot involving her deceased mentor and a scheme to attack the underground kingdom of the Mountain King. Uehashi explores themes of family and honesty with rich prose and compelling characters. Powerful and loyal, Balsa is the core draw ("Although her hands were bound and she was held captive, Balsa's eyes were filled with a fierce light, like a fighter ready to enter the ring"), but the cast of secondary characters are well developed and intriguing in their own right. Add to that some intense spear battles and a gripping finale, and this growing series has something for everyone. Ages 10-up. (May)

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Publishers Weekly

Nahoko Uehashi rose to literary fame in Japan with the publication, in 1996, of Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit. The story's success in print, followed by its anime spin-off, was probably due to the fact that Uehashi's fantasy world was based on a mixture of Japanese folklore and the medieval Samurai Code. It also did not hurt that the book's warrior-hero was actually the warrior-heroine, Balsa. Part two of the series brings the now thirty-one-year-old Balsa back to her birth country of Kanbal seeking revenge—or perhaps just closure—on her star-crossed life. To keep younger readers' interest, the teenage brother and sister, Kassa and Gina, have been added to the mix, their story unfolding in tandem with Balsa's. While the dialogue and third-person narration have a rather stilted quality, upon consideration, this actually works to help recreate the ancient and more formal universe of Uehashi's fantasy, and it is a very imaginative world she offers, from the dwarfish Herder People to the proud King's Spears, to the mysteries of the Mountain King and the treasure he guards within Kanbal's ring of caves. Reviewer: Kathleen Karr

Children's Literature - Kathleen Karr

Gr 6 Up—Though a sequel, Moribito II stands on its own as an engrossing story of redemption, with seasoned warrior and bodyguard Balsa back in the center of it all. Seeking to relieve the emotional burden she had been carrying since her foster father died more than 20 years earlier, she returns to her native country of Kanbal. Just a few steps into her homeland, she rescues two children and duels a cave-dwelling mountain spirit. This encounter becomes a catalyst for two worlds to eventually mingle: the human one full of political conspiracy and a reawakened mythological one. Both come alive with the wonderful attention to detail, from descriptions of the geography, food, and social structure to the ceremony where humans come face to face with their gods. Fast-paced action scenes (frenzied but not overly violent) help lessen the weightiness of this epic, where themes like a boy's coming of age, family betrayal, and the consequences of unchecked ambition are also explored. So steeped in anime sensibilities that one could almost imagine commercial breaks between chapters, this series serves as a smooth transition between manga and straight narrative.—Joanna K. Fabicon, Los Angeles Public Library

School Library Journal