Just fabulous!

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Shadow of the Fox (Shadow of the Fox #1) by Julie Kagawa    
Kagawa has come through again with a winner! I was wrapped around with Japanese folklore characters, demons and samurais, on an epic quest...and it was heavenly!
A startling new fantastical world to roam in, led on by a master storyteller.
Half human / half Kitsune ("Wild kitsune, the foxes that roamed the hidden places of Iwagoto, were masters of illusion magic and shapeshifting. Kitsune were yokai, creatures of the supernatural"), Yumeko has spent her life in a secluded temple being brought up by monks. The most challenging things she faces are self inflicted, brought about by her fun loving, trickster Kitsune nature. 
One very ordinary night all that changes! One moment  everything is normal and within the space of a heartbeat the monastry is under attack by creatures from nightmares--demons and their entourage.
Yumeko escapes with the Silent Winds temple leader, Master Isao's blessing, taking away a portion of sacred writings, the Scroll of a Thousand Prayers, that holds the secret to untold power, a power being sort after by the unscrupulous. All part of a jigsaw that when put together could visit eons of hellish death and destruction. Darkness would return to the land of Iwagoto, along with banished beings seeking to enthral and change Iwagoto forever.
Yumeko begins a quest that will see her meet many strangers--both enemies and friends. She falls into the company with Kage Tatsumi, a samurai of the Shadow Clan, bearer of a demon infused sword. The burden is a constant struggle for Tasumi as the demon seeks every opportunity for mastery. Tasumi has also been tasked with finding the pieces of the prayer. Along the way they collect a strange company of other yoki, ghosts and a masterless ronin, Okame. 
Beyond this are shadowy powerful characters, each with their own agenda. All very mysterious and threatening! 
Yumeko's interaction with various distressed or enslaved beings they meet, granting them freedom, will I believe become a boon in the future story development.
I can hardly wait for the next piece of the puzzle as the saga continues!

 A NetGalley ARC

*****

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