Without her fudoki-self and soul and home and shrine-she cannot keep the power of her clan together. This loss renders her taleless, the only one left alive to pass on such stories as The Cat Born the Year the Star Fell, the Cat with a Litter of Ten, the Fire-Tailed Cat. She has seen her family destroyed by a fire that decimated most of the Imperial city. Set in the same universe as The Fox Woman, this time Kij Johnson takes on another animal totem and enters the world of the creature who comes to be known as Kagaya-hime, a sometime woman warrior, occasional philosopher, and reluctant confidante to noblemen.Īnd who may or may not be the figment of the imagination of an aging empress who is embarking on the last journey of her life, setting aside the trappings of court life and reminiscing as she follows the paths that are leading her to the nunnery and death.įudoki is the tale of a being who starts her journey on the kami, or spirit road, as a humble-if ever a being such as a Cat can be humble-small tortoiseshell feline. And in the making (and breaking) of oaths and honors, the patterns of their lives will be changed forever.In her skillful debut novel, Kij Johnson took the classic Japanese myth of the fox who dared to become a woman to win true love and created The Fox Woman, a luminous, lyrical tale of love, desire, joy, and the nature of the soul. She sees him slipping away and is determined to win him back from the wild … for all that she has her own fox-related secret. She is confused by his fascination with the creatures of the wood, and especially the foxes that she knows in her heart are harbingers of danger.

Shikujo is Yoshifuji's wife, ashamed of her husband, yet in love with him and uncertain of her role in his world. She comes to love him and will do anything to become a human woman to be with him. Kitsune is a young fox who is fascinated by the large creatures that have suddenly invaded her world.

A misstep at court forces him to retire to his long-deserted country estate, to rethink his plans and contemplate the next move that might return him to favor and guarantee his family's prosperity. Yoshifuji is a man fascinated by foxes, a man discontented and troubled by the meaning of life.

The Fox Woman by Kij Johnson