Title: [The Goddess Chronicle]
Author: Natsuo Kirino
Genre: Myth and fantasy
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: January 15, 2014
Rating: *****
January Resolution Book.
The Goddess Chronicle by Natsuo Kirino tells a tale of fate, expectations, and the dangers of being a woman in love. Namima is just five when her six-year-old sister Kamikuu begins training to be the next Oracle of their poor island, and her life is changed forever as she is first identified as "the defiled one." It is not until she is sixteen that Namima understands what the villagers believe her fate to be - as the yin to Kamikuu's yang, Namima is expected to become the priestess of the dark, and live isolated in the island's graveyard, tending to the dead, and quietly killing herself when her sister dies. Namima has other ideas, and her choices lead to the telling of myth, a sharp criticism of fate and unchanging cultures, and the roles women play in the creation of life.
Kirino's writing is breathtaking and simple, weaving an epic story from just a few moments. Parallel narratives are deftly drawn together, confirming the yin and yang of life and story, and finally revealing Kirino's grand plan. As a partial narrator and protagonist, Namima is compelling and sympathetic, and the reader rages against her fate and feels her heartbreak, even when she loses her own sense of pity. This is a story about myths and story as much as the characters themselves. Highly recommended.
One of my resolutions was to read a "new" author each month; as I intend to further broaden my reading horizons, I am defining "new" as beyond the traditional English canon, and outside of my most frequently read genres. Kirino has set me off to a very strong start.
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